EIOPA to undertake the first joint mystery shopping exercise across several EU Member States

The Board of Supervisors of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) agreed today that EIOPA will coordinate the first joint mystery shopping exercise on sales of insurance. The exercise will be conducted in 8 Member States and will follow a common methodology and criteria developed by EIOPA and its Members. The results of the exercise will be available in the first half of 2024.

Mystery shopping is a technique that involves the use of trained “mystery shoppers” acting as potential customers. It allows the experience of customers in practice to be assessed. It would typically involve physical visits to distributors’ premises but also can be done via digital channels, phone calls or similar methods.

The “mystery shoppers” act as any potential customer might (for instance, ask for information about product, request advice, explain their situation). While doing so, they gather detailed information on how providers or distributors sell the products and provide services to consumers, in order to report back comparable and statistically relevant observations on consumers’ outcomes in a structured, detailed and systematic manner.