Retail Phone Mystery Shopping Case Study: From 59% to 75%

Case study · National specialty retailer

From 59% to 75% on the phone. And it stuck.

A retail phone mystery shopping case study: 6+ years of recorded monthly calls, paired with each store manager’s own monthly audit, and what happened when both were in place.

By Kyla Broughton, Chief Growth Officer · November 2026

Improved on the phoneDid not9 in 10 locations

16 ptsHigher average phone score, Year 1 to Year 6 (59% to 75%)

9 in 10Locations open since Year 1 scored higher on calls by Year 6

18 ptsHigher call scores where managers completed their monthly audit

6+ yrsOf recorded monthly calls, with a new scenario every month

The challenge

The phone is where the sale starts

This national specialty retailer sells products that customers research before they buy. Many people call two or three stores to ask about price, fit and installation before they ever walk in. The retailer has corporate and franchise locations across Canada, and it wanted to know what those callers actually heard.

In the first months of the program, the average phone shop score was 59%, and almost half of locations were averaging below 60%.

Every call is a customer deciding where to buy.

The program

Two programs that feed each other

Every location receives a recorded phone shop each month from a certified, independent mystery shopper. The scenario changes every month, so staff can’t learn the test and the score reflects real habits. Alongside the calls, store managers complete a monthly store audit and safety checklist that we host and report on, and one item on it asks whether the store passed last month’s mystery shop.

1A new scenario each monthA certified shopper calls each store as a real customer would, and the call is recorded.
2Report and recordingManagers hear exactly what the customer heard, question by question.
3The manager’s own auditThe monthly checklist asks: did we pass last month’s mystery shop (80% or higher)?
4Coach, then call againThe team talks it through, and next month’s call shows whether it stuck.
5Competitor callsPeriodic calls to competitors show how the stores compare on the same kind of call.

The results

A 14-point jump in year two that held for five years

The average phone shop score rose from 59% in the first months to 73% in the first full year, and has stayed between 72% and 75% every year since. With a different scenario every month, the step up isn’t one easy script: the best month of Year 1 (70%) was barely above the worst month of Year 2 (65%).

Average phone shop score, network-wide, by program yearYear 1 is a partial year; Year 7 is the year to date.

9 in 10locations improvedOf the locations open since Year 1, nearly every one scored higher in Year 6, with a typical gain of 14 points. Most stores that opened later have since averaged 80% or better in at least one year.

0% › 44%of locations at 80% or betterNo location averaged 80% in Year 1. By Year 6, 44% did, and locations below 60% fell from 46% to 12%.

10+ ptsahead of competitorsOn the same kind of call, the retailer’s stores outscored the competitors we called by 11 to 24 points in every year compared.

Where locations landed, by average phone scoreShare of locations in each band

Year 1

46%54%

Year 6

12%44%44%

80% or higher60% to 79%Below 60%

Why it worked

The call result lives in the manager’s own audit

The mystery shop was never a report that sat in an inbox. From the first full year, the result was written into each manager’s monthly store audit, so phone performance became part of how every store checks itself. That is the same year scores stepped up.

The data also shows how much the habit matters. Locations that completed their monthly audit averaged 77% on calls. Locations that partly completed it averaged 72%, and locations that didn’t complete it averaged 59%: an 18-point gap. We read this as a strong pattern rather than proof, since stores differ in other ways too, but the direction has held every year.

That is the case for running programs together. The phone shop shows what customers hear; the manager’s audit makes sure someone acts on it; competitor calls show whether it’s enough to win the sale. Each one covers what the others can’t see.

Average call score, by how much of the monthly audit was completed

Audit completed

77%

Partly completed

72%

Not completed

59%

Takeaways

What any multi-location retailer can borrow

1Shop the phone, not just the floorFor considered purchases, the first conversation is often a call. Measure it.

2Change the scenario every monthA fresh scenario keeps results honest and builds habits, not scripts.

3Write the result into the manager’s checklistWhen the score is part of the store’s own monthly audit, it gets coached.

4Track completion, not just scoresThe stores that skipped their audit were the ones that sounded weakest on the phone.

Frequently asked questions

How often should you mystery shop your stores’ phone calls?

In this program every location receives a recorded phone shop each month. A monthly call gives each store a fresh result to coach from and gives head office a trend it can trust within a few months, not a year.

Why change the call scenario every month?

So staff can’t learn the test. A new scenario each month means the score reflects how a team really handles customers, and the yearly average shows lasting habits rather than one well-rehearsed script.

Do internal store audits make a difference to customer experience?

In this program they went together. Locations that completed their monthly store audit averaged 77% on phone shops, while locations that didn’t averaged 59%. We present that as a strong pattern rather than proof, but it has held every year.

Can you compare our phone service with competitors?

Yes. Here, periodic calls to competitors used the same kind of scenario. The retailer’s stores scored 11 to 24 points higher in every year compared.

How do you make sure phone shop results are accurate?

Every call is recorded, and calls are made by certified, independent mystery shoppers. Each report is reviewed by AI validation and then by our human quality team, who can listen to the recording.

Is it worth combining mystery shopping with store audits?

In this program, yes. The phone shop measures what customers experience, and the manager’s monthly audit builds the habit of acting on it. Locations that completed their audit averaged 77% on calls, compared with 59% for locations that didn’t. Running both through one provider and one portal also keeps results side by side.

How we measured this

Based on every recorded phone shop and every monthly store audit for the network over 6+ years and thousands of calls. Scores are averaged by year because the call scenario changes monthly. Locations are included in a year when they had five or more calls. Audits submitted with a score of zero were assigned but not completed by the due date. The client is not named, to protect its privacy.

What do your customers hear when they call?

We can walk you through how phone shops, manager audits and competitor calls could work together for your locations, in one portal, from the first scenario to the first month of results.

Learn more about our mystery shopping programs, or read our franchise case study.

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