I am curious to know what thoughts you all have with the notion of conducting certain types of shops or audits through a plaform such as Zoom. As we navigate through this pandemic, it is becoming abundantly clear that mystery shopping in general is going to have to adapt to the changing world of commerce and maintain its relevence within a socially distant society. So, with that in mind. Would you conduct an audit via video conference? What would you need to comfortably complete an assigment of that nature i.e. training/certification? For anyone taking a break from mystery shopping due to Covid 19, would you consider restarting if there were more online options? Any thoughts or feedback on this concept are greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,

Would you conduct an audit via video conference?

YES

What would you need to comfortably complete an assignment of that nature i.e. training/certification?

Clear instructions

For anyone taking a break from mystery shopping due to Covid 19, would you consider restarting if there were more online options?

ABSOLUTELY

I am thinking of two types of audits that i have not completed for several years and one that I have avoided due to back issues. These assignments might have changed or disappeared, but they lead into a consideration of logistics.

1) Price audits at Sears and K-Mart stores: One requirement was for the auditor to be accompanied by a manager or other designated employee. The auditor selected the items to be priced, and the store representative showed the price to the auditor on their hand-held. Was this a snig? Anyway, it would be impossible for anyone to see the dark letters on the small grey screen unless... they were bats, cats, or had 20/-100 vision. As far as I know, one change could involve the auditor watched from afar on security screen at all times and using a supplied snig. The information there could be verified or compared to what the auditor reported. Do these assignments still exist, or have they changed?

2) AT&T and other, computer store audits: At various times, the auditor needed to be close enough to a monitor to see certain information. The employee should stay close and make certain the auditor does not do anything untoward with the monitor. But they should stay six feet away from the auditor in order to observe social distancing.. Is this solvable (in any remaining stores) by designating one monitor for the auditor which is pre-set to be tamper-free and is disinfected after the auditor leaves?

3) What about the Best store audits? Those are comprehensive and the auditors must be in many places within each store. These require hours on-site, even for the experienced auditors.

I think that the Zoom platform is super easy to navigate, yet I'm quite surprised at the on-site clients that aren't ready to conduct Zoom calls when their higher ups dictate virtual tour mandates. I'm finding that most on-sites are requesting IOS alternatives (Facetime), and even Google chat.