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Secret Service

Boost your business by doing a little shopping-undercover, of course.

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By Kim T. Gordon

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Thomas Stemberg, the CEO and founder of Staples, is addicted toshopping. Despite the fact that he heads an $11 billion storechain, Stemberg continues to shop the competition in person,sometimes even enlisting family members to help-including hismother-in-law, who, he says, "was a regular shopper at OfficeDepot's delivery business to help me learn how itworked."

Shopping the competition is one method of stimulating growth andinnovation for your retail operation. It's easy, do-it-yourselfresearch that can help you find your marketing edge by monitoringservice from the customer's perspective.

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