Shadow Shopper Additional Services

Why use competitor evaluations?

You have competitors. You don't operate in a vacuum. Every day, your customers have a choice of doing business with you - or with your competitors. It's easy to lose a customer. Customer loyalty is at an all time low and customer churn at an all time high.

You can use this to your advantage. If your customers are likely to defect to your competitor, its also true that your competitors' customers are likely to give your business a try. What a great opportunity. So how can you give them what they want?

The only way to know is to do a competitive evaluation. We will have the same shadow shopper go to your business and to your competitors' business. You can compare how you measured up, and how your competitors measured up. More than that, as the shopper is profiled to your customer they will be able to tell you what they wanted and what they valued. Consumer research and mystery shopping together? Invaluable information!

Price Checks

Shadow Shopper can do price checks at your resellers, your own locations or your competitors. Your data is available within 24 hours of the visit, on your secure website, and can be downloaded into Excel with a single mouse click.

You can choose the time of the day and the day of the week when you want the price checks done, and they can be combined with a mystery shopping visit for maximum efficiency.

Online Surveys

Knowing what your customers want is the basis of your success. But what they wanted yesterday may not be what they want today. By the time you have set up a traditional customer survey or market research program your customers may have already moved on!

Shadow Customer surveys can be set up online within days. We will set up a secure microsite, where your customers can answer your survey, and you can get the results as they happen in days, not months.

Shadow Consumer surveys that also normally take weeks to set up can be done in days. We give you access to tens of thousands of consumers, segemented on demographics and consumer behaviour, and you can have your answers by next week!

Phone Checks

Call Centres are the public voice of your business. And it's what the public loves to hate. Incoming or outging calls - shadow shoppers report on the accuracy of information and the quality of the interaction. You know right away if there are problems.

We also ask the 'what if' questions to include market research. What could have made the difference? What would have made you accept?

Shadow Shopper has real customers doing the calls so that not only do you check your performance, you have your market research built in!

Email Checks

Most companies have a 'contact us' form on their website. But statistics show that most don't manage it effectively. Customers usually get a bounceback ('we have received your email and will be in contact....') which is about as satisfying as 'please hold, your call is important to us'. And as well received.

Few companies respond within the time stated, and when they do the replies often don't answer the question. Web stats may tell you the average time to reply, but what they won't tell you is how satisfied your customer was with the reply.

Did they get the answer they needed? Or did they read the response, give up, and move to a competitor? The only way you can find out what your customers experience is to have an independent mystery shopping program to check what actually happens.

Website Checks

Most people today shop online, and its growing fast. Even customers who buy from stores have usually done their 'homework' on the Internet first.

Whether you are totally 'clicks' or a combination 'clicks & mortar' your website is important. The customer experience has to be positive or they will simply click - and buy - elsewhere.

You probably measure visitors to your site, where they go and how long they stay on your site. You will know your 'Abandoned Cart' statistics and conversion rate.

But while your web stats can tell you how your business is performing they can't tell you why. Only getting real customer feedback about their experience will do that.

You need to know what real customers experience on your website, and whether they find it easy to get information on your site and to buy from you. You are not going to get that information from your web stats. The only way is a mystery shopping program.

Home Deliveries

We've all had the disappointing home deliveries: the drooping flowers, the cold soggy pizza, the badly-packed goods, the wrong items. Wouldn't it be nice to see exactly what your customers receive when they order from you?

Shadow Shoppers can take photos of the delivered goods and include them in their report so that you can see what they actually received. Of course they can report on everything else that relates to the delivery as well, so that you get a very clear picture of your customer's experience.

Photo & Video

'A picture is worth a thousand words' and reports with pictures can show you things you would not normally see or get in a report. Of course, not all assignments are suited to taking photos as the shopper has to remain incognito and taking photos, even surrepticiously, would be obvious.

But many assignments are ideally suited. Having actual photos of your products as displayed in resellers, meals as served to customers, washroom conditions, purchased products as wrapped by employees - the list is huge!

Video mystery shops, where the shopper has a concealed camera and films (with sound) the whole interaction can be a real eye-opener. Until now not used in Australia, it is commonplace overseas. See how your employees actually treat customers, and see your business through your customers' eyes.

Staff Opinions

Staff always have opinions about how the business should be run, and are often in touch with the changing wants of your customers as they are your 'front line'.

Finding out what their opinions and suggestions are has a 2-fold advantage. You get some great information from people who serve your customers day in day out, and your employees are empowered by having a channel to have their voice heard.

Shadow Shopper can set up your secure staff opinion site where you can harvest these suggestions, and reward great ideas. Don't overlook the wealth of information and innovation in your company.

Reseller Checks

Manufacturers rely on resellers to sell their products. But what if they aren't doing the right thing? What if they are giving your product a bad rap?

You need to know that your resller's staff are giving the right information about your products, and (crucially) recommending your products. If your reseller is recommending other products over yours and suggesting your products are inferior you need to know about it.

The only way to know is by mystery shopping.

We send in experienced shoppers, with the same profile as your customers, who enquire about your products and your competitor's products. You can find out what is being said about your product and what products are being recommended to the customers.

Don't just hope that your resellers are doing the right thing. Put in place a Shadow Shopper program to actually find out.