It tells me they're are no shops around me even when I change the zip code and I live in a moderately-sized town near the capital of the state so there should be jobs available.

It's the end of the year. Many companies want to have all their shops done before the holidays so that they can take time off and transition into next year - which could mean different clients, types of shops, etc. This is especially true with retail.

If you need to find more shops than what is on iSS, realize that there is a whole world of mystery shopping and the companies on iSS only represent a small fraction of what's available.

Thanks, MF Johnston...that's what I thought...the holidays...seems like there is a good selection of companies here...I "signed-up" with about half of them. Are there other comprehensive platforms like ISS (if I can ask about that here). I am mainly interested in phone and web shops, as I do not live in a very heavily populated area.