Need questions for grocery store

I accepted a shop for a grocery store without realizing I have to hit every department and ask questions, while remembering names and descriptions. Four of these areas area behind counters all in a row. That won't be obvious when I go down the line asking questions! Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for questions to ask at all the departments? Chicken Kitchen, Deli, Produce, Pick and Prep, Bakery, Sausage Works (I don't think my store actually has this), Meat and Seafood, and Beer Den.

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More About Grocery Store Mystery Shopping

First, do not feel that you need to visit those counters :all i a row." Visit one, move elsewhere to browse or engage other associates, return to one of the others, rinse and repeat. For the bakery, asking how many people a small sheet cake will feed may be a good question. Produce: which type of apples is best for making applesauce. Beer: what is a shandy? Seafood: ask for country or region of origin for the shrimp or mussels. Deli: onions on the potato salad?

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I ask all of them about something having to do with a party so it looks like I'm planning. How far in advance do I need to order a deli tray/custom decorated cake, do you have any fruit/veggie trays, do you have any shrimp platters, etc. Like walesmaven said, you don't have to do them in a row and from my experience, they aren't concerned at all with where you go after you leave their counter or where you just came from.

Do you have organic apples?
Are there artificial ingredients in the cake frosting?
How far in advance can I order a special cake?
Is the hamburger ground chuck?
Is there any salt free roast beef?
I could think of a million questions since I cook a lot.
I keep a small note book and make believe it is my shopping list, you can use your phone also. I mark each page ahead with the department and make my notes as I walk through the store, easy.

@Tarah2222 wrote:

I accepted a shop for a grocery store without realizing I have to hit every department and ask questions, while remembering names and descriptions.

Next time check out the Shopper Instructions before you commit to a shop for that MSC. Months ago, I read the instructions beforehand and decided it was too much work for too little money.

MSPA Gold Certified 2003

Just sticking my nose in here...Trend Source, or the Source, gives you 3-4 questions to ask in three or four Focus depts, Deli, Meat, Produce, and you can ask whatever question you want in the Grocery section, if its about looking for a particular item.. I'm sorry TS, but some of their questions are kinda dumb...like I'm going to ask some young guy the best way to cook an item I've been cooking for years? lol...oh well, you can ask them, but maybe change the wording around just a bit so as not to sound too dense...I KNOW the stores I shop at tend to look at you oddly when you are in there, week after week asking questions...I had to tell a scheduler I needed to avoid one store for a while as the dept manager always found a reason to appear just after I asked my question...so, I followed up and asked another question of my own to maybe throw them off...trust me, if they have several people doing these shops and one person gets asked the same 'unusual' question by more than one person, I'd think they'd start to become suspicious...maybe not...

Usually, Tarah, they only want questions at 3-4 depts, plus a grocery person, (if you can find one on the floor), and you just need to count the associates in the non-specified depts...be sure to check your instructions before doing the shops...I too keep some pieces of notebook paper UNDER a grocery list, then I walk away from whomever I spoke with and jot down the info on that person...I make a sheet with all the depts and note the number as I walk through each dept, then with the Focus depts I add a quick abbreviated description of the assoc with their name...grocery shops get easier the more you do, but be sure to check EXACTLY which depts you are required to as your questions in...

dreamweaver,
I know the store the OP is asking about, as I have done MSing there, and yes, you DO have to ask a question at EACH of the departments she mentioned....it's more than 4! I'm used to it now, and take a notebook with me that I use as my "grocery list", as others have done. The pay and reimbursement is more than TS gives, so that is probably why the workload is a bit bigger.

Oh, ok, guysmom, I just got in my own little world here and I guess I figured it was the same company I shop...lol...that's just too many questions, IMHO. I do recall noticing in one store, a lady in the Deli, glancing over at the Meat/Seafood dept, and grinning and kind of giving a little wink to the young man I was asking my question of...I think she might have made me...and the counters are right next to each other and not separated by a wall or counter...some of the questions are really not very bright either...like. "what fruits are in season" when you are standing IN the Produce dept and can SEE the fruits....lol...
I counted all those departments that were named in that person's shop, and that's WAY too many...we have stores that have a jewelry dept IN the GM section, but I had a very unpleasant experience at that store IN that dept, and I won't go back...not to do a shop, at least...and not for a while, at least...

@dreamweaver2 wrote:

Just sticking my nose in here...Trend Source, or the Source, gives you 3-4 questions to ask in three or four Focus depts, Deli, Meat, Produce, and you can ask whatever question you want in the Grocery section, if its about looking for a particular item.. I'm sorry TS, but some of their questions are kinda dumb...like I'm going to ask some young guy the best way to cook an item I've been cooking for years? lol...oh well, you can ask them, but maybe change the wording around just a bit so as not to sound too dense...I KNOW the stores I shop at tend to look at you oddly when you are in there, week after week asking questions...I had to tell a scheduler I needed to avoid one store for a while as the dept manager always found a reason to appear just after I asked my question...so, I followed up and asked another question of my own to maybe throw them off...trust me, if they have several people doing these shops and one person gets asked the same 'unusual' question by more than one person, I'd think they'd start to become suspicious...maybe not...

Yeah, how many birds do you have to cook to feed 30 to 40 people? If they have a wine guy ask which goes with fish or lamb. Got a good intro to using balsamic vinegar and strawberries last year when I was doing those shops. Didn't have any strawberries so I tried raspberries. No way it was even close to the same results.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2017 10:26AM by 2stepps.

Do you have to ask a question at the deli, Sausage Works, and meat/seafood? On the instructions you just have to make a purchase at each and "question/interact" with the associate.

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