Demand for mystery shoppers rises as banks, shops want better service quality

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Industry players say a rising number of financial firms use mystery shoppers to ensure that their staff comply with regulatory requirements

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Industry players said demand for mystery shopping was rising in Hong Kong as more companies look to improving their service quality. Photo Getty/iStock

Enoch Yiu

Published: 5:30pm, 5 Oct 2017Updated: 4:14pm, 26 Jan 2018

The world of mystery shoppers has become less obscure to businesses in Hong Kong, which are increasingly turning to the shoppers to identify problems in order to raise service quality.

Industry experts said a rising number of financial firms and retailers were hiring them to pose as customers to pick out what is not done well, as businesses are hit by economic headwinds on slowing growth in China and the technological disruption that is forcing companies to rethink the way they operate.

Billy Man Shu-shing, managing director of Mansfield Consulting, a start-up that he founded five years ago, is one of the firms to ride on the growing demand for mystery shoppers in the city.

“We have seen our business increase at an annual growth rate of 30 to 50 per cent over the past five years. There are about a dozen companies offering mystery shopping service in Hong Kong,” Man said.

The company started with five people and now has 12 full-time employees and over 700 part-time mystery shoppers.

Billy Man, managing director of Mansfield Consulting said his business was growing annually at between 30 to 50 per cent. Photo: Nora Tam

“Our customers are mainly banks, brokerages, wedding photographers, car dealers, jewellery retailers, restaurants and convenient stores,” Man told the South China Morning Post in an interview in his office in Yau Tong.