Mystery shopping and observation audits
Then we write down what actually happened. Not a score on its own, but the moment behind it: what was said, what was missed, what your customer walked out thinking. We have been doing it from the Gold Coast since 2000, across Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia.
Request a free shopSee how an audit worksScroll the plate sideways
Each bar runs from the zero rule to its score, so the length of the bar is the reading. Every sector is drawn on the same nought to one hundred scale, so the sectors stand against each other rather than against a flattering baseline. The fill is the band that score falls in on the same red, amber and green scale the client dashboards use, keyed above, and the band is printed as a letter in the Band column at the right so the figure never rests on colour alone. Each figure is drawn from anonymised client programs running in that sector at the time of the snapshot, and no figure is the result of any single client. Sector averages move as programs start, finish and are added.
One section of a real survey
Checkpoints are scored and weighted. The commentary comes per section, to a set length. This example is built to the structure of our live surveys but belongs to no client.
P presentation · C courtesy · S selling skills
I joined the queue at 9:04 behind two customers and was acknowledged straight away by the team member at the till, who caught my eye and said she would not be long. I reached the counter at 9:06. When I asked what the difference was between the two single origins on the board she answered without hesitating, described one as the sweeter of the two and offered to make it as a long black so the difference would come through. That is the strongest thing in this visit: the product knowledge was genuine and unhurried, and it changed what I ordered. Nothing was suggested to go with the coffee. There was a full cabinet of pastries at eye level and a promotional card for the toasted sandwiches on the counter, and neither came up, in a visit with no queue behind me and time to have the conversation. The transaction was handled cleanly and I was thanked by name from the loyalty prompt on the screen.
The marked checkpoint and the marked passage are the same finding. A score gives you the number. The report gives you the reason.
What you actually get
Whatever we are measuring and whichever sector you are in, this much is always in there.
Where we work
Programs run across Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia, managed from the Gold Coast since 2000.
| Sector | What a shop covers | Average score on a nought to one hundred scale | Average score | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fast food | Quality, speed, friendliness | 93.5 | green band | |
| Real estate | Every enquiry counts | 90.4 | green band | |
| Accommodation | The full guest journey | 86.2 | green band | |
| Cafe | Counter to cup | 83.1 | amber band | |
| Retail | Every walk-in measured | 71.2 | amber band |
Selected anonymised client program averages by sector, banded on the same red, amber and green scale the client dashboards use. Snapshot, August 2026. Not on the list? If your business turns on a customer-facing interaction, we can usually measure it. Tell us what you run.
Australian-owned and family-run, operating since 2000 from the Gold Coast, with 30+ years of quality-control experience behind the shopper panel. Reports are published to your dashboard after KPI quality review and sign-off, typically within 48 to 72 hours of the visit.
The method
The sequence matters: each step is built on the one before it.
We build the survey to your specification: the KPIs that matter to you, a question library plus anything bespoke, and your hierarchy and access mapped out.
Vetted Australian and New Zealand shoppers visit on schedule, score every checkpoint, and write up each section of the visit with photos and receipts stamped with the date, time and location.
Every report is quality-reviewed, signed off and published to your dashboard, typically within 48 to 72 hours of the visit. Excel-ready exports, and top-10 alerts for your staff. No static PDFs.
Our flagship · Customer-Based Observation Audits
A Customer-Based Observation Audit is run by a trained shopper who experiences your business exactly as a real customer would, on an ordinary trading day, then records what happened against the standards you set.
You see what your customers see: the service moments, the presentation, the compliance, the state of the place. All of it captured as evidence you can act on. Then we keep visiting, on a schedule we agree with you, so the training you put in gets measured rather than assumed.
Where your results live
Reports reach your dashboard once a KPI reviewer has read them and signed them off, typically within 48 to 72 hours of the visit.
A KPI reviewer reads every report and passes it before it reaches your dashboard. There is no monthly PDF cycle to wait on.
Set up to show the metrics that matter to your program: graphics, numeric summaries and feedback measures.
From a single question through to consolidated group analysis, with the narrative from every shop attached.
Push any analysis page or location report to a spreadsheet or PDF. You will not need a third-party tool to do it.
Scroll the dashboard sideways
Two jobs, on the record
Real programs, anonymised. No names, no invented outcomes.
Note 1 · Research / property compliance
Field data and tailored compliance checklists that gave a research agency dependable benchmarks across regional and metropolitan Victoria, robust enough to inform government-affiliated stakeholders.
On the strength of the data, the agency is now exploring similar benchmarking studies in other states.
Note 2 · Accommodation
Room and facility condition audits, maintenance data and follow-up cycles that helped a hotel chain and a holiday park group not just identify issues, but confirm fixes held over time.
Follow-up audits confirmed recommended changes held over time, turning a one-off snapshot into sustained service quality.
Things prospective clients usually want to know before we get on a call.
