Less publicized than most aspects of a mystery shopper program, competitive audits (sending mystery shoppers to assess various aspects of a competing brand or store) provide an opportunity for you to observe, test and analyze the operations and performance of those competing for your market share. In this case, mystery shoppers offer you a consumer-based perspective through the mind of a trained market researcher. As with using a mystery shopper within your own operations, the resulting data can be used as a benchmark against your own brand experience. It can also reveal areas of quality, service or performance that fall short in comparison, providing yet more quantifiable data from which to generate additional training or redesign existing employee education.