Retail
The retail landscape is in a state of constant change and reinvention. Online retailers have set the stage for thinking about retail in a way that is based on a more convenient and efficient shopping experience.
As many brick and mortar retailers close underperforming stores or shut their doors altogether, there remains a desire for human, face-to-face, buying interactions; however, there also grows expectations for a heightened customer experience. The most innovative and perceptive of retailers know that the way to survive is through the experience they provide.
One of the most useful tools used to measure the customer experience is collecting customer feedback, and it comes in many forms and degrees of usefulness.
Surveys are helpful for collecting large quantities of data points but lack the detailed information that mystery shops provide
Online reviews are biased toward a particularly negative or positive experience whereas mystery shops are unbiased
Internal audits lack the customer’s viewpoint, but mystery shops capture the operation in its natural state
How Our Strategic Feedback Programs Drive Value
Drive Operational Change
- Our clients use mystery shops to evaluate their training processes.
- Our clients use mystery shopping to set an operational benchmark and then increase that figure incrementally.
- Our clients use mystery shopping to stay on top of the operation and ensure that their customers have an exceptional experience.
- Our clients build mystery shop programs to reflect their company culture.
Constructive Criticism and Coaching
- We work with our clients, upfront, to ensure the mystery shop program reflects their culture, goals and outlook.
- Our clients use mystery shopping in a constructive way, not punitively.
- Mystery shops are used to improve a company’s operations and employees, not belittle them.
- Our clients view mystery shop feedback as positive and encouraging, and it helps them to set goals and work to improve.
Preferred Method of Collecting Feedback
- Mystery shops are our clients’ preferred tool for collecting customer feedback because of the accuracy and depth of feedback.
- Many of our clients use surveys in excess, but the number of questions asked and data that can be collected is limited. Mystery shopping is a much more detailed and thorough tool.

Don’t Just Take Our Word For It: Hear What Our Clients Are Saying
“A Closer Look has been very easy to work with! During the pandemic, we pivoted to different types of mystery shops for our team members, as well as had an increased need for competitive market analyses because of the ever-changing market landscapes. Very happy to recommend A Closer Look to anyone who would like thorough, detailed, and swift mystery shops and competitive market analyses.”
– VP of Sales and Marketing, MBK Senior Living
Let us tell the story of your guest experience first-hand.

