Reality Based Group
Reality Based Group, founded in 1992 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, pioneered video mystery shopping and operates a network of 280,000+ shoppers across the US and Canada. It provides customer experience evaluation, audits, surveys, and training to enterprise and franchise clients.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1992
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Reality Based Group does
Reality Based Group (RBG), founded in 1992 in Houston, Texas by Joe Woskow and now headquartered in Austin, is a customer experience measurement firm that pioneered video-based mystery shopping under its original GameFilm brand. The company operates a gig-style evaluation workforce of 280,000+ active mystery shoppers and 180,000+ auditors across all 50 US states and Canada, providing third-party, objective visibility into frontline customer interactions for multi-location enterprises and franchise systems. RBG runs a four-step closed-loop methodology (Design, Evaluate, Report, Coach) intended to convert frontline observations into specific behavior change and measurable ROI.
The product portfolio is anchored by GameFilm®, a registered trademark covering the company's signature covert video mystery shopping solution, and extends into written mystery shopping (Mystery Shopping Plus), telephone mystery shopping (Real Calls™), competitive pricing and facility audits (Real Check™), customer satisfaction surveys deployed via receipt, email, or direct mail (Real Feedback™), Virtual Reality-based customer service training, gamified coaching and digital coaching programs, and GamePlan, a management accountability workflow tool. The Shoppers' Critique International (SCI) division focuses on automotive accounts, including a nine-year Lexus engagement. Clients access results through 24/7 online dashboards with real-time notifications.
RBG generates revenue primarily through professional services engagements priced per mystery shopping assignment, with shoppers reimbursed for purchases plus service fees and quotes customized by shop type, complexity, and geography. The firm sells through a direct sales-led motion targeting enterprise clients via competitive RFPs and an inside sales team handling inbound inquiries. Documented enterprise customers span auto (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Ferrari, Bridgestone Firestone), retail (Amazon, Nike, Under Armour, Lowe's, Whole Foods, California Closets, Rent-a-Center, Bristol Farms), QSR and restaurants (Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Chick-fil-A, Texas Roadhouse, Blaze Pizza, Cinnabon, Taco John's, Wetzel's Pretzels), hospitality and other services (Four Seasons, New York Yankees, Gold's Gym, Chartway, Allstate, 7-Eleven). The company holds a BBB A+ rating, is a founding member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, and is privately held with no disclosed external funding.
Reality Based Group firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Reality Based Group
- Legal name
- Reality Based Group
- Website
- https://realitybasedgroup.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1992
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Reality Based Group, founded in 1992 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, pioneered video mystery shopping and operates a network of 280,000+ shoppers across the US and Canada. It provides customer experience evaluation, audits, surveys, and training to enterprise and franchise clients.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Reality Based Group industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Customer Experience / Mystery Shopping Services
- NAICS
- Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (459120)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital/Hybrid Board Games & Companion-App Enabled Games Retail (CRALALAO)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- VR Headsets & Accessories Retail (CRACAFAE)
Keywords
Where Reality Based Group is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Reality Based Group business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Mystery Shopping Services: Core revenue stream from providing mystery shopping programs including video mystery shopping (GameFilm®), written mystery shopping, phone mystery shopping, and virtual reality training. Services are priced per shop assignment with shoppers reimbursed for purchases plus fees.
- Training and Coaching Programs: Customized training programs focused on results including gamified training and 1-on-1 live coaching sessions to help businesses improve customer experience based on mystery shopping findings.
- Audits and Assessments: Competitive pricing audits, facility condition assessments, merchandising audits, inventory audits, and manager audits through the Real Check™ program.
- Customer Surveys: Real Feedback™ surveys deployed via phone, web, receipt, email, or direct mail providing customer satisfaction data and employee feedback collection.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Reality Based Group product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Reality Based Group provides mystery shopping and customer experience evaluation services to multi-location enterprises and franchise businesses. Through its proprietary GameFilm® video mystery shopping technology and a network of 280,000+ mystery shoppers, RBG delivers objective third-party assessments of frontline staff performance, competitive pricing audits, customer satisfaction surveys, and customized training/coaching programs that translate evaluation data into improved CX outcomes.
Product overview
Reality Based Group operates as a tech-enabled mystery shopping and customer experience improvement firm offering a unified platform with multiple interconnected products. The core product suite includes GameFilm® (video mystery shopping), Mystery Shopping (video, online, written, phone programs), Virtual Reality training, Training programs, and Audits. The platform is complemented by specialized solutions including Real Check™ for competitive audits, Real Feedback™ for customer surveys, and Real Calls™ for telephone mystery shopping, along with GamePlan for management accountability. Additional offerings include Mystery Shopping Plus (written mystery shopping with expert scorecards) and Shoppers' Critique International (SCI) as a sub-brand division. The company also maintains a network of over 280,000 mystery shoppers who conduct evaluations across the United States and Canada, with the system delivering actionable data through 24/7 online dashboards with real-time notifications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- GameFilm®: The company's proprietary video mystery shopping solution; the original and pioneering video mystery shopping technology that captures customer perspectives through video.
- Mystery Shopping+
- Real Check™
- Real Feedback™
- Real Calls™
- Shoppers' Critique International (SCI)
Products and services
- GameFilm® Video Mystery Shopping Pioneering video mystery shopping service that uses undercover video recording to capture actual customer interactions at client locations, providing clients with behavioral video evidence to assess service quality and protocol compliance.
- Mystery Shopping Programs Customized mystery shopping programs that include video, online, written, and phone evaluations conducted by professional undercover shoppers to provide objective observations of staff and operations.
- Real Check™ Audits and Assessments Tailored audits including competitive pricing audits, facility condition assessments, service inspections, merchandising audits, inventory audits, and manager audits conducted through a network of 180,000+ auditors.
- Real Feedback™ Customer Satisfaction Surveys Customer satisfaction survey solution providing actionable data on consumer and employee experience, deployed via phone, web, receipt, email, or direct mail with customizable questionnaire design.
- Real Calls™ Telephone Mystery Shopping Telephone mystery shopping service using trained telephone shoppers and call recording technology to assess phone interactions with customers and pinpoint improvements in first impressions and call handling.
- Virtual Reality Training First-person interactive VR training program that gamifies customer service training, transporting trainees into simulated retail environments for experiential learning.
- Training and Coaching Programs Customized gamified training, 1-on-1 live coaching sessions, and digital coaching that translate mystery shopping findings into specific employee behavior change.
- Competitive Web and Retail Audits Competitive web and retail analysis program that monitors competitor behaviors and pricing to inform client competitive positioning and pricing strategy.
- Shoppers' Critique International (SCI) Division of Reality Based Group managing mystery shopping programs, with a multi-year partnership serving Lexus and other automotive clients.
Quantifiable outcome
- 3X return on each dollar spent for clients
- +12 more outcomes
Companies that use Reality Based Group
Customer profileNamed customers27 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Reality Based Group technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Reality Based Group partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Blaze PizzacoreReality Based Group announced a partnership with Blaze Pizza to deploy video mystery shopping technology across its franchise locations. The fast-growing pizza chain selected RBG after a competitive RFP process. Pilot locations reported nearly 50% increases in upsells. The partnership aims to provide franchisees with actionable coaching tools to improve frontline performance and drive revenue growth.
- Shoppers' Critique International (SCI)coreSCI is a division of Reality Based Group that manages mystery shopping programs for clients including Lexus. The division has maintained a nine-year partnership with Lexus providing actionable results through a user-friendly reporting system.
- MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association)coreReality Based Group is a founding member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. This membership provides access to gold and silver certified mystery shoppers worldwide and industry best practices.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Reality Based Group competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Market Force Information: Market Force is a long-standing direct competitor offering mystery shopping, customer experience measurement, and brand integrity audits to multi-location enterprises. Both firms compete head-to-head in the same RFP processes for franchise and retail CX programs.
- A Closer Look: A Closer Look is a mystery shopping and customer experience research firm serving retail, restaurant, and financial services clients. It is a fellow MSPA member and competes with RBG in enterprise CX evaluation programs.
- Second To None: Second To None provides mystery shopping, customer experience measurement, and competitive intelligence services to multi-unit operators. It is a long-established MSPA member and a direct competitor to RBG in franchise and retail CX programs.
- SPAR Group: SPAR Group provides mystery shopping, merchandising, and retail audit services to multi-location brands. It directly overlaps with RBG's Real Check™ audits and written mystery shopping lines, particularly for retail and CPG clients.
- BestMark: BestMark is a national mystery shopping company serving retail, restaurant, hospitality, and automotive clients with in-person, phone, and online evaluations. It competes directly with RBG for the same enterprise and franchise accounts.
- Coyle Hospitality Group: Coyle Hospitality specializes in mystery shopping and CX evaluation for hotels, restaurants, and luxury hospitality brands - the same verticals where RBG serves Four Seasons, Starbucks, and Texas Roadhouse. Direct competitor in hospitality mystery shopping.
- IntelliShop: IntelliShop is a mystery shopping company offering in-person, video, online, and telephone shop programs for enterprise clients. It is a fellow MSPA member and competes directly with RBG for multi-location franchise and retail contracts.
- MaritzCX: MaritzCX is a customer experience research and mystery shopping provider serving automotive, retail, and hospitality verticals. It directly overlaps with RBG's core service lines including video, phone, and written mystery shopping plus coaching.
Broad incumbents
- Qualtrics: Qualtrics is an enterprise CX experience management platform that competes with RBG's Real Feedback™ survey product line and broader CX measurement services. It represents the broader, software-led incumbent threat to traditional mystery shopping.
- J.D. Power: J.D. Power is a broader customer experience research and analytics incumbent that serves automotive OEMs and dealers - directly overlapping with RBG's automotive mystery shopping work for BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and Ferrari. It is a wider portfolio player rather than a pure-play mystery shop.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Reality Based Group social profiles
Digital presenceReality Based Group compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Reality Based Group financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Reality Based Group leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Reality Based Group funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Reality Based Group M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Reality Based Group
What does Reality Based Group do?
Reality Based Group provides mystery shopping and customer experience evaluation services to multi-location enterprises and franchise businesses. Through its proprietary GameFilm® video mystery shopping technology and a network of 280,000+ mystery shoppers, RBG delivers objective third-party assessments of frontline staff performance, competitive pricing audits, customer satisfaction surveys, and customized training/coaching programs that translate evaluation data into improved CX outcomes.
Is Reality Based Group a public or private company?
Reality Based Group is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Reality Based Group founded?
Reality Based Group was founded in 1992. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Reality Based Group based?
Reality Based Group is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
How does Reality Based Group make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Mystery Shopping Services are the primary driver. The others are training and Coaching Programs, audits and Assessments and customer Surveys.
Who are Reality Based Group's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Market Force Information, A Closer Look, Second To None, SPAR Group, BestMark, Coyle Hospitality Group, IntelliShop and MaritzCX. Broad incumbents are Qualtrics and J.D. Power.
Does Reality Based Group have an API?
No public API is recorded for Reality Based Group.
What industry is Reality Based Group in?
Reality Based Group's product category is Customer Experience / Mystery Shopping Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRALALAO, Digital/Hybrid Board Games & Companion-App Enabled Games Retail, with a secondary code of CRACAFAE, VR Headsets & Accessories Retail. Its NAICS code is 459120 and its SIC code is 7990.