Secret shoppers provide a valuable source of information to management. They visit banks and retail stores to handle routine transactions and record the quality of service and state of the facility that they experience. When mystery shopping performance criteria are linked to company training efforts, the result is better service for your customers. 

Monitoring planned versus actual purchases can help marketers understand the impact of out-of-stock conditions or replacement of a particular brand/container type/size with an alternate product. This type of research offers valuable insights into product line optimization.

Sometimes it is simply impossible to put actual product into real stores to learn which of several product options people will buy. It may be too expensive or the product may not be in production. An alternative is to create a mock store or a mock shelf set. Qualifying consumers are given money and asked to buy the items they would actually select if they were really shopping. Follow-up questions ask why they made the selections they did.

What beer does the Latino market prefer in San Antonio? Is there a better marketing opportunity for infant formula among first time mothers or among mothers with more than one child? Is there a regional preference for cabinet styles in the Northeast? These are some of the questions a segmentation study might answer. This type of project helps marketing managers understand specific niche markets for the goods and services they sell.