Ethics of mystery shopping

[Varsha Chitale]

Any businessman will tell you that knowing how your competitors sell their wares and at what prices is simply good business practice. But how do you get this information?

Is it Ok to do mystery shopping? As in all other aspects of business, while (most times) there is clarity on what  is legal and what is not, there is a lot of ambiguity on what is ethical and what is not.

My friend owns a clothes boutique. Is it unethical for her to browse around in other boutiques to benchmark styles, colours, fabrics, prices and so on? What if her browsing hogs up a lot of the sales person’s time (that he/she could have spent on a genuine customer)? What if she asks for a custom outfit and goes through the motions of getting it made, only to see the competitor’s process?

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