Bengaluru: Cyber security provider Kaspersky Lab partnered with its national B2C distributor VR Infotech to conduct a ‘Mystery Shopper’ exercise to get a step closer to all its retailers.
Mystery shopper is a popular tool to gauge the quality of service a customer receives when purchasing a brand’s products claims the company. For this purpose, the company executed an exercise where, Gaurav Punekar, a marketing executive at Kaspersky Lab, donned the role of a mystery shopper.
Delhi’s popular IT markets, such as Nehru Place, District Centre Janakpuri and Lakshmi Nagar Market were picked for the exercise. Punekar walked into shops that sell cyber security products. He introduced himself as a customer who is looking for suggestions to buy a cyber security product that will meet his requirements.
The company said that Punekar was extremely delighted with what he saw and heard. Not only were most retail representatives knowledgeable and helpful, but also highly recommended Kaspersky Lab based purely on its performance. After a detailed discussion, when Punekar finally revealed his identity, the shop representatives were pleasantly surprised. Ajay Yadav from VR Infotech soon joined Gaurav and together, Kaspersky and VR Infotech rewarded them on-the-spot with a gift voucher worth Rs. 1,000 to show their appreciation.
“Kaspersky Lab is built on the foundation of strong relationships with our partners and end-customers. Nothing is more important to us than the value that our customers receive from our products. The last stretch of the supply chain, which is the shop from which our products are purchased, is crucial to us. Very often, a lot is lost in translation from the boardroom to the shop.
We are always concerned with things like are they educated on our features, are their questions answered well; do the shop representatives have enough knowledge about Kaspersky? The mystery shopping exercise not just helped us get these answers, but brought us great relief and pride,” Altaf Halde, Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab- South Asia.
“Kaspersky Lab and VR Infotech share a long, symbiotic relationship. We’ve been pondering this exercise for very long and finally found the perfect window and location in the month of February,” Vikram Mehta, Director, V.R Infotech.
The company said that when the occasional store sprung up that didn’t stock Kaspersky’s products, they were promptly brought into the Kaspersky supply chain, thereby further widening its already strong network. It also said that Kaspersky’s initiative is sure to set a new trend in the industry, as more companies will see how many deep insights can be sought with a simple and honest marketing initiative.