Companies across all business sectors understand and appreciate the true importance of professionalism within the service it provides clients and customers as it is integral towards securing essential relationships and custom. Retail stores and supermarkets in particular face considerable competition from fellow competitors who offer similar products and services towards securing the loyalty and majority percentage of the general public. An economic downturn has further increased the ever-competitive nature within the retail industry as companies are placed under more pressure to ensure all operations and strategies are both efficient and adhere to the requirements of all customers to ensure individuals do not take their custom elsewhere.
While it can be easy to assume that all elements of customer service, whether it is interaction across the shop floor and telephone between employees and customers or the availability and quality of overall products, are of a high standard, acquiring the services of a mystery shopping company can provide critical analysis from an external perspective. Although each respective company can perform the task themselves via a designated employee or manager who disguise themselves to appear like a regular member of public, it is more beneficial for an external client to provide a more honest, in-depth evaluation of overall performance and all commercial aspects of each individual store. This is to ensure employees have no prior knowledge as to the identity of a mystery shopper that has no relationship with the company to guarantee a true reflection on how a supermarket is operating at any given time.
The true importance of receiving critical analysis via video mystery shopping or interaction, face-to-face or telephone, is to assess whether the level of customer service and all other commercial aspects are at the levels expected of a supermarket. It is therefore essential to ensure all employees maintain the same level of service to all individuals with the distinct reality that one or more are analysing their, and the company’s, performance for a mystery shopping company. Receiving quantitative and qualitative analysis on overall business operations is essential towards highlighting the strengths and weaknesses within the services and products provided by a company, with the latter pointing to areas that may require additional training or action towards providing all-round quality to remain a successful business entity.