I have a local grocery store that I do shops on maybe every two months. It pays $10.00 and reimburses $10.00. This is a small store and probably takes 30 minutes to do. Another 30 for the report. So while I don't find $10.00 an hour to be a great pay, it is an easy shop. There are two other grocery shops offered for two big stores, one is as physically large as Walmart- Those offer $14.00 on the grocery reimb. and it wouldn't matter what the shopper pay was, I would not do these shops for $100.00! The stores are so large, I get tired thinking about going to them- I avoid both as a customer, and as a shopper!

What can you buy for $7? Two apples? One loaf of bread? 2 oz cheese?

If it works for you, go for it. I needed fresh fruit today and could not find a single company to send me out to buy it. Broke my heart that I was on my own dime and miles.

Regardless of the MSC I think this is a Competition pricing audit. It could be that the client competes with TJ's and wants to know their prices. In general a TJ's shopping trip is typically less than an hour. It is rare for any customer to stay an hour and when they do their cart is full. Competition audits do come with insulting fees. I have done only those which had large lists and bonuses.

That is insulting!!!
Diana 4

@SR802 wrote:

Regardless of the MSC I think this is a Competition pricing audit. It could be that the client competes with TJ's and wants to know their prices. In general a TJ's shopping trip is typically less than an hour. It is rare for any customer to stay an hour and when they do their cart is full. Competition audits do come with insulting fees. I have done only those which had large lists and bonuses.

The experience is different geographically. At peak hours in Manhattan, the line to get into the building and out of the line can be an hour. Again, that's why shopping there could include wait and exit times, not just hunting and ascribing times.

I shop there every other week but for $7, I refuse to work for them.

So that people do not go crazy trying to find the MSC that shops TJ.
The client is Whole Foods, not Trader Joe's. The MSC does the regular customer service shops and the pricing ones. BTW, not all WF shores are shopped for customer service. Depending on the geographical area, and what the local WF store wants to know, they do pricing shops at the neighboring competitors that includes Target, Neighborhood Walmart, Shaw's, Stop & Shop, Publix, Kroger, etc. The MSC also has a mobile app to input the information. The shop is still very low ,but again, depending on geographical area, it usually goes up. There are some retirees who really enjoy these shops. I have no doubt that TJ employees (because of the small size) know who the shopper is but they do not seem to mind. Once I was there for over 1 hour, doing multiple lists. One of the other competitors being shopped, Wegman's, has even posted signs now that they do not allow pricing from their competitors in their stores. It takes about 30 for the 25 items, but you really need to know the store layout AND the products really well, otherwise you will go crazy wondering what "tempee" and other strange sounding items are. Unfortunately the lists are not identical, BUT the totality of the products are basically the same. They are just reshuffled in different lists, I guess as an extra layer of verification, if the other shopper made a mistake. If you take multiple lists and go every week so you know the store layout cold, then the shop becomes easier. Of course the report is also annoying because you need the price and some other documentation. I really hate when the scheduler emails with the $2 bonus for 50 items, claiming that you make $16. No, for me, it is just a $3 shop because I do not factor the reimbursement and I would not shop at that supermarket, nor I shop at supermarkets anymore because between gas stations, home improvement stores (that have detergents, soaps, etc), convenience stores, etc, I am set with almost all my needs.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2015 02:35AM by KateH.