Personal shopper
Encyclopedia
Personal shopping is an occupation
where people help others shop
by giving advice and making suggestions to customer
s. They are often employed by department store
s and boutique
s (although some are freelance or work exclusively online
). Their focus is usually on clothes, although the number of non-clothing stores - such as furniture
retail
ers - that offer personal shopping services is on the rise, and many freelance personal shoppers will help customers shop in whatever item they happen to be after.
A personal shopper will give the customer focused and individual attention, and will advise the customer of what is in fashion
, help the customer to decide what looks good on them, or assist in picking out an outfit for a particular occasion- or even an entire wardrobe for a particular season. They will often also conduct other services such as a colour analysis, enabling the customer to better understand which colours suit them best, or which colours should be worn for which season
s.
A personal shopper is typically employed by the store itself, which means that payment for the service is not required - only the items bought. Other stores will charge a small fee to use their personal shoppers. Only large department stores, such as Bloomingdales, Debenham's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Macy's generally offer personal shopper services, although some smaller stores like Anthropologie also offer the service. Personal shoppers are also known as fashion stylists (or shop assistants, or sales assistants). There are also quite a few who work independent of any affiliation with any stores and can be found in large cities such as New York City, London, Paris, Miami and Boston. Outside of agencies, personal shoppers can be found on auction websites such as eBay where they auction their services to obtain customized items such as men and women's clothing collections.
Some bloggers specialize in shopping.
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
where people help others shop
Shopping
Shopping is the examining of goods or services from retailers with the intent to purchase at that time. Shopping is an activity of selection and/or purchase. In some contexts it is considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one....
by giving advice and making suggestions to customer
Customer
A customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
s. They are often employed by department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s and boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
s (although some are freelance or work exclusively online
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
). Their focus is usually on clothes, although the number of non-clothing stores - such as furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
ers - that offer personal shopping services is on the rise, and many freelance personal shoppers will help customers shop in whatever item they happen to be after.
A personal shopper will give the customer focused and individual attention, and will advise the customer of what is in fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
, help the customer to decide what looks good on them, or assist in picking out an outfit for a particular occasion- or even an entire wardrobe for a particular season. They will often also conduct other services such as a colour analysis, enabling the customer to better understand which colours suit them best, or which colours should be worn for which season
Season
A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...
s.
A personal shopper is typically employed by the store itself, which means that payment for the service is not required - only the items bought. Other stores will charge a small fee to use their personal shoppers. Only large department stores, such as Bloomingdales, Debenham's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Macy's generally offer personal shopper services, although some smaller stores like Anthropologie also offer the service. Personal shoppers are also known as fashion stylists (or shop assistants, or sales assistants). There are also quite a few who work independent of any affiliation with any stores and can be found in large cities such as New York City, London, Paris, Miami and Boston. Outside of agencies, personal shoppers can be found on auction websites such as eBay where they auction their services to obtain customized items such as men and women's clothing collections.
Online personal shopping
An online personal shopper’s job is to spend time online searching on behalf of clients. Their focus is usually on anything that the web can provide. An online personal shopper is typically freelance however some are employed by impartial websites that offer online shopping advice. Online personal shopping services typically begin with a request or question from the client about the item, product or service that they are looking for. Customers are typically required to pay for the information. After the online personal shopper has located the item or items according to the client’s needs, the customer is notified.Some bloggers specialize in shopping.