Get paid to shop! (Grass Roots Group Mystery Shopping)

Member Name: Poppetshop

Product:	Grass Roots Group Mystery Shopping
Date:	03/03/09 (569 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: extra cash, learning experience, fun,

Disadvantages: assignments go quickly from the site, the pay is quite low

Well, today I became a Mystery Shopper so I thought I would tell you all about it. It was great - who doesn't want to be paid to shop? Although it's not as simple as that! There is much more to it than meets the eye......

The assignment I did today was for a web-based company called Grass Roots. Going back to basics, a mystery shopper is a person who vists a shop/bar/restaurant to monitor the level of customer service received. There is no point having great products when your staff are not doing their job properly and giving good customer service. Everyone knows if the big boss is in town the staff will always act as if they are perfect little angels. BUT, who knows what they are like on a day-to-day basis?

Well, thats were I come into play. I am sent to various retailers to test the staff. We pose as normal customers, but after the visit write a detailed report of the experience from everything from the shop environment, how the staff greet me, the level of care and the overall customer service.

To apply as a mystery shopper you can log onto the Grass Roots website. You have to fill out quite a lengthy form with a lot of personal information to determine which mystery shops you will be suitable to.

Once you are accepted you will be on the Grass Roots shoppers database. They will not contact you directly with assignments, however you will be notified via email when an assignment in your area becomes available and you need to log-in to accept the task. This is the trickiest bit! You have to be so quick as the jobs get snapped up within minutes! My handy hint is that I use a Blackberry mobile phone so I receive notifications on my phone when I get an email. As soon as I inbox flashes I have a mad panic to log onto the nearest PC where ever I am to get first pickings on the assignments available.

The assignments range from shops, to banks, to bars, to restaurants -anywhere you will be getting customer service really! Part of being a mystery shopper is we cannot divulge which retailers they are, but they are nearly always main high street chains. On average you will get around £10 a job.

Now you have accepted an assignment you will be sent detailed breifing notes. It's important to read these and familiarise yourself before the job, as you wouldn't want to say the wrong thing or give yourself away. You must also make sure you know exactly what the task is and what you are looking for.

My first assignment today went really well. To be honest I was a little nervous as I thought I would stick out like a sore thumb, but of course that was in my head and I was just like a normal customer. I got really into the role and almost convinced myself it was me who was making the purchase. I also felt quite excited going 'under cover'!

As soon as I was finished at the shop I walked ten minutes down the road into a coffee shop to fill out my report. The report eventually needs to be completed online, however I took a print out with me to fill out immediately so all the information was really fresh in my mind. I later typed this up.

The reports are quite long and detailed. Being a mystery shopper really does require being obvservant with a really good eye for detail and a good memory too!

Another benefit from Mystery shopping for me is that I already work in a sales/retail environment, so now I am seeing customer service and analysing it from the customers point of view. I feel like this is going to be a great learning experience for me and will help me within my current job to get in extra sales and provide my customers top-notch service. It also looks great on your CV!

Overall I am really pleased with my mystery shopper experience! Yes, £10 is not a lot of money, but the whole process has taken me less than an hour and fitted into my lunchbreak, so if anyone is looking for a little bit of extra cash, this is an excellent and fun way to do it!!

If anyone wants any information or tips etc, feel free to contact me :)

Bring on my next assignment!!!!

Summary: An excellent way to go 'under cover' and get paid to shop!