When shopping in any retail store the average shopper would never think that there could possibly be an undercover shopper amongst them. This is exactly what happened to Cambridge recently as 30 independent retailers in the city received mystery shopping visits from undercover shoppers testing to see how the customer service was rated. This was carried out by the Location Model Project designed by Skillsmart Retail, the Sector Skills Retail, in order to assess how well the city of Cambridge performed in areas such as reliable car parking to rating customer service as stated by A1 Retail Magazine in their article “Cambridge comes joint first in retail evaluation Independent shops help city shine”.
The mystery shopping visits were a success for the city of Cambridge with most results being rated as “good” or “very good”. The mystery shoppers also stated that they would recommend Cambridge as a shopping location to others, something that Cambridge can take pride on. Shops that received the best ratings were Cambridge Strings, an instrument store located on King Street, and Catherine Jones Jewellery located on Bridge Street. Both of these stores received 100% during the mystery shopping.
Upon interviewing many anonymous shoppers th undercover shoppers found nothing but great results. Many shoppers said that they felt comfortable shopping in Cambridge and that customer service at the retail stores they frequent is extremely helpful. Shoppers also noted that not only is the shopping great, but the city is clean and they feel safe. Security is a major issue and being able to feel safe while shopping is always a plus.
Although Cambridge has its strong points, it also has points that need improvement. One area Cambridge needs improvement in is parking. After interviewing many shoppers it was found that only “24%” of shoppers said that parking “was easy to find in the city centre” (A1 Realty Magazine).
Overall Cambridge is a city center that shoppers not only enjoy coming to, but would recommend to other shoppers to begin frequenting. The city is clean, organized, and customer service in stores is rated extremely high. On the plus, Cambridge has just recently been approved to be a new location for a new National Skills Academy for Retail skills shop. This will provide information and advice on new training opportunities that retail shoppers can take advantage of. If I had to pick a place in Boston to shop, I would pick Cambridge.
Article Reference – Cambridge comes joint first in retail evaluation Independent shops help city Shine by A1 Retail Magazine