Mystery Shopping
Mystery Shopping shows what your customers experience in-store and in customer service.
Scores tell you the level, but not what to fix. We visit your stores, partners, or customer service like an ordinary customer would. You get comparable findings and fixes, which we go through with you — and with your partners where needed.
- You’ll know what customers are actually told when they ask about your product.
- You’ll see exactly where the sale is lost and what to fix first.
Does this sound familiar?
The product is good and the brand is strong. Yet the sale is still decided in the store.
The campaign is planned, materials delivered, and salespeople trained. Then a customer walks into the store and asks about your product.
What they’re told depends on who’s on shift and what they remember. From that moment on, management usually sees only the sales figures.
- Salespeople are friendly and know the product, but the offer and the close never happen.
- The campaign shows up in the plans, but customers don’t notice it in the store.
- Someone else is selling your product, and you have no visibility into what customers are told.
- It’s been a while since the last test, and no one knows which way things have gone.
Sales figures show which store lost the sale. Mystery Shopping shows at which point in the conversation.
What is Mystery Shopping?
We visit like an ordinary customer and tell you what we saw.
Mystery Shopping means a tester visits your store, partner, or customer service as a secret shopper — just like an ordinary customer. They record what they were told and what was left unsaid.
The findings are compared against what the customer should experience. From there, we make fixes to sales, service, and materials. That’s why we start with you: management and the team first explain what a good customer encounter looks like.
An outsider notices what the people inside the company have grown used to. The tester looks at the experience through a new customer’s eyes. They don’t know your industry’s internal jargon, so they notice things an industry professional would easily overlook.
The right answers go into the question framework from you, so the tester doesn’t need to be an expert in your field.
Management and the team define what the customer should experience
We go through your goals, campaigns, and sales staff guidelines with you. From this we build a question framework: what's tested, in which channels, and what the findings are compared against.
The tester visits stores and makes contact
Visits and contacts are made to stores, partners, or customer service within an agreed timeframe. Findings from each visit are recorded according to the question framework.
Findings become an action list
We compile the findings and highlight the points that decide the sale. We suggest what to fix first. You decide where to start.
Debrief for management and partners
We go through the findings with management and, where needed, with your partners. The debrief focuses on what's working and what could be done better. The baseline is kept for the next test.
Mystery Shopping shows what happens in the store. Customer interviews show why the customer bought — or didn’t. Together, they reveal both the point of failure and the reason behind it.
Mystery Shopping services
We test the channel where your customers meet you.
Customers meet you in your own store, in a partner’s store, by phone, or online. We choose the channels and number of visits based on what you want to know, and tailor the question framework to your industry and goals.
Your own stores
A tester visits your stores as a customer. You'll see how the customer is greeted, how their needs are identified, and how products and campaigns are presented to them.
- A question framework based on your goals and sales staff guidelines
- Test visits to selected stores
- Findings on greeting, needs assessment, offering, and closing the sale
- Debrief for management and store managers
- Starting from a few stores, expandable into a nationwide network
- Number of visits and rounds based on the size and needs of your chain
- One test round or several rounds with comparisons
Partners and resellers
When your product is sold in a partner's store, the customer meets you through someone else's salesperson. We test how your product is presented, whether a competitor is recommended instead, and whether your product is offered at all.
- A baseline from a previous test, if one has been done
- Test visits to partner stores
- Findings on product presentation, competitor recommendations, and upselling by partner
- Debrief for you and your partners, plus refinements to training and materials
- Number of visits based on how many partners and stores are tested
- Debrief with partners too, if agreed
Customer service by phone and online
A tester calls, sends a message, or shops in your online store. You'll see how quickly the customer gets a response, whether their question is understood, and whether the interaction leads to a sale.
- Test contacts by phone, email, message, or online store
- Findings on response time, needs assessment, and offering
- A comparison against what your guidelines promise the customer
- Debrief for customer service and sales managers
- Number of contacts based on how many channels are tested
- Can be combined with store testing
Channels can be tested on their own or together.
What our customers say
Our customers describe what the collaboration led to.
An NPS of 100 tells us our customers recommend us. The number doesn’t tell us why, so we let the customer tell us themselves.
NPS 100 · Our customers recommend usTrustmary customer survey 2026
"You didn't dwell on the weaker results at all — quite the opposite, your approach was encouraging and supportive."
Jussi KoskinenHead of Service Provider Business, Finland and Baltics · F-Secure
Try it yourself
One colleague and three questions.
If you'd like to try it yourself, ask a colleague who isn't known in the store to ask three things about your product: what it costs, why to choose it, and what else is recommended with it. If the answers match what's in your sales staff guidelines, you're in good shape. If they surprise you, it's worth a conversation.
FAQ
What people ask about Mystery Shopping
Why not test our own stores ourselves?
You can test it yourself too. But your own people are often recognized in the store. Once a salesperson knows the person asking is from the company, the conversation changes. That's not the salesperson's fault — it's the situation. An outside tester sees the same thing an ordinary customer would. We bring the findings together into one clear picture and bring in solutions from outside your own industry too. Testing doesn't take time away from sales work.
What gets tested in Mystery Shopping?
We agree on this with you based on your goals. Common areas tested include how the customer is greeted, needs assessment, product presentation, handling the customer's doubts, upselling, and closing the sale.
How many visits are needed?
The test can start with a few stores and expand into a nationwide network. The number of visits and rounds is tailored to the size and needs of your company — how many stores, partners, or channels are tested, and how detailed a picture you want. We agree on the number with you before starting.
Will staff and partners know about the test?
We agree on this with you before starting. The purpose of the test isn't to catch mistakes but to see what the customer experiences. That's why the debrief focuses on what's working and what could be done better. We hold the debrief with partners together with you.
Can Mystery Shopping be done by phone or online?
Yes. The tester calls, sends a message, or shops in your online store just like any other customer.
What happens after the test?
In the debrief, you decide what to fix first. We can help with the fixes too — for example, in sales staff coaching or materials. A follow-up test shows whether the change has reached the customer.
Authors
Who you'll meet when you get in touch.
Tomi Tapper
eMBA · Aiemmin toimitusjohtaja, Kiva
Taustaa: Dustin Group, Fox Racing, Arwidson
+358 400 797 300
tomi.tapper@voittogroup.com
Mikko Fransila
BSc · Aiemmin johtaja, PwC
Taustaa: Deloitte, EY, Nokia
+358 50 567 6088
mikko.fransila@voittogroup.com
Markku Larkio
MSc · Aiemmin toimitusjohtaja, Chilitaito
Taustaa: Lidl, Microsoft, FootBalance
+358 50 409 4142
markku.larkio@voittogroup.com
Contact
What does your customer hear when they ask about your product?
A few sentences in your own words is enough. We’ll respond within one business day and tell you directly if we can help and where we would start. If the matter can be handled without us, we’ll tell you that too.
Would you rather talk?
A 45-minute conversation with one of us can also be booked directly from the calendar.
45 min · Teams or Google Meet · No sales pitch
Or by email: hello@voittogroup.com