The Brief
Interact RDT was approached by a prominent company in the petroleum industry. They were looking for a fresher, more insight driven research provider to assist them in improving the experience at their service stations.
They needed to quantify the gap between the intended consumer experience and the one actually being delivered on a site-by-site basis.
In order to better understand consumer’s perception of our client as a fuel supplier and convenience store, and to empower our client to make, a number of key factors needed to be measured at the service stations.
Our Solution
For the purpose of the pilot project, Interact RDT suggested conducting Mystery Motorist Visits in Gauteng only.
While Motorist “Mystery Shopping” has been conducted for many years, our solution is focussed on getting the most consumer insight possible.
Instead of using a professional, we recruited and trained real consumers to conduct the Mystery Motorist visit. This enabled us to measure both physical service delivery factors and the actual emotional engagement levels of the mystery motorist.
By embracing technology and utilizing the smartphones to conduct the online survey, the visits were less conspicuous than paper-based research, and at the same time they were convenient and quick for the Mystery Motorists.
The onsite survey covered both the forecourt of the station, as well as the convenience store. It catered to both technical standards, as well as more emotive aspects of the service received.
The Outcome
The pilot was successful in meeting all the objectives outlined by our client. Since its launch the project has been improved and repurposed to include performance related scoring for each of the stations included in the programme.
With the success of the Gauteng pilot, Mystery Motorist visits are conducted in all provinces in South Africa. The programme has been running successfully for over two years and continues to uncover worthwhile, actionable consumer insights for our client.
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