Test purchases and mystery shopping
The test purchase is the most direct instrument in investigative work: instead of searching for a pattern in the numbers, the transaction itself is brought about and documented. It serves two very different purposes — control and quality.
Test purchases to uncover till fraud
An investigator buys as an ordinary customer. The transaction is then reconciled to establish whether it was recorded completely and correctly. Unrecorded sales, voids after payment, unauthorised discounts, payments that never reach the till — none of this is assumed, all of it is evidenced. For subsequent employment proceedings it is essential that several instances are documented: a single case can be explained away as an oversight, a series cannot.
This is frequently the most effective element in uncovering employee theft.
Mystery shopping to measure quality
Here the subject is not suspicion but reality. How long before a customer is approached? Are additional services offered? How is a complaint handled? What condition is the floor in at an unannounced hour? Assessment follows a criteria set we define together with you — measurable and comparable across locations.
Age verification test purchases
Selling alcohol or tobacco to minors leads to fines and, on repetition, to licensing problems. A test purchase shows whether age verification actually happens or exists only in the staff manual. We conduct these strictly within the legal framework and in coordination with the client.
What you receive
For each deployment, a report giving date, time, branch, persons involved, a transaction log and receipts. Across multiple sites, an analysis that surfaces outliers in both directions. Identifying a strong location matters as much as identifying a weak one.
What we clarify beforehand
Whether works council involvement is required depends on whether the measure serves to monitor conduct. For routine quality measurement it generally does. We raise this before the first deployment.
Two assignments that should not be confused
A test purchase serves detection. It is used where a concrete suspicion exists — till offences, goods released without a receipt, selling around the company. The aim is a documented finding usable in employment proceedings.
Mystery shopping serves measurement. There is no suspicion here, only a question: how does the process actually run when nobody is watching? How long until a customer is approached, is the additional service offered, how is a complaint handled, what condition is the floor in at an unannounced hour?
Both use the same technique but pursue different purposes — and are documented differently.
How we set it up
First we agree the criteria set: what exactly is to be established or assessed, in what order, against what thresholds. Without that set, each visit produces a subjective impression instead of comparable data.
Then we determine the number and distribution of visits. A single visit proves nothing — neither an irregularity nor its absence. Results become meaningful from several visits spread across different shifts and weekdays.
Age verification and the legal framework
A frequent trigger is checking age verification at the point of sale. Selling alcohol or tobacco to minors leads to fines and, on repetition, to problems with the licence. A test purchase shows whether the check actually happens or exists only in the staff manual. We carry out such assignments strictly within the legal framework and in close coordination with the client.
Where a suspicion is confirmed, the next step runs through employee theft. Where the matter involves management or suppliers, the entry point is corporate investigations.
What usually brings clients to us
For test purchases: a concrete suspicion of till offences, goods released without a receipt, or selling around the company. It is usually preceded by an irregularity in the figures that has no other explanation.
For mystery shopping: the introduction of a new sales standard that needs measuring, repeated customer complaints about one location, or a comparison across several sites before deciding on training. A third trigger is a check following a complaint from the authorities.
What determines the scope
The decisive factors are the number of sites, the number of visits per site, and the size of the criteria set. For findings that hold, we plan several visits across different shifts — a single visit per site produces no usable picture.
Added to that is the form of the evaluation: a short record per visit costs less than a comparative report across all sites. You receive the price before the assignment begins.
Frequently asked questions
Will staff realise it was a test purchase?
No. The investigator behaves as an ordinary customer.
How many test purchases are needed?
To evidence misconduct, usually three to five per subject. For quality measurement, two per site per quarter is often enough.
Does mystery shopping require works council consent?
Where it serves to monitor conduct or performance, generally yes.