Mystery shopper surveillance ramped up to ensure consumers get what they pay for

Updated

 

Shopping these days is no private affair as shopper surveillance ramps up towards the Christmas period.

What you might not be aware of is that traders and their employees are also being keenly observed.

Key points:

  • The National Compliance Plan will focus on major supermarkets, fuel retailers and food retailers
  • The plan involves making 1,000 secret shopper trial purchases
  • Anyone can become a mystery shopper, requiring them to be part actor and part undercover spy

Over the next 12 months the Federal Government will ramp up surveillance on retailers under the National Compliance Plan (NCP) to ensure shoppers are getting what they pay for.

“Whether it’s filling up at the fuel pump or buying groceries at the supermarket, the Morrison Government is putting retailers on notice,” said Karen Andrews, the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology.

“We recognise that most businesses want to do the right thing and will usually quickly correct any errors, but where we find severe or persistent offenders we can impose fines.”

So, you might be asking, how is the Government going to facilitate this?

The National Measurement Institute intends to roll out programs that involve visiting 10,000 businesses, testing 10,000 measuring instruments, inspecting 70,000 lines of packaged goods and making 1,000 secret shopper purchases.

One thousand secret shopper purchases sounds like a lot, but, according to Steven Di Pietro, it isn’t.

“We have some clients who will do that in a month,” he said.

Fifteen years ago Mr Di Pietro set up a company in Figtree near Wollongong to measure consumer compliance. He’s now responsible for employing 55,000 mystery shoppers around Australia.

“I approached the Minister [about the NCP] and they are conducting this program with internal staff,” he said.

“I’ve offered them a cheaper way to do the measurements, as we have 55,000 people across the country ready to go, but I guess that’s just how governments work.”

Who is watching who?

Mystery shoppers measured the service throughout all sorts of stores, with clients including big brands with multiple venues nationwide, Mr Di Pietro said.

“People from head office obviously can’t get around and measure the service in all their stores.

“We send people out, we call them fake shoppers — they go in and pretend to be a real shopper, they act like a normal shopper and they may even buy something.”

They go into the shop and then respond to a preset questionnaire and evaluate whether what they wanted to happen in the store happened.

The results are sent to the business operator.

“We don’t focus on the individual. We are more interested in whether overall is the brand being well represented and are the people in the stores friendly.”

They rate the service on the greeting, the enthusiasm of the salesperson and whether they are helpful.

The staff’s ability to carry a conversation, be polite, make recommendations and close the sale are all observed and noted, all of which Mr Di Pietro said was very different to a customer survey.

“In a customer survey you’re asking someone after the event and there’s not a lot of depth; we go in with a predetermined idea of what we want to measure and how that’s going.”

Ways to become a mystery shopper and avoid the scams

  • Don’t pay for anything upfront
  • Only work with reputable companies (check with the Mystery Shoppers Providers Association that vets members and has strict ethical standards)
  • Start with a small job and wait to see if you are paid on time
  • Don’t supply bank details until you have done a job
  • Don’t be afraid to call the mystery shopping company and check its ABN
  • Avoid money transfer assignments

The fake shopper

It turns out that working as a fake shopper has advantages if you enjoy shopping and embrace the challenge of playing a role requiring you to be part actor and part undercover spy.

“You’ve got to be reliable, you’ve got to get there on time, you’ve got to fill out a report — if you don’t fill it out correctly there’s issues — and there’s pre-reading of the questionnaire,” Mr Di Pietro said.

“It’s literally butcher, baker, candlestick maker; all walks of life become mystery shoppers — ex-doctors, ex-pilots, stay-at-home mums, you name it.”

A woman who has been working as a mystery or secret shopper for the past 15 years said it was the type of job you could work around your busy schedule.

“I choose the jobs I’m comfortable with completing, and then there are usually designated days and times in which to complete it,” she said.

“When I’m on an assignment, I put on my mystery shopper hat and complete the task.”

The mystery shopper was speaking metaphorically, as she doesn’t dress up for work and has never worn a wig — but she does get a bit of a thrill.

“You do put on acts because a lot of the time you are making up details, like a different name, and making up phone numbers and addresses. It’s another world, quite a pretend life I guess.”

She did suggest that mystery shoppers take precautions.

“A lot of times mystery shoppers will need to ring on private numbers if they do phone assignments.

“Some people get nasty, and if they loose their monthly bonus because your report scores them poorly, it can get ugly.”

Another pitfall, she said, was that getting paid was a slow process.

“Some companies take up to two months to reimburse you and pay you — some are weekly, some are fortnightly, but most take two months.”