Online Secret Shopping

If you do not believe ecommerce has paved a new path on the way we do business, then you are probably still working out to videos tapes instead of DVDs. In just a short amount of time, the internet has created a world of opportunity for every industry imaginable. Although, doctors still cannot perform brain surgery over the internet while the patient places bids on an online auction, industries like self storage can rent self storage units to customers without waking up a property manager. For many years, retail businesses competed against one another using customer service as a weapon. Each swore they offered the best customer service and used secret shopping to prove it. So the question is, how do companies monitor the customers online shopping experience? Well, the internet may have changed our lives, but it has not changed the way we monitor the customers experience. Secret shopping is alive and doing well on the internet.

You are probably wondering, what is the secret to online secret shopping? First, it is not much of a secret. A secret shopper or mystery shopper visits an online shopping site and pretends he is a real customer that is interested in shopping. As he is secret shopping, the most important qualities of the web page are evaluated. Similar to how a retail store is judged by its appearance, the overall look of the website is examined. No one wants to walk into a hideous store and no one wants to visit an ugly website. Websites follow the same natural laws given to snowflakes. Every website is different. Therefore, the way a website is navigated also is different from another. Consequently, secret shopping involves evaluating the ease of use and the ease of shopping. Online shoppings purpose is convenience and if a customer has a difficult time navigating the website, he is going to click that little red X in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Next the secret shopper, like a real customer, will buy something. The purpose here is to evaluate the speed of delivery. A lot is involved with the delivery besides the shipping company. Have you ever noticed those handling fees? The online business handles that part. Secret shopping is concerned with how quick the online business can get the product out of their door and into your door. Is the item in stock? Check. Did it get sent out at a reasonable amount of time? Check. Is the product exactly how it was described? Check. Did they charge the advertised amount? Check. These are the type of questions a secret shopper asks himself during a secret shopping exercise. 

Sounds easy? Well the job is not over yet. Secret shopping continues. The secret shopper now has to write a report about his online shopping experience. He offers feedback and suggestions along with a diary of his thoughts during the whole event.

The online secret shopping motive is the same as secret shopping an actual store. Online businesses want to provide their customers with the ultimate online shopping experience while at the same time generating more revenue.

StoragMart SW 2nd Ave & SW 7th St Miami River Miami, FL 33130 (866) 748-6951

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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