Lodge Service regularly support charities by undertaking bespoke Mystery Shopping or Test Purchasing programmes, but what’s the difference and how do you decide which service is appropriate?
The below FAQs may help you decide which path to take:
What’s the difference between a test purchase and a mystery shop?
The focus of a Test Purchase is staff integrity at the point of sale; essentially, we check that our purchase was rung through the till correctly, we received the correct change and that and that an accurate receipt was issued.
A Mystery Shop will focus on the customer experience and will highlight good examples of staff behavior and customer interaction, providing opportunities for improvement. It is often possible to include some elements of a mystery shopping visit with a test purchase, as long as the security element is not diluted by too many customer experience questions.
Who will carry out my test purchase?
Lodge Service utilise the services of a nationwide network of experienced test purchasers, many with a commercial or loss prevention background, able to respond at short notice to requests for support. All our assessors are known to us personally and have been fully vetted and trained for their role before being allocated any tasks.
What management structure is in place to support the test purchaser and ensure they are briefed correctly?
The test purchase team is managed centrally by a National Test Purchase Manager with over 35 years’ experience in the field. She is supported by our Head of Profit Protection, who manages multiple similar contracts for a wide variety of clients. All test purchasers are personally briefed on the task by telephone and are fully supported before, during and after the visit.
How much notice do you need before carrying out the visit?
We ideally need a minimum of 5 working days’ notice to allow us time to allocate, brief the test purchaser and prepare the report on our online reporting database. However, we are always happy to consider short-notice requests and will work proactively with you to meet your business needs wherever possible.
How and when will I receive my report?
We use an online reporting tool, which facilitates timely report submission (you will receive a full written report within 24 hours of the visit) plus provides detailed summary reports showing patterns and trends across multiple locations within your estate. We will also contact you by telephone immediately after the visit if we noticed any till discrepancies which need to be brought to your immediate attention.
Do you do single site, one-off visits?
Yes, we are happy to consider one-off visits and you don’t need to enter into long term agreements involving set programmes of activities. We aim to be as flexible as possible and to work with you to provide real-time solutions to negate immediate concerns and issues affecting your business.
Further Details
Please give us a call to discuss what we can offer or alternatively send us your enquiry on our Contact Us form.
