Mystery shopping large-format electronics stores

What is shaping electronics

Consumer electronics and appliance buyers research online, compare prices across channels and judge brands on after-sales service as much as on features.

• Purchase journeys blend online research and in-store demos
• E-commerce and modern retail compete on price and delivery
• After-sales service drives repeat purchase

A television and audio brand, working in 15 cities across Germany, France, Italy & Spain. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A television and audio brand

Sector

Electronics

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Offline data collection, Reporting & insights, Data analytics & dashboards

The brand invested in in-store promoters and displays at electronics chains but suspected that sales staff often steered shoppers towards competing brands with better incentives.

• Deliver on the brief: mystery shopping large-format electronics stores.
• Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
• Set up a repeatable measure the client can track over time.

Scope: 600 store visits per wave.

Audiences we typically reach in electronics

Appliance and device buyersOwners and usersRetailers and sales staffE-commerce shoppersService technicians

Coverage: 15 cities across Germany, France, Italy & Spain. Markets: Germany, France, Italy and Spain. 600 store visits covered.

• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Spain

A structured quantitative design, so results could be compared across groups, locations and time.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Mystery shopping visits
3. 3Store-level scorecards
4. 4Insight

Trained mystery shoppers posed as customers looking for a new television, recording which brands were recommended, how well features were explained, display condition and promoter presence. Each visit was scored consistently and results were shared as store scorecards. Shoppers followed a consistent script, and a share of visits were repeated by a second shopper to check that scoring was reliable.

Offline data collectionReporting & insightsData analytics & dashboards

• Respondents were selected across 15 cities across Germany, France, Italy & Spain using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.

• Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person, supervised in the field.
• Auditors and mystery shoppers followed a standard checklist, recording evidence at each visit.

• Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
• Time and location checks on field interviews
• Supervisor accompaniment in the field
• Photo or document evidence for audit points
• Second-reviewer checks on scores
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Interactive dashboard for ongoing tracking

• Recommendations depended heavily on promoter presence and the incentives offered by chains.

Measuring what happens on the shop floor revealed the real return on promotional spending.

• The brand redesigned its incentive structure, improved product training and focused promoter coverage on the highest-traffic stores.
• Share the findings with the teams closest to customers so they can act quickly.

What we recommended, and the client put into practice

• Store-level scores in the following wave showed recommendations improving in stores where promoters had received the new training.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Interactive dashboard

• Continue the routine and review results every period.
• A natural follow-on question: how does a new product perform in real homes?