Mystery Shopping, Is it just about Free Lunch, Shopping, Traveling?

Jun 24, 2008 by Abbas

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Mystery Shopper, Hesitant

The concept of Mystery Shopping hit India in the early 2005 and has gained lot of popularity ever since. So, What is Mystery Shopping?

"Mystery shopping is a tool used by market research companies to measure quality of retail service or gather specific information about products and services. Mystery shoppers posing as normal customers perform specific tasks — such as purchasing a product, asking questions, registering complaints or behaving in a certain way — and then provide detailed reports or feedback about their experiences." – Wikipedia

A mystery shopper is expected to be observant and detail oriented. As a mystery shopper you can visit the newest of restaurants, pubs, shopping mall’s and have free food, shopping, traveling (sometimes) and loads of fun and make money at the same time. This might sound lot of perks and no work, but thats not always true.

Lets see how Mystery Shopping works. You register with a online Mystery Shopping service, few of the services first assign you a sample task to test your abilities of completing a given task by gathering required information within the given time. Once you pass the test you will be sent on a real assignment. The most important thing about mystery shopping is that all of these tasks are carried out without revealing your identity as Mystery Shopper.

Every task comes with certain requirements and a set budget. These requirements can come in the form of a questionnaire base on which you are required to gather information while at a task. For example if your task is restaurant related, as a mystery shopper you are required to test the quality of food, staff availability, hygiene, service, etc..

The task is completed once the questionnaire is filled and feedback is submitted and approved. Once the task is completed, the amount that was set for the task will be deposited to your bank account + an additional amount for completing the task.

Mystery shoppers make anywhere between Rs 5,000 – 20,000 a month and get to keep the free goodies they get from the tasks.

Following is the list of Mystery Shopping sites offering services in India.