I have about 8 stores that I do regularly, and up to 27 that I am able to peak into once a month on routes. I have only been identified on one shop. They argued with the reports because they had been getting a lot of negative reports--not by me, but just in general. On this particular shop, I kept getting asked questions back on the report-- What was the produce associate doing, was the dairy associate talking to anyone or stocking, do you remember what the associate had in their hands, when you made your first pass by the associate is it possible they spoke and you didn't heart, the store is trying to revamp their training program, blah blah blah. After answering the questions, a week went by and I was informed I was identified as the shopper. Apparently they reviewed camera footage. And the weird questions give us away too. If one customer is asking 6 people questions during a grocery shop it can raise eyebrows.
I did about 300 shops last year for those groceries and the one store was my only issue. I use my debit card/chip card and my rewards card all the time on every shop.