4 Amazing Benefits Of In-Store Audits

4 Amazing Benefits Of In-Store Audits

A retail store audit is an essential part of retail management that involves assessing a store’s operations and compliance with company policies and procedures. These audits provide several benefits that can help improve store performance and customer experience.

In-store audits can help identify areas of improvement, enabling retailers to optimise store operations and boost sales and customer satisfaction. They can also help detect and prevent theft and fraud, enhancing security and loss prevention measures. 

Here’s a closer look at the benefits of in-store audits for various stakeholders within retail management.

Benefits For The Head Office

In-store audits are an important tool for head offices in managing their retail operations. By performing regular audits, head offices can monitor compliance with company policies and procedures, ensure consistency across stores, and identify areas for improvement. In-store audits also provide insights into customer experience and enable head offices to measure and analyse store performance. This data can be used to optimise inventory, store layout, and staffing, resulting in increased sales and profits. Additionally, a retail store audit provides an opportunity for head offices to assess the effectiveness of their training programs and ensure that employees are properly trained and following the established procedures. By detecting and addressing issues early on, head offices can prevent reputational damage, reduce losses due to theft and fraud, and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements. 

Benefits For The Store

In-store audits provide numerous benefits for retail stores. They help identify areas of improvement in-store operations, such as product placement, cleanliness, and customer service, which can lead to a better overall customer experience. Additionally, in-store audits provide an opportunity to ensure that stores follow company policies and procedures, which can improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. But that’s not all; instore audits also enable store managers to identify and address training gaps among their staff, leading to a more knowledgeable and skilled workforce. In-store audits also help detect and prevent theft and fraud, which can enhance security measures and prevent hefty financial losses for the retail store. 

Benefits For The District And Regional Managers

District and regional managers play a crucial role in ensuring the success of retail operations, and in-store audits can be a valuable tool for them to achieve this goal. In-store audits involve visiting stores to evaluate various aspects of the operation, such as cleanliness, inventory management, customer service, and adherence to company policies and procedures. By conducting regular audits, district and regional managers can identify areas of improvement and provide targeted training and support to store retail staff to ensure consistency and compliance with company standards.

In-store audits can also help managers identify potential issues before they become major problems, such as inventory discrepancies or customer service issues. Additionally, audits can provide valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, informing decisions on product selection and merchandising strategies.

Benefits For The Customers

Customers can benefit from in-store audits as it ensures that the retail store they are visiting is upholding high standards of cleanliness, organisation, and customer service. By conducting regular audits, store managers can identify and rectify any issues, making for a better shopping experience for customers. Additionally, audits can provide insights into customer behavior and preferences, allowing stores to tailor their offerings to better meet customer needs. 

As a market research solutions provider, Customer Perceptions is a leading authority in the industry. Our services are designed to improve customer experience, provide competitor insights, boost customer retention, monitor industry standards, and ultimately increase sales and revenue.

We operate globally, serving clients in Ireland, the UK, and beyond. 

Contact us today to experience the benefits of a retail store audit.

Common Mystery Shopping Mistakes To Avoid

Common Mystery Shopping Mistakes To Avoid

After nearly three decades in the industry, we know what the mystery shopping mistakes are that frustrate our clients. People often think Mystery Shopping intends to catch employees out when they make mistakes. Each client has a different purpose when using our Mystery shopping services. It might be to measure customer service quality, confirm whether employees are complying with company policies and regulations, gather specific information about services and products, or any other need identified by the business.      

At Customer Perceptions, we work in partnership with our clients to design programmes tailored to their individual needs.  Consultation is the first stage of our Mystery Shop process, where we meet with the client to discuss their objectives, pain points, and what they want to achieve. Then we provide our clients with a more detailed overview of how the process works, project timelines, costing and any other matters that need to be discussed. 

From here our teams are briefed and receive detailed guidelines that give insight into the client’s business, the objective of the programme, what scenario to follow, what to report on and more. 

The following are common mistakes we attempt to avoid:

Not Specific Enough   

Sometimes businesses complain that the Mystery Shop does not keep the audience in mind or cover enough of the shopping experience for the results to matter. They feel the process and content are not specific enough. Besides consulting in detail with our clients before drafting the questionnaire, we also do quality checks once the reports from our mystery shoppers are submitted. Did our shoppers assess the correct location and report on every element of the customer journey?

Clear Objectives

It is vital that the objectives of the mystery shopping programme are clear. Every business wants a return on investment when they use Mystery Shopping to measure customer experience.          

We prioritise your objectives and core values, while using our experience and expertise to design the survey for the mystery shopping programme. Our goal is for the questionnaire to address each touchpoint of the shopper experience and assess lasting impressions. 

Not Acting Like A Normal Customer   

It is sometimes difficult for mystery shoppers to act like normal customers, especially when they are instructed to shop in a certain order, but it’s not impossible to overcome. A particular level of experience is required when someone wants to become a mystery shopper. Most people have experience in retail shopping and can act out a defined role as required. As with every industry, restaurants and hotels have set service and quality standards. A mystery shop in these industries requires someone with experience in the field so they can behave like an average patron or guest.    

We recruit the ideal candidate for your mystery shopping programme and draft exact guidelines for them to follow. Then we brief them by giving them insight into the business, the objectives of the programme and what is required of them. It includes what to look out for, the scenario to follow, what to report on, and timelines.  

Forgetting The Toilets

Remembering to review the toilets during a mystery shopping session is about giving attention to details. Many business managers and owners know that customers unconsciously associate the cleanliness of a shop’s bathroom with the standards of the business and how they view their customers. A clean bathroom creates a positive perception showing that a company is committed to all stages of the customer service experience to ensure customer satisfaction.   

We make the reports, results and analysis available on our user-friendly online system, Client Insights. Here you can drill down to individual locations or particular dates to source the information you specifically need.       

At Customer Perceptions, we are specialists in creating bespoke market research solutions for our clients. We limit mystery shopping mistakes with our comprehensive Mystery Shop process. Contact us today.

The Importance of Competitor Analysis

Many businesses understand the importance of competitor analysis but generally only focus on pricing and products. With the arrival of social media, understanding your competition’s marketing techniques and how you can improve your company’s digital marketing strategy has become as important as pricing and product research. What are some benefits of conducting a competitive analysis?        

Customer reviews highlight what your competitor’s product lacks, offering you the opportunity to add elements to your product that will meet their needs.

  • You can identify marketplace opportunities on which to test out new marketing strategies your competition is not using.
  • Learn what your competition is doing well and what you need to do to stay relevant and competitive in your industry.
  • Gain a benchmark against which you can measure your company’s growth. 

At Customer Perceptions, we offer competitor analysis services that measure your competitor’s customer journey, pricing, point of sale (POS), promotions, policies and procedures. Let’s look in more detail at competitor analysis.

They are Industry Specific   

Are your ideas about your competitors and the market up to date and accurate? An industry-specific competitor analysis creates a more comprehensive picture of the market and industry in which you compete. There are similarities between industries, but there are also differences. The hospitality, retail, and financial industries offer promotions as part of their business strategy, but their target market and products differ.

Do you want to measure, compare and benchmark your performance against your competitors? We can do a competitor analysis for clients in the travel, restaurant and dining, retail and online, hospitality and tourism, medical and care, financial, and professional services industries.

Strengths & Weaknesses From Other Businesses Are Identified   

Have you spent time with your sales, marketing, and customer service teams to gather the data you want to use to benchmark your company? The next step is to collect information about your direct competitors to learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Research the following factors:

  • Product. How do the qualities and features of the products compare to your own?
  • Pricing. Can you estimate their cost structure? What is their discount policy? 
  • Place. What is their geographic reach compared to your business?
  • Promotion. What is their presence on social media, and what marketing tactics are they using?
  • Positioning. Review their websites, catalogues etc. What is their unique selling proposition?
  • Reputation. What are people saying online, and on social media about your competitor’s products and services?
  • People. How big is the organisation? 
  • Partnerships. Who are their suppliers and how long have they been working together? 
  • Once you have all the above information, do a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis for an effective competitor analysis.  

Market Opportunities are Revealed   

A competitor analysis will reveal market opportunities, however, look further than your direct competitor towards indirect and even substitute competitors. They might offer other insights and markets you never considered. Indirect competitors are businesses in the same category as yours but have different clientele, products, and services. An example of an indirect competitor would be a winery and brewery. Both sell alcohol, but their products and clients are not the same. A substitute competitor has different products and services than you, but they target the same customers in your geographic area. They might be doing something distinctive to attract potential customers.

The Most Important: Performance Evaluation   

Once you collect all the information and complete the SWOT analysis, it is time to do a performance evaluation. How does your business, products, or services compare to your direct, indirect or substitute competitors? What competitive advantage do you have that appeals to your target market? When you understand where your brand is positioned, make strategic decisions that help grow your brand and translate those into actionable results with timelines. 

At Customer Perceptions, we follow a partnership approach. We adapt our solutions to suit your changing business needs. When was the last time you benchmarked your business against your competition in the marketplace? The importance of competitor analysis cannot be underestimated. Contact us today. 

Who Can Become A Mystery Shopper?

Who Can Become A Mystery Shopper_

Are you interested in becoming a mystery shopper? Do you like a flexible work schedule and are comfortable with a variable income? Some weeks are busier than others. Do you thrive on multitasking and are willing to act out a role at times? All these aspects are part of being a mystery shopper. If you like these challenges, you might find mystery shopping interesting.      

Before accepting work as a mystery shopper, research the mystery shopping companies you are interested in, as unfortunately there are some unscrupulous employers. A recognised company will never ask you for start-up fees.

Qualifications And Age     

Mystery shoppers sometimes represent a certain type of person or a specific age demographic. The age requirements for jobs are as diverse as the consumers purchasing products or using services. Most assignments, however, do not have specific demographic requirements. 

While no formal qualification is needed mystery shoppers require both good written and spoken English, as well as keen observational skills and the capacity to offer valuable feedback. It is crucial to have a grasp of what constitutes excellent customer service and the ability to identify and report on it.

As e-commerce continues to expand and technology increasingly plays a role our daily lives, having a fundamental knowledge of how mobile apps or web-based tools function, or at the very least, a willingness to acquire such knowledge, has become essential.

Experience-Level  

Mystery shoppers are expected to have a basic understanding of the subject they are evaluating whether a specific industry, aspects of products and services, or the quality of customer service. To assess a restaurant fairly, you need to have a good idea how restaurants operate. The hotel industry has specific characteristics, and you need to know what the acceptable customer experience standards are within the tourist sector before you can act as a guest and provide quality feedback. 

If you love chocolate, that might be the only experience a client wants when you need to observe how customers engage with a brand in the shops, as they don’t need you to know how chocolate is manufactured. 

Personal Skills

As a mystery shopper, you will be required to do a variety of assessments, defined by the client’s requirements and the customer journey they want you to test. Here are some personal skills that are good to have if you want to become a mystery shopper.

  • Detail oriented
  • Excellent observational skills to see what is not obvious
  • Active listener to hear what is not said
  • Curious about the company or product you are evaluating 
  • Flexible enough to work at short notice and unusual hours
  • Enjoy multitasking
  • Objective and open-minded
  • Good memory, as you might not be able to take notes on the job
  • Willing to act out a role at times
  • Timeliness
  • Efficient and concise during reporting.

Proper Reporting Skills

Good verbal and written communication skills are vital to mystery shoppers. You are expected to give an honest assessment of your evaluation in detailed reports to the company that hired you. If you are unable to make notes while you are doing your mystery shopping, work out a system where you can record or write down information as soon as it is completed, as details are important for a successful assessment. Most companies have a particular format for the report to help you turn your experience into meaningful data.    

We are a credible company with more than 10,000 experienced and trained field researchers, the largest base in Ireland. For Customer Perceptions, our field researchers are the core of our successful programmes. Are you interested in becoming a mystery shopper? Contact us for more information.

The Advantages of Focus Groups

The Advantages Of Focus Groups

Focus groups are a market research method used to gather customer opinions and perspectives on new products, services, campaigns or ideas. There are five types of focus groups, mini focus groups, online focus groups, two-way focus groups, dual moderator focus groups, and client participant focus groups. During focus group discussions, participants are asked different types of questions and encouraged to freely share their thoughts. 

The questions are designed to gather as much information as possible and include engagement questions, exploration questions, and exit questions. Focus groups are part of product development, marketing, or customer service development strategy and should have defined goals. What are the benefits of focus groups?     

Understand Customers’ Thoughts  

The customer is at the core of every business, and the main advantage of focus group interviews is learning about their experiences. You gain valuable insight into the customer’s perspective on a brand, product, service or topic. When the group discussion is well planned, held in a comfortable interactive setting and led by an experienced moderator, consumers are more likely to share their opinions. 

Focus groups might not be the most effective method to get customer feedback on delicate topics or products of a sensitive nature, as people could feel inhibited. A confidential questionnaire or survey should elicit more feedback. At Consumer Perceptions, our moderators are skilled and experienced in facilitating focus groups. They know how to create a safe space that guarantees all views are heard and respected.

Collect Valuable Output  

A mix of perspectives and focus group dynamics can have a very positive impact on the quality of the research results. Good moderators know how to stimulate discussions among participants, which leads to more in-depth conversations and the collection of valuable output. Establish rules at the beginning of the meeting that guarantees everyone will be heard, including people that are shy about giving their opinion. When contributors know they are listened to and their input is valued, they become more comfortable sharing.     

The Customer Perceptions field researchers are vital to the success of our focus groups. The base is large, and we can profile particular demographics requested by our clients.  

Data Is Created and Received Quickly  

Every manufacturer or service provider wants to be a first mover. The competitive advantage allows them to establish brand recognition and customer loyalty before competitors bring out their products. To be a first mover, you need to produce and deliver a product quickly, and this means you must have access to data from potential customers. Focus groups are ideal. They involve up to ten people and can be held in 3 to 4 cities, ensuring you get different ideas and reactions within 90-minutes.   

The focus group content must include observations about facial expressions, body language, social cues in language, and past recollections. The results provided by Customer Perceptions as a market research company are succinct, user-friendly and easy to interpret. 

It Is A Time-Saver 

Focus group interviews are led by a trained moderator. For 30 to 90 minutes, people discuss a set list of 10 to 12 questions designed to draw thoughtful responses from participants. Everyone is encouraged to share their different opinions and ideas as honestly as possible. Members of the focus groups are recruited based on their purchase history, demographics, activities, interests, and views. They generally do not know each other. 

The condensed nature of the focus group methodology means that a large number of opinions and feedback are sought on multiple aspects of a product within a limited set of time. It saves time during the research phase of product development, speeding up the journey of new merchandise or services to the marketplace.

We operate in seven industries, and after nearly thirty years, Customer Perceptions are specialists at creating bespoke market research solutions for our clients. Do you need customer satisfaction surveys, public opinion polls or focus groups? Contact us today.

The Importance of Competitor Analysis

The Importance Of Competitor Analysis

Many businesses understand the importance of competitor analysis but generally only focus on pricing and products. With the arrival of social media, understanding your competition’s marketing techniques and how you can improve your company’s digital marketing strategy has become as important as pricing and product research. What are some benefits of conducting a competitive analysis?        

  • Customer reviews highlight what your competitor’s product lacks, offering you the opportunity to add elements to your product that will meet their needs.
  • You can identify marketplace opportunities on which to test out new marketing strategies your competition is not using.
  • Learn what your competition is doing well and what you need to do to stay relevant and competitive in your industry.
  • Gain a benchmark against which you can measure your company’s growth. 

At Customer Perceptions, we offer competitor analysis services that measure your competitor’s customer journey, pricing, point of sale (POS), promotions, policies and procedures. Let’s look in more detail at competitor analysis.

They are Industry Specific   

Are your ideas about your competitors and the market up to date and accurate? An industry-specific competitor analysis creates a more comprehensive picture of the market and industry in which you compete. There are similarities between industries, but there are also differences. The hospitality, retail, and financial industries offer promotions as part of their business strategy, but their target market and products differ.

Do you want to measure, compare and benchmark your performance against your competitors? We can do a competitor analysis for clients in the travel, restaurant and dining, retail and online, hospitality and tourism, medical and care, financial, and professional services industries.

Strengths & Weaknesses From Other Businesses Are Identified   

Have you spent time with your sales, marketing, and customer service teams to gather the data you want to use to benchmark your company? The next step is to collect information about your direct competitors to learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Research the following factors:

Product. How do the qualities and features of the products compare to your own?

Pricing. Can you estimate their cost structure? What is their discount policy? 

Place. What is their geographic reach compared to your business?

Promotion. What is their presence on social media, and what marketing tactics are they using?

Positioning. Review their websites, catalogues etc. What is their unique selling proposition?

Reputation. What are people saying online, and on social media about your competitor’s products and services?

People. How big is the organisation? 

Partnerships. Who are their suppliers and how long have they been working together? 

Once you have all the above information, do a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis for an effective competitor analysis.  

Market Opportunities are Revealed   

A competitor analysis will reveal market opportunities, however, look further than your direct competitor towards indirect and even substitute competitors. They might offer other insights and markets you never considered. Indirect competitors are businesses in the same category as yours but have different clientele, products, and services. An example of an indirect competitor would be a winery and brewery. Both sell alcohol, but their products and clients are not the same. A substitute competitor has different products and services than you, but they target the same customers in your geographic area. They might be doing something distinctive to attract potential customers.

The Most Important: Performance Evaluation   

Once you collect all the information and complete the SWOT analysis, it is time to do a performance evaluation. How does your business, products, or services compare to your direct, indirect or substitute competitors? What competitive advantage do you have that appeals to your target market? When you understand where your brand is positioned, make strategic decisions that help grow your brand and translate those into actionable results with timelines. 

At Customer Perceptions, we follow a partnership approach. We adapt our solutions to suit your changing business needs. When was the last time you benchmarked your business against your competition in the marketplace? The importance of competitor analysis cannot be underestimated. Contact us today.

What Do Mystery Shoppers Actually Do?

What do mystery shoppers actually do_

Mystery shopping? What exactly is that anyway? There are many people who haven’t heard of the term, and probably misinterpret it when they hear it for the first time. A mystery shopper is a paid consumer who is hired to shop in certain stores and collect data on businesses and their products. They are undercover customers who are sent to interact, observe and report on stores, other customers and store employees. So, what exactly do mystery shoppers do?

What Does a Mystery Shopper Do? 

Mystery shopping providers select and hire specific consumers to make retail transactions at targeted stores and create a detailed record of the experience. They purchase items, they eat in restaurants, they may even return items simply to report back on the experience. They are not so much hired to provide opinions, but rather to generate detailed, objective reports on a business and its employees from the customer’s perspective. They are usually given a list of survey questions to help the market research company assess the performance of the targeted businesses. They may be asked to provide information on matters such as:

  • The number of employees that were on duty;
  • The greeting and service the mystery shopper received from the staff (Friendly? Helpful? How long did it take? etc.)
  • Name(s) of employee(s) with whom they interacted;
  • Type of products shown, and the sales pitch they were given, including whether there were any additional items suggested for you to purchase;
  • If they were invited to return to the store or offered sign-up for mailing lists, credit accounts, etc.
  • How quickly they received service and if the service was satisfactory.
  • The cleanliness and hygiene standards of the store itself, as well as the staff.
  • The personal grooming and appearance of the employees (were they appropriately dressed, were uniforms clean, etc.) and if employees adhered to any store dress codes.

Where Are Mystery Shoppers Sent?

Shoppers are sent to a wide variety of service-based businesses: stores, boutiques, restaurants, fast food outlets, banks, hotels, airports and even apartment complexes – any business whose interaction with its customers needs to be assessed. Generally speaking, the companies in question will contract a provider to conduct mystery shopping for them, so that they can gain some understanding of how well they are performing in terms of customer service and other criteria.

Customer Perceptions are leaders in market research solutions. With 27 years of experience, we have developed bespoke research solutions to help our clients to enhance their customer experience, gain insight into their competitors, increase customer retention, monitor standards and ultimately, increase sales and revenue. Mystery shopping is one of the services we offer to help businesses assess their performance as merchants or service providers. If you would like to learn more about what mystery shoppers do, and see how mystery shopping can help you assess and improve your business, contact us for more information.

Things To Consider When Choosing A Mystery Shopping Company

Choosing a mystery shopping company

Hiring an undercover shopper is a great way to assess whether your business meets or exceeds your expectations and provides the right quality of products and services for your target market. Mystery shopping companies can conduct secret shop audits on your behalf to help you understand how your employees work, and how your business is performing in relation to the goals and standards you have set for it. The question is, how do you go about choosing a mystery shopper that can conduct an incisive audit and provide you with the data you need to perfect your business? Here are three points you should consider as you look for a mystery shopping company. 

Must Have The Experience and Knowledge

If your mystery shopping experience is going to be successful, it must be conducted by a provider with plenty of experience. They should be able to present you with successful case studies that demonstrate their experience. Ask as many questions as you need to about their previous jobs and satisfied clients. They should have plenty of customer testimonials to prove that they can do what they claim to be able to do. Take note of how they answer your questions and the kinds of recommendations and observations they make. These will quickly make it clear how well they understand your requirements and what needs to be done to meet them. 

Should Have a Process For Choosing Mystery Shoppers

The company you end up hiring should have exceptionally high standards when it comes to selecting their mystery shoppers. Ask them how they go about picking their shoppers. They should have a systematic process, together with a set of rigorous criteria, which they use to select only the best and most appropriate shoppers for your business. For example, some companies run a certification system that involves asking their potential shoppers a set of questions. The shoppers need to be able to provide satisfactory answers to all of these questions in order to be recruited. 

Should Have a Robust Feedback System

Mystery shopping providers must be able to provide quality data that you can use to action significant improvements in your business. They should present valuable and detailed reports that clearly explain their findings and make tangible recommendations. The best providers run a program with a dashboard that showcases the outcome, which helps you examine all data clearly and effectively, especially if you monitor multiple shopping locations. Their reporting and feedback system should allow you to review the report based on your KPIs, compare performances over time and across different locations, receive real-time data and set new goals.

Customer Perceptions are leaders in market research solutions. With 27 years of experience, we have developed bespoke research solutions to help our clients to enhance their customer experience, gain insight into their competitors, increase customer retention, monitor standards and ultimately, increase sales and revenue. Mystery shopping is one of the services we offer to help businesses assess their performance as merchants or service providers. If you are currently choosing a mystery shopping provider, contact us and ask us about our services.

Streamlining the Customer Experience with QR

Customer experience (CX) is the cornerstone of success in many industries. In ‘3 Reasons Why Customer Experience Increases Sales’ we argue that this is because it can put your brand above the rest. Retaining customers is also more cost-effective than attracting new ones — and what’s more, great CX usually brings with it free word-of-mouth marketing.

As businesses become more digital, QR codes are now emerging as one of the best ways to streamline and enhance CX. Though many think-pieces have been predicting its downfall for years, the QR code has only continued to grow in popularity and mainstream usage. Juniper Research predicts it will generate $3 trillion (2.95 million Euro) globally by 2025 — just for facilitating payments.

This only hints at the virtually limitless potential QR codes have to improve CX with your brand. Below are a few ways you can use them to streamline CX.

Woo new B2B clients

It’s crucial that your business actively reaches out to new clients, especially if it’s relatively new. QR codes embedded into digital business cards can make all the difference in networking. Doorway notes that these digital business cards can make connecting with clients more accessible and convenient, especially for them. They simply need to scan the code — and your details will instantly be saved on their device. This, along with the fact that you’re the one initiating contact, can give the impression that you’re an efficient and effective business to work with.

Enhance customer interactions

In attracting new clients and customers, QR codes can promote engagement with your marketing materials. This can result in increased traffic to your website. Digital Signage Today suggests that in brick-and-mortar stores, most consumers now want a DIY shopping experience — and QR codes can provide that by providing information on various products when scanned. We even mentioned above that QR codes can facilitate payment. By streamlining nearly every customer interaction your business is likely to make, QR codes thus enhance the convenience they now crave.

Ramp up personalisation

QR codes can even provide data insights into customer behaviour. For example, brick-and-mortar stores can check which product QR codes were frequently scanned so you can invest in promoting them more. If embedded into your marketing materials, you can check which strategies resonated the most and can be used again. Both B2B and customer-facing businesses can even include QR codes in their packaging. Inc. explains this can prompt customer feedback, testimonials, and points of improvement. These insights are what can help you further streamline the process of CX personalisation.

Cut on costs

QR codes help you save time and resources precisely because it streamlines multiple aspects of CX. With digital business cards, you no longer need to spend money on printing physical copies. You can improve engagement in both online and offline marketing without having to pay for premium advertising. You don’t need to spend time sending emails and messages to customers just to get feedback if you already have QR codes in your packaging materials. In short, QR codes can help you improve CX just as effectively without breaking the bank.

The versatility of the QR code is one surefire way for your business to get creative and curate an impressive CX. Looking for more customer insights? Check us out here at Customer Perceptions.

Written exclusively for customerperceptions.ie

By Rica Jane

Mystery Shopping Professionals Association (MSPA) Conference

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Emma Harte (CEO) and Susan Reilly (Head of Sales and Marketing) were both delighted to attend the Mystery Shopping Professionals Association (MSPA) annual conference in Varna Bulgaria earlier this month. This conference brought together almost 200 Mystery Shopping Companies to work together to share their experiences over the past number of years and also what the future holds for mystery shopping.

The theme of this conference was Assess|Adapt|Act and carried the theme of how we need to assess the current situation for both ourselves and our Clients, adapt to the changing environment and act on the learnings to ensure we are bringing our Clients the most insightful and up-to-date programmes we can.

The conference saw a number of experienced mystery shopping professionals present their stories on challenges they themselves had experienced over the past 2 years and how they adapted their processes in response.

Day 1

First off we had an introduction from the President of MSPA Europe/Africa Luis Duarte who opened up the 2-day conference. Luis spoke to us about the theme of the conference Assess|Adapt|Act and what this meant for Mystery Shopping Professionals. This set the context for the other Speakers that would deliver their findings over the coming 2 days.

First of the presentations was from Cyriel Kortleven, a Global Speaker. Cyriel talked to us about “The Change Mindset”. This was a really impactful presentation which told us the power of using phrasing such as “Yes, and…” instead of “Yes, but…”. Such a simple but strong way to allow us to see the potential in every challenge, and not the pitfalls. Through some group exercises, this message was really hammered home and we all left this session feeling so positive and upbeat. A fantastic opening session to have.

The rest of the morning immersed us in Case Studies delivered by other Mystery Shopping Professionals. One case study delivered by Juliana Goranova from Client X in Bulgaria (our Host country), showed us some unusual mystery shopping programmes such as sending mystery shoppers out to restaurant to take samples of the fin from a certain variety of fish. This was to ensure the restaurants were not serving a protected species of this fish. Juliana also spoke to us about the work they did with Charitable Organisations. This really was food for thought!

Another really interesting case study was presented by Jill Spencer from ReactCX – Money for Old Rope. This presentation was a powerful delivery how of we need to demonstrate to our Clients the return on investment of their programmes. Although this can sometimes be difficult to measure as some of the returns are intangible such as customer loyalty, staff satisfaction etc… Jill showed us some really useful ways of demonstrating ROI by working with our clients to gather the data we need to show this. This is something we have definitely taken on board and are working away on at the minute for our existing and potential clients.

The afternoon session on Day 1 saw us being divided into 3 different breakout sessions (depending on the colour of MSPA baseball cap we received). I attended the Proposition Zone and Emma attended the Global Zone. These breakout sessions were a good way to work with other Mystery Shopping Professionals to examine each of the themes and really discuss what the challenges/solutions were. One thing for certain in the Proposition Zone was that data is crucial to business and is becoming more and more the backbone of how businesses operate and grow. We chatted about exactly how we should be collecting data for our Clients, exactly what data we need to collect and what the future looks like here. The importance of Exploratory Workshops with our Clients pre-commencement of the programme is an important factor here.

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Day 1 ended with some fantastic networking opportiunites for all Participants and a lovely dinner in the International Casino and Hotel restaurant, and lots of lovely Bulgarian wine.

Day 2

After having a lovely dinner and networking event the previous night, Participants were buzzing on day 2 for what the day ahead holds with their new found friends/partnerships. The day was opened again by Luis Duarte – President of MSPA who recapped on what we had learned the day before.

We then listened to Tony Allens presentation of some fantastic new intuitive hardware that can actually check the age of shoppers in a store. He had the machines with him and demonstrated exactly how this worked. This seems like a fantastic tool for companies to streamline their age verification checks in-store. This was really an eye-opener on how technology is evolving for all aspects of business. If anyone would like more information on this hardware, please contact me on [email protected] and I can get you more information.

Another really interesting presentation came from Hannah Weekes of ProInsight. Hannah’s presentation was titled “The Modern Mystery Shopper – Creating Brand Loyalty/Obsession”. This insightful session showed us the power of not only connecting with our Mystery Shoppers but Engaging them to the point where you are creating an obsession with your brand. It is so beneficial for us as a Company, but also for our Mystery Shoppers to feel part of an engaging community. We took lots of learnings home from this session. Thank you Hannah!

Finally, to wrap up the session Andy Firth, from Ipsos UK spoke to the group about how the world is changing so rapidly and what can we expect next. Andy’s insights were a perfect opportunity to encompass all we had learned in the past 2 days and really summarise where we were now, and how we need to be prepared for what is to come next. The good news was that there is so much opportunity for mystery shopping, regardless of how the world changes and it is up to us as Mystery Shopping Professionals to anticipate these changes and adapt our businesses to continue delivering powerful and impactful programmes to our Clients.

After a hugely interesting 2 days, we wrapped up with an amazing traditional Bulgarian dinner on the Beach with some super entertainment. We heard stories of Bulgarian history, listened to some traditional music, watched some traditional dancing and even got to see two wonderful people demonstrate Bulgarians ritual of firewalking! As conferences go, we have to say that the Bulgarian hospitality for the duration of our trip was outstanding. Such a wonderful place to visit. Even with the extremely sore heads on Friday morning, we were sorry to be leaving such a beautiful city.

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Well done to all at the MSPA for organising such a fantastic experience for its members!

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