By Daniel Price, Customer Impact Project Manager

Over the last year, Customer Impact has teamed up with multiple tech companies to provide mystery shops and audits using Apps on your iPhone or Android smartphone. These usually aren’t full, traditional mystery shops, but shops that are aimed at specific data points. This could be the number of customers in a store at a given time, or it could include auditing of sales and promotions, and much more. We have seen great feedback from our shoppers with these projects, as they usually require no purchase and pay well. The most appealing part to the shopper, of course, is that there is no report to complete once they get home from the shop. All of the information needed for the projects is entered on the App on their phone, while they are at the location.

It seems that more and more companies are using tech partners like this to provide more shop projects for shoppers to satisfy clients. As we continue to provide more of these projects, here are a few tips and tricks to remember to help you in the field.

• Be sure to open the specified App, play with it, complete any training tasks, and generally learn how to navigate the App prior to going into the field. This way, you won’t be stuck fiddling with your phone and frustrated at a store or restaurant.
• Turn your brightness down on your phone, so it is just low enough that you can see everything well enough to function on it. This way, other customers or employees can’t easily see that you’re completing specified tasks. For all they know, you are just text messaging someone.
• Just like traditional mystery shops, it is always good to have a back story before arriving at the location. A lot of times, these projects consist of price checks, asking an employee about sales, or counting customers in the store. In order to be effective, but also blend in as a regular customer, have a reason for why you are there! It can be as simple as, “I have a wedding to go to, and I’m just checking prices on some slacks and shirts,” or, “I’m browsing for a gift for a family member.” It’s always great to have something a little more in depth, so if there are any interactions with an employee required, or that happen naturally, you will blend in as a real customer just browsing the store.

Since many of these projects are quick, but also require you complete tasks while you are at the location, it is very important to be natural on your phone. The good news is that most everyone has their phone out these days when shopping or at restaurants. That being said, you can still stand out if you aren’t natural and discreet when handling your phone or having to take a photo.

Customer Impact will continue to provide more shopping opportunities using your smartphone. To have access to these opportunities, please be sure that your shopper profile is up to date! Log in to your account and make sure that all of the questions in your profile are answered, so we will know which shops we can contact you about. Though these shops are a bit different from traditional ones, some of the same rules apply: Be discreet, be prepared, and happy shopping!