How To Become A Personal Shopper? – A Step By Step Guide

There?s nothing better than some retail therapy on a gloomy day, but what if that was your job? Yes, you heard right – you can become a personal shopper and indulge in daily retail therapy for a living. So whether you had a bad day at work or a terrible breakup, a little shopping can always lift your mood.

Unfortunately, busy schedules and social and professional commitments hardly ever leave people with time for some much-needed shopping. And bam! Personal shopper jobs were soon all the rage, with more and more potential candidates wondering how to become a personal shopper.

Rachel Green: The Fictional Character Who Made Personal Shoppers Famous

Come on. There is no way you have not heard about Friends of Rachel Green. Jennifer Aniston played the character of Rachel Green on the hit sitcom Friends for nearly a decade. The spoilt rich girl cut off by her daddy becomes a waitress and is practically lost in her career.

While Rachel is better known for introducing ?the haircut? of the 90s, fans of the show will remember that back in the 90s, Rachel was also known for her love for fashion and is a fashion icon of her time. At the time, she was a personal shopper for a big brand like Bloomingdale?s in New York, a much-coveted job for sure.

If you remember how Rachel has practically zero skills – the audience was aware that shopping was the only thing that interested Rachel. This shows how all you need is a love for fashion and shopping accompanied by communication skills.

How To Become A Personal Shopper? – Step By Step Guide

While for becoming a personal shopper, a potential candidate is not required to obtain any institutional degree or certification, but some qualifications and substantial interest in fashion are mandatory requirements.

If you find this career option suitable and wondering how to become a personal shopper, scroll down to learn from our specially curated step-by-step guide!

Step 1: Find A Niche

Identifying a niche is crucial to becoming a shopper. You can become a Walmart personal shopper or an Amazon personal shopper. There are other ways of categorizing niches, such as high fashion or independent clients. However, it is essential to remember that this won?t be enough.

A good taste of fashion in your niche must possess naturally to make the right impression on your employer.

Step 2: Opt For Training

While it is not mandatory to get a degree or certification in your personal shopping career, it is wiser to obtain some sort of training – this will impress your employer and provide you the first-hand opportunity to learn and even make mistakes.

If you strengthen your CV and improve your skill sets, you will simply become a desired candidate when you apply for personal shopper jobs.

Step 3: Know What?s Trending

As an aspiring personal shopper, you must know fashion trends. But, if you have no idea about the latest trends in fashion, how can you help your clients shop? The best way to go about this is to keep up with famous trendsetters on Instagram, follow tweets from influential personalities, and subscribe to renowned fashion magazines.

You can further make things even better for yourself by keeping tabs on what?s not trending to help your clients make the right style choices.

Step 4: Obtain Experience And Expertise

Like any other career, the career of a personal shopper also provides candidates to gain both experience and expertise. Without experience, it is impossible to strengthen your portfolio, especially if you are just starting as a fresher. This will also help you become more confident in your job role.

Experience also brings in expertise. Once you gain a substantial amount of experience, you will also become an expert in your industry.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

1) What Do You Have To Do To Become A Personal Shopper?

Although the jobs are not of the conventional 9 to 5 nature, there happens to be a few steps that can help you gain sufficient expertise as a personal shopper. The steps are mentioned below.

• Learn in detail about the fashion world
• Understand how size charts, fit, and tailoring functions.
• Practice on your friends and acquaintances 
• Keep up with trends
• Improve communication and management skills

2) How Much Money Do You Make As A Personal Shopper?

A personal shopper in America earns 49,480 dollars annually or, more simply, 24 dollars an hour. So while the reigning 10 percent earns around 62,000 dollars in a year, the 10 percent at the very bottom makes about 39,000 dollars on average.

3) Who Pays The Most For Personal Shoppers?

The top companies paying for personal shoppers in America are as follows,

• Giant Eagle, Inc.
• SpartanNash.
• Macy’s.
• Bonobos.
• Sam’s Club.

4) How Much Do You Charge For A Personal Shopper?

They can charge somewhere between 120 dollars to 200 dollars every hour they work on average! However, the charges can definitely vary depending on the country you work in and also your professional reputation as a personal shopper.

Conclusion:

The key to becoming a successful personal shopper is through being patient through and through – you can simply never lose your cool! If you lose your cool, it will reflect poorly on the brand you are representing and your integrity. As a result, even if you are angry, your behavior cannot reflect that irritation.

After all, becoming a shopper is not as simple as it seems. You cannot simply walk inside high fashion stores and ask for a job. A degree is not essential, but an open and friendly personality can go a long way in establishing your reputation in the personal shopping industry.

If Rachel Green could do it, so could you! If you think you have got all the skills of a personal shopper, there?s no point in waiting for the right time or the right opportunity. So brush those skills, practice a little, and soon it will be time for you to go out there and seize the day!

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