- Image by Old Shoe Woman via Flickr
Video mystery shopping is a whole different animal in the mystery shopping market. It’s much like traditional video shopping except the shopper is wired with a hidden camera system that digitally records video and audio of the shopping experience.
These sorts of assignments can be for any kind of business. Video shopping is done for fast food restaurants, hotels, apartment complexes, and even senior housing facilities, so long as the individual’s faces are blocked out. You just have to make sure that the mystery shopping company you hire knows the legal documentation that is required and make sure there is proper compliance.
You also have to know each state’s laws relative to video or audio recording. There are single party and two party states. Single party states only require that one party of the recording event be aware a recording is taking place. Two party states require that both (or all) sides are aware that video or audio recording is going on.
Video mystery shoppers have to have previously proven themselves as dependable mystery shoppers in the past. Sometimes there are background checks, and often a video training program is suggested, if not outright required. Video mystery shoppers do make more money on their shops though.
Video shoppers are in higher demand, and most mystery shopping companies actually share shopper information to help ensure that we all have a good pool to draw from. As a result, video shoppers potentially have access to more assignments.
We generally suggest that video shoppers buy their own equipment. If they buy their own equipment, they are more likely to get more work, because the mystery shopping company doesn’t have to send out equipment and worry about getting it back. If someone has invested their own money in equipment to become a mystery shopper, they are also far more likely to take the assignments seriously, which means they are seen as more dependable by the mystery shopping company, which turns into more higher-paying assignments.
