In the retail industry, Christmas is absolutely the busiest time of the year. It is also known as one of the most popular shopping periods annually, across various shopping districts in the UK. In this season, many stores are keen to find out how their customer services and their products rate. Mystery shopping over the Christmas period helps store owners and brand managers by gathering information. Some roles that mystery shoppers may be involved in include: purchasing gifts, purchasing or inspecting products, purchasing a variety of items online or in the stores, discussing products with the customer service representatives, putting in complaints about products to evaluate how the staff will react, role playing by getting a teensy bit angry with the customer service to find out how they will deal with the situation, and pretending as if they are giving honest customer service feedback. Over the Christmas period, mystery shoppers have to be aware and prepared for a few things about shopping in the UK like: two hour queues, pre-ordered gifts and food orders, Marks and Spencer store queues and backlogs, bustling crowded pavements and car parks, and a lot of Christmas sales. Some popular spots that shoppers will go to for food and other items include: Marks and Spencer, Regent Street, Handforth Dean in Wilmslow, and Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire. In Edinburgh, high streets are typically packed prior to Christmas with only room to pat the next shopper on the shoulder while passing them by. As a mystery shopper it will be hard pressed to identify you from other shoppers as the high streets across the country are completely bustling. Britons are spending as much as 2 million pounds this Christmas season and sales are expected to reach beyond 2 billion pounds by the end of the Christmas season. While mystery shopping over the Christmas period can be exciting and exhilarating, it can also be exhausting. Parking tends to be difficult and traffic typically blocks all the car park exits once you have done your shopping over the Christmas period. For example, Kent District's Bluewater Centre had six hour delays for shoppers getting in and out of the Centre. Food industry stores are also typically quite backlogged with multiple queues for various items. Waitrose typically has a backlog of orders for popular food items such as brussels sprouts, cranberries, camembert and other cheeses, turkey, and ham. Wine sales are also in huge demand in the UK during this season, with Champagne and Prosecco sales at Laithwaite's, topping the list. As a mystery shopper, it will be important to try to get your questions asked, your products inspected, and your list completed, somehow. That being said, mystery shopping companies over the Christmas period can be easy when it comes to role playing. Mystery shoppers can mimic disgruntled or over exuberant customers quite easily in this Christmas hustle and bustle. They may even have a jolly bit of fun joining in the Christmas festivities as a part of their way of making a living.
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