I find this very hard to believe but it's right there on the state website:
"Cashiers, baggers, Stockers, managers, maintenance staff, security staff, delivery workers, including paid shoppers."

I think the paid shoppers part is probably referring to the Instant Cart people or store employees that fill the online orders, but in theory it could refer to mystery shoppers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2021 01:37PM by kimmiemae.

I agree kimmie. The aisles at my local grocery store are jammed with the three decker carts and young employees doing peoples shopping from their online or called in lists.

Agreed. And these paid shoppers are, for the most part, quite rude. They block aisles and certainly have a sense of entitlement. IE "This is my job so I have more rights than you do."

Entitled? Or, laboring under some requested or published deadline?

Anyway, I feel for those workers. They are probably trying to balance delivery times with efficient trips through the stores while remaining mindful of multiple people's perishables and breakables. Sounds like an obstacle course!.

*eta*

I meant to ask: can that definition stretch and cover mystery shoppers who are shopping the stores generally, those who are auditing something, and those who are merchandising?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2021 03:15PM by Shop-et-al.

The state's description is vague. That's not my problem.

I heard on the news that one of the 10 people killed in the Boulder, CO, Kings Sooper (a Kroger store) was there on a mystery shopping task.

@ceasesmith wrote:

I heard on the news that one of the 10 people killed in the Boulder, CO, Kings Sooper (a Kroger store) was there on a mystery shopping task.

Not surprising. I normally don’t go to 10 grocery stores a week, but a shopper might.

I missed being in the middle of a shooting with my two toddlers in the early 2000’s while on a shop. Tammy Lee of Second To None was too chatty that day, and I had to reschedule for another day since she talked past the time frame. She possibly saved our lives.

The one who was buying strawberries?

@ceasesmith wrote:

I heard on the news that one of the 10 people killed in the Boulder, CO, Kings Sooper (a Kroger store) was there on a mystery shopping task.

I didn't see mention of a mystery shopper.
[www.cpr.org]

But they are not specifically excluded...

@CA senior wrote:

I didn't see mention of a mystery shopper.
[www.cpr.org]

I think at this point in many states each person is on the honor system when saying they belong to some now allowed category that is hard to ask for proof of at the vaccine site. So it may be up to you to decide whether you fit this category. From my read of it paid shoppers means those instacart type people as they spend all day inside grocery stores. Risk is a lot about the amt of time you spend in the risky situation. Mystery shoppers are not inside a particular store for any more time than a customer would usually be. Some of you do back to back stores . But there are so many people who are paid shoppers including those who get paid to order goods online for someone who does not want to waste their own time so they hire a clothing shopper or whatever to find things that fit their style.
By the way, as far as Instacart goes, at least at Costco, Costco themselves told me often the Instacart people take the 2 % back on their own acct when going thru the line. I only found this out after my son put in a $450 order using my premium acct and I never got the 2% back. So on that one order they got whatever their fee was plus the tip my son gave them plus another $9 I should have been credited with. Not too shabby for a costco "shopper.". And they did not bother to text about replacement items when an item was not available.

@sandyf: Nice catch about time/risk. I recall that for some pre-covid gigs, I spent significant time on the sales floor as well as in the back of the store. Some gigs lasted for hours! Those assignments are not possible in the covid era because of the high risks overall for everyone and the negative impact they would have on social distancing efforts. These were not shops, but they fall under the general umbrella of IC retail work.

I find they are the people who can tell me where to find things!

@Nikki21 wrote:

Agreed. And these paid shoppers are, for the most part, quite rude. They block aisles and certainly have a sense of entitlement. IE "This is my job so I have more rights than you do."

A friend's high-school aged son worked a grocery pick-up job for a few months. He said it was quite stressful. They were given 30 seconds to shop each item, including tracking down the substitute for out of stock items. If the 30 second time wasn't met hours were cut or he was handed a reat sh*t job for a few days. Now that I know that, I give those folks some latitude, especially since I frequently use the pick-up services.

@Nikki21 wrote:

Agreed. And these paid shoppers are, for the most part, quite rude. They block aisles and certainly have a sense of entitlement. IE "This is my job so I have more rights than you do."