Middle-aged cashiers with one or more customers other than the mystery shopper in the queue tended to ask for proof of identity more frequently.
In the Satakunta district of western Finland, for instance, identity checks were up by 20 percent on the previous year’s survey.
Some 56.6 percent of the mystery shoppers were asked to produce identification compared to 36.2 percent a year ago. In 42.5 percent of cases, test shoppers were able to purchase alcoholic beverages unchallenged.
Over 100 mystery shopping visits were made this year at 54 stores, kiosks, service stations and ALKO liquor stores. Five eighteen year-old students were employed from the WinNova West Coast Education College in western Finland.
The joint local government and THL project is aimed at reducing alcohol consumption by the young by means, for example, of preventing underage sales.