Personal Shopper: Job Profile and Role

For lots of people, shopping is a favourite pastime and something they thoroughly enjoy. For others, shopping is the exact opposite – a strenuous and time-consuming venture they would rather not partake in. Or it is something they neither have the time nor the knack for. This is where a personal shopper comes in. Personal shoppers not only see shopping as one of their passions. They are ideally also very aware of the latest fashions and what would suit their respective clients, making them an invaluable asset to their lives.

The following blog will detail exactly what the job of a personal shopper entails. We will take a close look at the required qualifications and skills as well as at the expected annual salaries and possible employers. To give you an even better idea of your future job as a personal shopper, we will give you a first glimpse into the day of a personal shopper. To help you excel in this profession, we will conclude this blog with tips for thriving as a personal shopper.

Short Summary

• As a personal shopper, you help your clients to make the right purchases. Your help consists of valuable advice and guidance and involves excellent interpersonal skills.
• As a personal shopper, you need to build a strong relationship with your clients. This way, you find out all about their needs, requirements, likes and dislikes. This helps you to do bespoke shopping for them and guarantees that you always meet your clients’ expectations.
• As a personal shopper, you are tasked with keeping track of the latest trends, offers, and availabilities of the items you are supposed to buy.

Job description

A personal shopper’s job is to guide, advise and support a client’s requirements when it comes to fashion, for example. By knowing a client’s likes and dislikes, a personal shopper ensures that he or she purchases the items the client is happy and comfortable with. As a personal shopper, you are not only tasked with buying clothes or accessories. Personal shopping can also extend to household items and groceries, for example. Whichever shopping a personal shopper is tasked with, it is mandatory to always provide a personal and bespoke shopping experience to the clients.

Responsibilities

• Processing Shopping Orders
• Tailoring and Alterations
• Returns and Exchanges
• Budget Management
• Client Consultation
• Personal Styling
• Fashion Advice
• Gift Shopping
• Research
• Shopping

Different types of Personal Shoppers

• Corporate Personal Shopper
• Wedding Personal Shopper
• Fashion Personal Shopper
• Luxury Personal Shopper
• Online Personal Shopper

Salary

The annual salary for a personal shopper in the UK ranges from £32,700 to £36,200. The salary can be influenced by various factors, such as work experience, work performance, employer, company and location. Note that applying for a job as a personal shopper in a metropolitan area does not automatically mean higher salaries.

Working hours

Typically, a personal shopper works up to 40 hours a week, depending on the number of clients he or she is working for. Being a personal shopper is not a classic 9 to 5 job. In fact, if you are thinking of becoming a personal shopper, you should be willing to work both in the evenings and on the weekends.

Your working hours can also increase through networking events and last-minute shopping for your clients. Please make absolutely sure that these hours are fine for you and fit into your work-life balance.

Personal Shopping as Personal Exercise

Most personal shoppers spent a great deal of their working day on their feet – on average, between 8 and 10 hours. Not all of these hours are spent running from A to B – but personal shopping is still considered to be one of the most physically exhausting jobs in the world. On the upside: being a personal shopper means that you are actually being paid for doing your daily exercise.

Employers

As a personal shopper, you can find employment in various sectors and industries. For example, you can apply for your first job at a fashion company, a retail business or even a luxury fashion house. Alternatively, you can go on a first job hunt at image consulting companies and fashion magazines as well as department stores and event management companies.

Qualifications

In order to become a personal shopper, you do not have to complete a specific education. You may, however, benefit from doing an intermediate apprenticeship, for example, a fashion or retail apprenticeship. This way, you not only get your first insights into your future career as a personal shopper. You can also gain your first work experience. Alternatively, you can acquire the necessary knowledge by completing different college courses, such as the Level 2 Diploma in Retail Skills.

Furthermore, you should familiarise yourself with the relevant apps and software that cover everything from fashion to organising client details and accounting.

Skills

Every job requires personal strengths and competencies. Of course, this also applies to the job of a personal shopper. A love for shopping is one of the skills you should have. How else will you be able to perform your job perfectly? But this is not the only skill or preference you should have. Let’s take a look at a few more skills essential for being a brilliant personal shopper.

Interpersonal Skills

As a personal shopper, you deal with clients on a daily basis. You need to find out their preferences and needs and what to avoid when going on a shopping spree for them. Interpersonal skills are therefore an important part of your skill set and comprise of the following strengths: being sensitive and understanding, being friendly and being able to listen carefully to your clients’ specifications.

Sales Skills

Technically, your job is to buy, not to sell. However, selling is an important part of your job – not literally, but metaphorically. Let’s say a client always wants you to shop for the same things. Maybe because he or she is afraid to try something new. Whereas you know that certain new things might benefit your client. Having excellent sales skills, you can “sell” these new things to your client – and this can be a sure way for you to do your job even better.

Being Trustworthy

Being a personal shopper does not only mean you are someone’s personal shopper. It also means that this job is very personal to this someone. Your client does not want everyone to know what he or she usually buys, or else you would not have this job. Your client trusts you to not reveal who you are shopping for. To be a good personal shopper, you therefore need to be trustworthy.

Career Path

Your career as a personal shopper usually starts at entry level as a personal shopping assistant. Gaining more experience over the next few years can lead to you becoming a personal shopping manager, which puts you in charge of a team. Alternatively, you can think about starting your own business as a personal shopper.

Educational Background

You can become a personal shopper by doing an intermediate retail or fashion apprenticeship. You also have the option of completing appropriate college courses, such as the Level 1 Award in Customer Skills, the Level 2 Diploma in Retail Skills or the Level 3 Diploma in Fashion Retail. Note that applying for these apprenticeships and college courses requires a certain number of GCSEs, ranging from grades 3 to 1 (D to G), 9 to 3 (A* to D) and 9 to 4 (A* to C).

Gaining Experience

You will already have gained your first experience as a personal shopper through your apprenticeship or college course. Working as a personal shopper means that you gain ever more experience, making you better and better at your job. Networking can also help you gain more experience. By closely working with other personal shoppers and people in relevant industries, you learn valuable things that help you thrive and excel in your profession.

Continuous Learning

Continuous learning is mandatory, if you want to excel as a personal shopper and if you want to be ahead of your competition. Learning can include being up-to-date with the latest fashion and beauty trends or knowing your way around the best sales, communications and technological techniques. This way, you ensure that you thrive in your job as a personal shopper.

A Day in the Life of a Personal Shopper

Naturally, shopping makes up a great part of your working day as a personal shopper. But shopping is not all there is to a day in the life of a personal shopper. This section explores what a day in the life of a personal shopper can look like.

Client Consultation

In order to know what you will have to shop you need to start off your day as a personal shopper by consulting with your clients. Make a list of the things each one of your clients requires. Also, list at what time the respective shopping items need to be dropped off and to whom. Client consultation can also involve personal, telephone or video meetings in which you discuss upcoming events, special requirements and the budget for individual shopping requests.

Scheduling Appointments

Being a personal shopper involves visiting a certain number of stores and boutiques. Since you are not an average shopper, you need to schedule appointments with the respective shops you are planning to visit. This way, you ensure that both you and your clients get the service that is needed – without having to wait for a sales assistant to have time for you.

Finalising the Shopping

After you have completed your personal shopping for the day, you need to finalise your purchases with your clients. Here, you go through every purchased item together. Are the things you bought what your client had in mind? Do you need to make adjustments, return or exchange items? This way, you ensure that your clients are always satisfied with your purchases and with their personal shopping experience.

Tips for Thriving as a Personal Shopper

You are already learning as much as you can about being a personal shopper? But you are always on the lookout for even more tips for thriving as a personal shopper? The good news: we will now tell you three more important tips for thriving as a personal shopper:

• Staying up-to-date with fashion trends
• Building a strong network
• Personal shopping tools

Staying up-to-date with Fashion Trends

As you probably know, fashion changes at least twice every year – as dictated by the biannual fashion shows all over the world. If you work as a fashion personal shopper, you will inevitably need to stay up-to-date with all the latest fashion trends – regardless of the fact if they are your personal style or not. This way, you will definitely thrive as a personal shopper.

Building a Strong Network

Having lots of business contacts is vital for a successful personal shopper. Therefore, you need to build a strong network consisting of industry professionals. These may include boutique owners, journalists/editors at magazines, and designers from various sectors, such as fashion and furniture.

Personal Shopping Tools

Being familiar with technological tools is important to stay both up-to-date and organised as a personal shopper. If you want to thrive as a personal shopper, you should make the most of useful apps and software, ranging from fashion and style apps to organisational apps with which you stay on top of your clients’ purchases, requirements and invoices.

Frequently Asked Questions