UK. Specialist travel retail consultancy 2.0 & Partners has developed an app/web portal dedicated to mystery shopping in travel retail environments.
The Mystery Services web portal allows the London-headquartered company’s mystery shoppers to upload their completed survey via mobile phone, iPad, PC or other electronic device. At the same time, airports and their retailers or brand partners under review can see how they are performing by logging in using any of these devices.
The app also allows users to generate charts and reports in order to compare historical data, see how individual stores have scored and find out whether improvements have been made.
The Mystery Services app was developed for the travel retail environment and has been implemented at a major Italian airport, with others set to follow, said the consultancy.
2.0 & Partners CEO Fabio Bernardini said: “This technological advance that we have introduced will be very useful to both airports and retailers/brands. Not only can they see a store’s current performance – based on a series of criteria – as soon as these are uploaded by our mystery shoppers, but they also have access to historical information to assess whether they are moving in the right direction.”
Stores are evaluated on four key criteria: visual, sales process, travel selling, and customer experience, with each weighted as a percentage to give an overall score out of 100.
Within these criteria, other parameters are also measured and reviewed. These include hospitality, general management, product presentation, up-selling or cross-selling abilities, and the handling of multicultural demands.
Bernardini added: “The parameters are extensive and detailed so that we can really get to the heart of where any issue might lie. For instance, the handling of multicultural demands reviews the seller’s ability to quickly understand cultural purchasing behaviour traits and adapt their sales style to the client.
“As airports increase their international route networks, selling to travellers of Asian, Middle Eastern or North American origin often requires a very different approach. This is becoming an increasingly important area for airports because these passengers are often the highest spending.”
