Quick Stats About Mystery Shopping

According to Nation's Restaurant News, 70 percent to 80 percent of fast-food restaurants employ mystery shoppers. McDonald's has employed mystery shoppers since 2002, and 13,600 U.S. locations employ mystery shoppers to make one visit per month, per store. In exchange for a free meal, mystery shoppers take note of the front counter and drive-through, the speed of service, the accuracy of the order, and the cleanliness of the restaurant. They evaluate three menu items (a sandwich, fries and a drink) and the friendliness of the staff. When the shoppers get home, they fill out online reports and e-mail them to the companies.

Statistics have shown that as much as 90% of customers who are unhappy will not say anything directly to the service but default immediately to competition. Repeat business is perhaps one of the most important aspects to a thriving company and therefore mystery shopping helps to examine this.

A US government study shows that consumer research shows that one unhappy customer will tell 8-10 people of their bad experience.  Each of those 10 people, statistics show, will tell 5 more customers about the original bad experience. This means that 60 potential customers are actively turned away when one customer is not cared for by your employees.

Additionally after price the greatest factor between competitors is customer service. Mystery shopping helps monitor that service. Statistically speaking 69% of customers will leave a business due to poor customer service. Therefore, customer service is an incredibly important factor for businesses to measure.

 

http://www.jobmonkey.com/mysteryshopping/mystery-shopping-facts.html
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Moms/story?id=1730166&page=1
http://www.restaurantprofits.com/mystery.htm