They very rarely use shoppers who are not their employees. When they do, they recruit a small cadre of shoppers to do a full set of maybe 15-25 shops each, such as going to a large venue each month or quarterly, for instance, to hit every store/venor at the site. So, if there are 200 stores or vendors at a site, each of 10 shoppers on the team might do a different 20 of the shops on each iteration. Then, going back for another round and another, period after period. They pay a flat fee for a set of shops, plus a set amount that varies by the type of store/vendor being shoppered to cover required purchases and, for the ones where purchases are not required, to be used towards transportation or parking or just as a nice add on. You get that set amount even if you have to spend less! For instance, if you took the local bus to the site, instead of driving and paying top dollar for onsite parking, you would net more from that set of shops. They expect their shoppers to work quite independently and to seek help (which is given generously) when they are uncertain. I have been on two of their shopper teams for about 3 years and have recruited a couple of shoppers from this forum for those teams when team members retired or moved out of the area being shopped. At this time they have a full compliment of shoppers to cover the two big sites in my region.
The required narratives are not a problem once you have done a few and understand what is, and isn't needed. Receipts for small purchases are not required unless the client has questions, so no pix to submit. But, you do have to file an invoice for each set of shops (not for each shop) that requires a knowledge of Excel.
Great staff to work with; real pros who understand that this is a collegial effort. The LRA staff is always ready to learn from their shoppers, which is a real breath of fresh air. They pay like clockwork the thrid Friday after you submit the invoice, by check.
They have a very few shops that do not fit either of the models I have described. These are scheduled by either of two other MSCs that they team with to get them done. You may never even know that you are doing an LRA shop when you hit upon these. I only stumbled on this after working with LRA for almost 3 years and do not feel free to disclose who they team with.
If you are invited to apply for one of their teams, expect to provide a writing sample, resume, and go through a phone interview. If you pass those, expect a very complete background check, for which they will pay, and, if special testing is needed, or special IDs for the venues, they will cover those costs and pay a flat fee for your time to achieve all of this.
If you are interested in their non-ICA employment opportunities, just go to the LRA Worldwide web site and scroll down to see current employment opportunities. Specialized backgrounds are required for many positions, as well as a LOT of travel. But, for those with the skill sets required it looks like it would be both fun and challenging! Fluency in more than one language is also required and/or preferred for many of their job openings. They literally have employees all over the globe.
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.