General
Mystery Shopping is a tool used by Market Research companies, as a qualitative assessment tool. The company sends Mystery Shoppers (i.e. the shoppers), to conduct a dummy purchase procedure, while examining specific aspects in the selected branch.

The Survey Procedure
Often the shoppers will be looking for specific details. Common details they look for include:

-how long it takes before they are greeted
-whether or not the greeting is friendly
-whether they are invited to come back to the store
-cleanliness
-speed of service

Shoppers are often given specific ways to make the transaction less "run of the mill" so the employees' knowledge and customer service will be tested more than usual. For instance, at a restaurant a customer may be asked to pretend they are lactose-intolerant, or at a clothing store a shopper could inquire about gift-wrapping services.

Note: Not all Mystery Shopping scenarios include a purchase

The most common venues to be mystery shopped are retail stores, fast food, and banks. Virtually any context where there is a customer/business interaction is open to Mystery Shopping, including on-line surveys.

Background
The method has its origins in the 1940's and was originally intended as a mechanism to control employers' integrity. Tools used for Mystery Shopping assessments can range from simple questionnaires to complete audio and video recordings. With the Internet opportunities for application of this method have greatly increased. Many mystery shopping companies are completely administered through the Internet, allowing virtually any consumer to register and find mystery shopping jobs for free.

Statistics
The Mystery Shopping industry had an estimated value of nearly $600 million in the United States in 2004, according to a 2005 market size report commissioned by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA). Companies that participated in the Report experienced an average growth of 11.1 percent from 2003 to 2004 and the average growth in the number of shops during that period was 12.2 percent. The Report estimates more than 8.1 million mystery shops were conducted in 2004. The Report represents the first attempt to quantify the size of the mystery shopping industry.

Fraud Alert
Marketing schemes have emerged in the past several years attempting to lure unsuspecting consumers into paying money in order to learn how to become a mystery shopper. However, all the information necess

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