So, what is mystery shopping and who is a mystery shopper?

Mystery shopping is a part of customer experience where customer experience companies or mystery shopping companies set up extensive questionnaires and processes as they send out trained and filtered individuals that fit the target audience as an undercover shopper. The trained mystery shoppers for restaurants then go about the regular buying process as they note down the problem areas and document the entire process. This data is then stored, reported and analyzed to decide on changes that can be incorporated to better the state of the QSR, increase revenue, increase customer loyalty and ensure customer satisfaction is reached. The mystery shopping audit is done frequently and in a convenient manner to establish consistency, stability and standards across every branch and franchise in the same QSRs.

But, how does mystery shopping act as a CX solution to QSRs and food chains across the world? As we mentioned that the customer experience provided in QSRs becomes the deciding factor for customers when it comes to picking their favorite or most visited QSR in a dynamic and competitive market like the QSR industry; the mystery shopping solution offered by customer experience companies can answer questions to problems occurring on the ground such as:

• Ordering: Once your customer has gone through your social media presence over the course of building your brand image or gotten you as a recommendation from friends/family or just come across a promotional activity online or offline that appeals to them they are to ‘check/try you out’. Once the initial contact is made it is up to you to ensure that the customer likes you and keeps coming back. How do you make sure that happens? Through excellent customer experience. The mystery shopper in this case steps in to find out whether your employees are greeting the customers and if the behavior of the staff is pleasant and professional. The mystery shopper also takes notes on whether or not the staff is upselling other products to increase the final bill and asking the right questions for their order. They are also trained to find out if the potential customer will face any issues at their order junction if any items are unavailable for testing and if the staff informs them about it or not.
• Billing: since QSRs are a self-service platform primarily the billing experience and the customer experience that comes along with it is also very important. Mystery shoppers check what counters are open and closed and if that is leading to an inconvenience or long waiting lines. The trained mystery shoppers are also checking out whether multiple payment channels are used or not and if the right amount is charged with every order.
• Delivery: be it online or offline the food at QSRs must be delivered fast and any delay must be managed carefully with precision. Mystery shopping companies and customer experience companies train their mystery shoppers to note down the time it takes for orders to be delivered and if the delay was justified with prompt and right communication by the staff.
• Quality: although QSRs are relatively cheaper than other dining formats in the F&B industry there is no reason for it to serve a lesser quality of food. Hence, the mystery shopper checks if the food was up to the mark, if the presentation was done well, the taste of the food was consistent across outlets, the temperature of the food was appropriate, mainly if cleanliness was maintained inside and outside the store and if hygiene is being maintained while packing and processing orders.
• Standards: it is obvious that certain branches function better than others in QSRs but mystery shoppers get to the nitty gritty when it comes to noticing and observing. They check if customers are being managed when they walk-in, if the table clearance time is short or not, if the promotional activities are hitting the standards requested by the management and more. Irrespective of geographical locations mystery shoppers test out if the basic functionality and operations are being maintained.

Sonata CX provides mystery shopping solutions to its clients with the goal to report and analyze any internal silos that may be harming the growth of the company. Our mystery shoppers are trained extensively to notice every minute detail of work that your employees put in. The criteria for mystery shopping in QSR that we have mentioned above will help your QSR brand update policies, timelines, train staff and ease out your decision making process. All this while increasing revenues, increasing customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer success.