I went grocery shopping yesterday and I don't feel bad about it. I am under a "Stay-at-Home" order until, at least, May 4 (Washington State) and grocery shopping is one of a small handful of things permitted for me to do outside the home as the governor does recognize that we do need to eat if we are going to survive the coronavirus. I feel fully justified and not at all guilty about making the (legal) excursion down through the produce section.
I didn't, but I would have been perfectly comfortable conducting a mystery shop as a part of my trip. I was in the store anyhow. I legitimately had to ask for help finding something - they had moved the raisins. I had to pay attention to the signage for social distancing, etc. I would further venture that, had a done this visit as a shop, it would not have further put anybody at risk than my grocery visit itself. For this reason, I have no issue with MSC's offering such mystery shops right now, especially if part of the shop is to verify that safety and social distancing protocols are being followed. After all, if such protocols are not being properly met, the grocery itself is putting the public in danger.
At the same time, I do have a problem with the idea of putting together a route of such shops. (And, yes, I am a usually route shopper.) Right now, for the sake of the health of my community - from immediately local to national, we all need to practice social distancing precautions. I should not be making needless visits to the grocery - or anywhere else. We all need to work together to defeat COVID-19. So, while the MSC is absolutely justified in advertising grocery shops, it must be up to shoppers to perform them in such a way that s/he does not unnecessarily contribute to the spread of the coronavirus.
What about other shops? I would suggest that, if the business is "not essential," it should not be open at all and, therefore, should not be shopped. Some communities have a fairly liberal view of "essential," which I do not intend to address here. I'll pick on gas stations. Part of preventing the spread of COVID-19 is maintaining cleanliness and sanitation - which are a part of every gas station shop I have ever done. So, I would argue that gas station mystery shops serve an important purpose right now.... As it became clear that we really needed to stay at home and not mingle in the community, I filled both of my family's cars with gas. As we are not going anywhere, we are hardly using any gas - at our current pace, we'll next need to fill a gas tank in about October. In other words, I have zero business going to a gas station right now, so it would be irresponsible for me to shop one. My next door neighbor is a hospital physician and, therefore an essential worker. She used to take the bus to work, but now drives and is using more gas than normal. She does not mystery shop, but I would have no problem with her doing a gas station shop or audit as a part of filling her tank. I would object to her running a route of shops. My son works at grocery store currently. If he wanted to shop a periodic gas station, I would not object, either. I would object to him making a special trip to a gas station for the purpose of a mystery shop.
Should we still be mystery shopping? I would suggest that, on a very limited basis, yes. So long as the shops are being conducted a a normal part of our *essential* errands and do not increase our exposure to the public and, therefore, spread of COVID-19, they are absolutely fine. However, the moment we are making special trips for shops, we become a part of the problem. I would further venture that, if conducting shops does not, in any way, increase our risk of spreading the coronavirus, it is good to do them. While this virus is primarily a major health issue for our nation, it is also causing major economic damage - both to individuals and businesses. The more business than can be conducted within the restrictions of various social distancing practices (not just orders - many are not strict enough), the better. This includes mystery shopping.
Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.