Send Real Shoppers on a Mission —
Capture What They See.
Recruit verified consumers from the largest first-party mobile panel in the U.S. to visit specific stores, complete shopping missions, and share photos, narrated videos, and survey feedback — all captured on their mobile device at the point of emotion. Every visit GPS-validated. Zero fraud.
Mission Active
Target: Kroger — Beverage Aisle
13M+
Opted-In Consumers
GPS
Validated Every Visit
0%
Fraud Rate
Trusted by Global Leaders
What Is a Directed Shop Study?
A Directed Shop is a mission-based research methodology where real consumers are recruited to visit specific retail locations, complete structured tasks, and provide multimedia feedback about their experience. Unlike mystery shopping — which relies on trained evaluators assessing staff performance — directed shop captures the authentic perspective of real shoppers navigating real stores.
MFour pioneered mobile-first directed shop research. Consumers from our 13M+ first-party panel receive missions through our Surveys On The Go app, visit the target store with GPS verification, and capture photos, narrated videos, and survey responses while physically in the location. The result: rich, validated, in-the-moment consumer intelligence at a scale no other methodology can match.
Mystery Shopping
- Trained evaluators, not real consumers
- Covert — evaluators pretend to be regular shoppers
- Focused on staff performance and operational compliance
- Written reports filed hours or days later
- Small scale — dozens of evaluators per market
Directed Shop
- Real consumers from a verified first-party panel
- Overt — consumers know they're completing a research mission
- Focused on consumer experience, product perception, and shelf presence
- Photos, video, and surveys captured on-site in real time
- Massive scale — thousands nationwide, any retailer
Photos. Video. Surveys.
All From the Shopper's Phone.
Directed shop is the only methodology that captures visual evidence, narrated context, and structured feedback — all from a verified consumer, all from the same store visit, all validated by GPS.
Shelf & Display Photos
Consumers photograph shelf displays, product placement, promotional materials, and competitive context — giving you visual proof of what's actually happening in-store.
Narrated Video Walkthroughs
Shoppers record narrated video as they navigate aisles, search for products, and evaluate displays — capturing the full discovery experience through their eyes.
In-the-Moment Surveys
Behavior-triggered surveys capture attitudes, perceptions, and purchase intent while the shopper is still in the store — at the Point of Emotion, not days later.
From Mission Brief to Insight in Days.
Define the mission. We handle recruitment, validation, and delivery.
Design the Mission
Define the target stores, consumer demographics, shopping tasks, and the photos, videos, and survey questions you need. Fully customizable.
Recruit Real Consumers
We match your criteria against our 13M+ first-party mobile panel and recruit verified consumers who actually shop the category — including younger demographics and multicultural audiences that desktop panels miss.
GPS-Verified Store Visit
Consumers visit the target location with GPS streaming in real time. Every visit is validated by location data — zero guesswork, zero fraud.
Capture at the Point of Emotion
In-store, consumers complete their mission: photograph shelves, record narrated video, and answer survey questions — all on their mobile device, all in the moment.
AI-Powered Insights, Instantly
DANI™, MFour's AI analyst, answers questions about your study in seconds and generates polished reports automatically — no waiting on a research team to crunch the data.
Recruiting, identity validation, location validation, incentive payment, and fieldwork all happen inside MFour's app — no need to stitch together a solution from multiple vendors.
Traditional Methods vs. MFour Directed Shop
Traditional research methods rely on trained evaluators, delayed feedback, and disconnected data. MFour directed shop delivers multimedia evidence from real consumers — GPS-validated and connected to the full journey.
“MFour’s ability to trigger GPS-verified surveys in real-time meant we could get visibility into a key customer we had little information on previously.”
Shopper Insights Team
Under Armour
Built for Every In-Store Question
From shelf audits to competitive intelligence, MFour directed shop studies deliver GPS-verified, multimedia-rich consumer insights across every industry.
Shelf & Display Audits
Are your products placed where they should be? Consumers photograph shelf displays and report on planogram compliance, stock levels, and competitive positioning.
Product Findability
Can shoppers find your product? Directed shop missions measure navigation time, first-look location, and discovery path — with video evidence.
New Product Launch
Validate packaging, placement, and first impressions for new products on real shelves in real stores — before scaling distribution.
Competitive Intelligence
Survey consumers as they enter or exit a competitor's store. Understand what drove them there, what they bought, and what they wish they could find at your store.
Promotional Effectiveness
Are your promotions being set up correctly? Do consumers notice them? Directed shop captures visual proof and consumer reactions to in-store promotional materials.
Customer Experience
Measure the end-to-end in-store experience through the consumer's eyes — from arrival to checkout. Narrated video captures friction points and moments of delight.
Your Shelf Audit Is Only as Good as Who's Walking the Aisle
Directed shop studies depend on recruiting real shoppers who reflect the consumers actually buying your products. MFour's mobile-first panel reaches the audiences that email and desktop panels consistently underrepresent — delivering faster fielding and more authentic in-store perspectives across every demographic.
Mobile-First, Not Mobile-Last
Our panelists live on their phones. That means faster fielding, higher response rates, and shoppers who are naturally comfortable capturing photos and video during in-store missions.
The Audiences Others Miss
Email and desktop panels structurally underrepresent Gen Z, Millennials, and multicultural consumers. MFour's mobile panel delivers strong representation among younger shoppers and Black and Hispanic audiences — the fastest-growing consumer segments in the U.S.
Speed That Meets Real Deadlines
Because our panelists are digitally active and mobile-native, we fill quotas faster than any other firm — including hard-to-reach demographic quotas that stall traditional studies for weeks.
Powered by the Largest First-Party Consumer Panel in the U.S.
Every location-triggered survey runs on MFour's opted-in, verified panel — the foundation that makes GPS-verified, point-of-emotion research possible at scale.
13M+
Opted-In Consumers
2,000+
New Panelists Daily
50%
Response Rate (5-10x industry)
9
Connected Data Streams
Fair Trade Data — 100% opt-in, 10x industry compensation, verified identities.
Go Beyond What They Say —
See What They Do
Surveys capture why. MFour's DANI™ contextualizes surveys with the what — connected behaviors across 9 data streams, from ChatGPT to checkout for full consumer journey mapping.
What did verified Target visitors do before and after their trip last week?
142K
2.3x
71%
43%
Top Apps Used Within 30 Min of Store Arrival
67% of verified Target visitors researched products on competitive apps and websites within 24-hrs of arriving while 27% did the same within 30-min of walking into Target.
Ready to Send Real Shoppers on a Mission?
Launch a GPS-verified directed shop study with MFour. Real consumers, real stores, multimedia evidence — connected to the full consumer journey.