Last Updated: February 15th, 2022 by
These days, people can outsource almost any activity, including their shopping. So whether they want to buy daily necessities or high-end fashion goods, you can cater to this need in the role of a personal shopper.
In this guide, you’ll explore the profession of a personal shopper in several different niches. You’ll learn how to become a personal shopper, what it takes to succeed in the role, and what you have to do to get there.
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Job Description
As a personal shopper, your primary goal is to understand the needs and wants of your clients. That way, you’ll be able to help them decide on the best products for their needs, whether that’s in fashion, furniture, food items, or anything else they want.
Once you understand what your clients want, your job is to source those items at the best quality and price levels. You’ll have to rely on your experience, knowledge, and network to do so.
After obtaining the products, you’ll deliver them directly to your client safely and on time.
What Does an Average Day for a Personal Shopper Look Like?
As you continue learning how to become a personal shopper, you’ll discover that it’s a non-traditional job with plenty of different variations.
Still, no matter what kind of personal shopper you choose to be, this is what an average day will look like for you:
Client Appointments
A significant part of your day will include client appointments. These appointments are necessary so they can communicate their expectations to you and so you can understand what they need you to buy for them.
Depending on your work arrangements, these could be face-to-face meetings, video conferences, or even quick phone calls.
Purchasing Items for Clients
Once you understand what the clients want, it’s your responsibility to source those items. These items could range from the latest designer clothes to extremely hard-to-find imported food items.
Whatever the item is, you’ll go to where they’re sold or obtain them from your industry contacts.
Delivering Items to Clients
Next, you’ll bring those items directly to your client. That allows you to present them personally as you fulfill their request in person.
Networking Meetings
Many of the items that your clients want can’t be bought off a shelf in a store. That’s why you need to continually network with people who can help you get the things you need for your clients.
For example, suppose you’re a personal shopper in the fashion niche. In that case, you’ll need friends in the fashion world who can sell you the outfits your clients are looking for.
Of course, networking is also an opportunity for you to market yourself to potential clients.
Studying Market Trends
Last but not least, you’ll spend some time studying trends in your niche – but, again, this still matters regardless of the niche you’ve chosen.
Using the example of a personal groceries shopper, you must understand grocery market trends, so you know when and where to get the best products to keep your clients happy.
READ MORE: Shoe Store Jobs. Interested in shoes? This guide explores shoe store jobs and what it takes to pursue these careers.
Process for Becoming a Personal Shopper
The first thing you’ll discover when learning how to become a personal shopper is that this is not a traditional career path at all. Still, it can be incredibly rewarding no matter how you go about pursuing it.
Here are some of the steps that you’ll likely go through in your journey to become a personal shopper:
1. Get a Degree (Optional)
No matter what kind of personal shopper you choose to be, getting a degree is not compulsory. However, employers will likely require you to only have a high school diploma as a minimum requirement. Plus, clients will focus on whether or not you can be an effective personal buyer for them.
Still, you can choose to pursue a degree that’s relevant to your niche. For example, if you plan on being a personal shopper in the fashion industry, then an associate’s or bachelor’s degree will be an advantage for you.
Degrees in broader fields of study can also benefit you as a personal shopper. Some examples include degrees in:
- Procurement or purchasing
- Sales and marketing
- Supply chain management
- Business
Remember: There is no fixed requirement for degrees when being a personal shopper. However, the skills and knowledge offered by them can give you an advantage when serving your clients and interacting with suppliers.
2. Choose a Niche
As a personal shopper, you can choose to be a generalist. That means you’ll serve a wide range of different customers, helping them to buy many kinds of products.
However, you’ll be more effective at standing out from your competition by choosing and specializing in a particular niche.
For example, you can be a personal shopper who focuses on clients and products in:
- Fashion, makeup, and other personal care products.
- Groceries and other everyday essentials.
- Experiences like hotel stays travel, concerts, and other events.
When you specialize in a niche, you’ll develop a reputation that makes you sought-after by clients who need your services. That also makes it easier to market yourself through word-of-mouth to secure other clients in the future.
3. Gain Hands-On Experience and Networking
One of the most essential qualities to have as a personal shopper is hands-on experience. That experience will be beneficial to establish yourself in your particular niche.
So, apply for an internship, part-time job, or entry-level position in your chosen niche. That could be at a retail chain, departmental store, fashion brand, or even a supermarket.
This experience may or may not be directly related to personal shopping at first. That’s because it’ll give you an insider understanding of these sectors, which you can then leverage to serve your future personal shopping clients.
More importantly, your time here will help you network with people in the niche you will later serve.
4. Market Yourself
An independent personal shopper must market themselves. These days, you have plenty of different options at your disposal.
For example, word-of-mouth remains one of the most effective forms of marketing. That’s especially true if you plan on working with high-end, wealthy clients.
However, you can also market yourself online with a website or through social media. When people know who you are and what you can offer them, they’ll learn to contact you for their personal shopping needs.
5. Stay Up to Date With Trends
Lastly, you must stay up-to-date with trends in your niche. That will set you apart from your competitors, as you can provide clients with better recommendations.
For example, you’ll know how to get the best products at the most affordable prices. So not only will your client have what they’re looking for, but they’ll also save money thanks to your expertise.
Are You Suited for a Personal Shopper Career? Skills, Credentials, Tools, and Technology
Working as a personal shopper isn’t as easy as it might sound. When you dedicate yourself to learning how to become a personal shopper, you’ll need the following personality traits, skills, and proficiencies to be successful:
Personality and Skills
You must be friendly and easy to get along with in terms of personality traits. That trait goes well with two crucial skills for this job: customer service and networking skills.
Your work as a personal buyer puts you in a client-facing position. So, you must be professional and carry yourself well at all times, even if the customer is challenging to deal with.
On the other hand, you’re also interacting with suppliers and sales professionals. You must have strong networking skills to build relationships with them. That’s because they’ll help you get what you need to satisfy your client.
Lastly, you must also be excellent at anticipating your client’s needs. That skill takes time to develop, and you can’t pick it up from a book. However, when you know your client’s preferences and tastes inside and out, you can make recommendations that’ll keep them coming back to you for more.
Credentials and Proficiencies
In this line of work, you must also have a set of necessary proficiencies. You must be well-versed in the trends that apply to your industry, for starters.
For example, if your niche is fashion, you must keep track of all the latest fashion trends and know what’s in season. The same is true if you focus on groceries, as some items are only available from particular suppliers or during specific times of the year.
Besides that, you must also do your homework and develop deep product knowledge in your niche. That means you’ll understand everything there is to know about a product so you can advise your clients well.
Lastly, being proficient in marketing will also take you a long way. That understanding will help you see through all the marketing fluff and hype to get your clients the best products available.
How Does a Personal Shopper Find Work?
After learning how to become a personal shopper, you can find work with clients in three different ways: by working for retailers offering a personal shopper service, starting your own business, or being a gig worker with a personal shopping service.
Let’s take a look at each of those options.
Work for Retailers
Your first option for finding work as a personal shopper is to seek employment with retailers. Grocery chains like Walmart and Target are examples of large chains offering customers personal shopper services.
Other businesses that offer personal shopper services include department stores and leading fashion brands.
READ MORE: Department Store Jobs. Explore different department store jobs and the requirements to work there.
Start Your Own Business
Your second option is to work independently and start a business. Again, you’ll focus on a specific niche and market yourself to your target clients.
Finding work this way can be challenging, as you’ll have to market yourself to find new clients. However, it can also be incredibly rewarding as there’s no limit to how much you can make.
For instance, high-end clients can pay you more for your services. Plus, their friends will become your potential clients as they hear about your work through word-of-mouth.
On the plus side, working this way allows you to network with all sorts of people. That includes your clients, the sales staff you interact with, and suppliers you rely on to find what you need.
Work Short-Term Gigs
These days, you can also take short-term gigs to work as a personal shopper. That’s because there are plenty of on-demand apps for groceries and other goods that allow you to work whenever you feel like it.
Once you register with an app, you can turn it on whenever you’re ready to work. Then, customer orders will come in. That’s when you head to the designated stores, buy the items, and send them to the customer.
This approach is excellent if you’d like to gain hands-on experience being a personal shopper on a part-time basis. Plus, you won’t have to find clients independently, and you can choose your own hours.
The Average Salary of a Personal Shopper
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) groups the job of a personal shopper into the broad category of ‘personal care and service occupations’. According to them, the average salary for people working in this category is $28,120 a year.
However, you must understand that your salary will depend on what kind of personal shopper you choose to be and what types of clients you serve.
For example, CNN reported that a personal shopper working at Walmart, who focuses on groceries and daily essentials, has a salary starting at $13 an hour.
On the other end of the spectrum, Vanity Fair once reported about a high-end personal shopper who charged $400 an hour or a percentage of the final shopping bill.
Simply put, learning how to become a personal shopper can be very lucrative if you target the best niches and clients that match your interests and abilities.
That also means you have several approaches to increase your earning potential as a personal shopper.
A few common examples include:
- First, choosing a more specialized niche, like fashion or hard-to-find items.
- Sourcing items from overseas, like China and other countries.
- Focusing on higher-end clients who are willing to pay more for your services.
- Finally, developing a reliable network of suppliers and sales contacts to help you find whatever your clients need.
Personal Shopper Job Growth
The BLS estimates that the ‘personal care and service occupations’ category (including personal shoppers) will grow by 22% between 2020 and 2030. That growth rate is much higher than the average.
As you learn how to become a personal shopper, you’ll also have to decide if you want to work as a generalist or if you prefer focusing on a specific niche.
Top 3 Personal Shopping Niches
The niches that you can focus on as a personal shopper aren’t strictly defined. In many cases, personal shoppers will help their clients get a wide range of different items to suit their needs.
Still, you can also learn how to become a personal shopper by specializing in the following niches:
1. Fashion, Styling, and Image
You’ll help clients purchase clothing, makeup, and other related products in this niche. In addition, you will likely find yourself providing clients with advice on the items that suit their individual styles.
Plus, you’ll help clients understand current fashion trends and which items are currently in-season.
2. Groceries and Everyday Essentials
These days, many people are very busy focusing on their careers. So, they prefer outsourcing essential purchases to personal shoppers like you. So, you’ll help people pick up their groceries and other everyday essentials in this niche.
The demand for personal shoppers in this niche is also high for seniors who can’t leave their homes to purchase daily essentials.
3. Experiences, Like Hotel Rooms and Event Tickets
Lastly, you can help clients find the best deals to enjoy exciting life experiences. For instance, you’ll help them source the best prices for hotel rooms or hard-to-get tickets to concerts and other events.
Professional Associations
Learning how to become a personal shopper also happens through networking and mentorships.
Here are some professional associations where you can connect with other people in your industry:
Personal Shoppers Association (PSA)
IAPO International Association of Professional Personal Shoppers
Association of Image Consultants International
Top Colleges and Universities
In your journey to learn how to become a personal shopper, you can pursue a wide range of college degrees to help you serve your customers better.
Here are some examples of the degrees you can pursue and the top institutions that offer them:
- Fashion Styling: Fashion Institute of Technology
- Fashion Design and Management: Cornell University
- Sales: Purdue University
- Business: University of Pennsylvania
- Supply Chain Management: Michigan State University