Reference no: EM132263763

Project Description: Many retail companies employ service companies or individuals who conduct mystery shopping exercises. This involves sending individuals into a store who act like regular shoppers but secretly are collecting information about the store. In essence, mystery shopping is designed to identify whether a store's brand image is supported by its actual operations.

For example, if a store presents itself in its advertisements and promotions that customer service is a high priority, mystery shopping can help verify if the actual level of customer service in the store matches with the promises made. This can be a very useful tool for uncovering operational issues that can harm the company in the short and long term.

This project involves students acting as a mystery shopper at two retail stores. The idea is that you will identify what image a store is trying to project and then identifying whether its brand image and positioning is being supported by what one actually experiences at the store.

Assignment Details: You will carry out the following activities as it relates to the mystery shopping exercise.

1. Select Stores: Select two retail stores/companies that have a physical presence in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and are competitive with one another. It may be either national retailers (for example Macy's, Kohl's, Best Buy) or local retailers. Do NOT select restaurants or other food (i.e., grocery stores) establishments for this exercise. As much as possible, select a store where you normally DO NOT shop but could afford to buy something (and then return it later).

2. Create Personal Questionnaire: Once you have identified the stores, you need to develop a mystery shopper's questionnaire to use as you evaluate the store. These questionnaires, to be clear, are not to be completed while you are shopping but simply guide you on what to look for as you are shopping and to complete once you are done.

The questionnaire should have both quantitative questions (e.g., what was the sales staff level of friendliness: 1 - very friendly to 5 - very unfriendly) and qualitative questions (e.g., how did you feel about the overall experience in the store and with its personnel?).

Suggested Questionnaire Topics: The list below provides some categories of topics which you can use to investigate your selected companies. Within each of these topics, it will be necessary for you to identify specific questions upon which you want to base your investigation.

For example, the first topic below is customer service. The key is, within that topic, decide the specific elements you will investigate such as friendliness, willingness to answer questions or suggest alternative products/services, initiated conversation, etc.

As you read through the following list, please identify others that you think are appropriate.

Customer service: how friendly, cooperative, helpful were the sales personnel? Did they help you in selecting your products/services? How did they appear to interact with other customers? How long did it take for someone to approach you once you entered a store? Was their appearance - personal grooming and clothes -professional given the type of store?

Cleanliness: was the store products and/or displays clean and orderly?

Inventory: did they have a good selection of products/services? Did they have stock in a variety of sizes, colors, etc. in most products? If you were looking for a specific size/color/other attribute of a product, did they help you find it or see if it was available elsewhere? (e.g., another store, backorder, in stock room?)

Store layout/appearance/organization: was the store layout easily understood and help you in your shopping experience? What was your impression when approaching the store?

Telephone support (a special note: it is ideal that you also call into the store and ask questions such as availability of a specific product, store hours and such to gauge their behavior on the phone too)

Optional: Checkout: was checking out simple, quick, friendly? Did they have enough people helping at checkout?

Optional: Handling returns: was the policy clear and how friendly/willing were they in exchanging/returning product?

Salesmanship: did they suggest other products - upselling or cross-selling - and did they do these things in a professional manner?

3. Schedule Shopping: It is important that you shop in the respective stores at least twice before completing the survey. This gives a fuller experience and can base your assessments on more than one occasion that may not have been representative of the store's typical operations.

It would also be useful to shop at different times of the day and week. When you are shopping, behave precisely as you would in any normal situation. For example, if you select a clothing store, pick out clothes, try them on, ask a sales clerk for specific sizes and otherwise engage the store and its personnel in a normal manner.

4. Complete Questionnaires and Report: After you have finished shopping, complete your own questionnaire for the stores. Once you have done this, you must also write up a short report - no more than four pages, double-spaced - in which you will answer the following general questions:

1. What was your overall impression of the stores - with detailed illustrations from your shopping visits - and how did it match up to what you were expecting prior to entering the store?

2. How would you compare the two stores that you visited along the categories that you selected for your survey?

These questions are purposely left somewhat vague so that you can explore specific issues that you uncovered in your mystery shopping experience.

Assessment: Students will be assessed on two principal elements:

Report Analysis: Students should construct a detailed questionnaire and collect strong quantitative and qualitative data. They should also provide a thorough analysis and comparison of the selected store based on the data/questionnaires.

Language Proficiency: Students will also be assessed based on basic English language proficiency including standard grammar, spelling, and usage.

You are required to add your questionnaire and findings as an appendix item and does not count toward your maximum page total.