What You Need to Know About Secret Shopping Jobs

Part One, How to Get Started

I have been a secret shopper for over six years, and I am repeatedly asked, "How do I get started?" Well, quite frankly, there are no secrets to getting started, no investments, no fees to pay to work for companies or search databases. All it really takes to get started is time and patience.

What's it all about?

Secret shopping is the title for the industry as a whole, and the title most recognizable to the general public. It also makes-up the majority of the assignments for the industry. However, in addition to secret shopping, there are other types of work that fall under this umbrella. The various types of work available include: auditing, merchandising, digital work, reveal shopping, tele-shopping (not to be confused with tele-marketing), scheduling, editing, exit interviewing and more.

Secret Shopping is as the title implies. It is shopping incognito to evaluate the daily activities of a shop from a customer's point of view.
Each and every assignment is assigned certain criteria, and the shop's score is based upon how well the shop meets the assigned criteria.

Secret shopping is NOT all about the negative

Dozens of times, I have been told by people what a good shopper they would make because they received bad service at store XYZ down the street and they could write a report on it. On the contrary, no one has ever told me they would make a good shopper because they received excellent service from store XYZ down the street and could write a report on it. Secret shopping is not about looking for "bad" or to "catch" an employee in a wrongful act. It is more about verifying that the employees and the location are meeting company standards.

Getting Started
The three most important needs to get started are patience, patience, and patience. A full-time career in secret shopping will not happen over night. Secret shopping is self-employment, and, as with any new business, it takes time to build it. Once built, there are so many benefits that can't be matched in any other industry: