Like the technology and IT sector, the fashion industry has also developed at a very rapid state in today’s global world. As we see the world changing for a better tomorrow and in the process of developing a lot of new things are emerging in every field. The fashion industry is also not lagging; it is topping the list of coming with new stuff all the time. These days the trend of being fashionable is at craze. Everybody wants to have the best garments and the best look for themselves. We all want a good wardrobe collection that stands out from the general lot.
As the world is becoming more and more globalised so the importance of different cultures has increased. People have become more interested in knowing various cultures and they want to acquire the dressing style of various cultures. Gone are the days when you were only confined with limited dresses and designs. Now the world has shrunken into small gadgets like mobile phones that have various shops that offer items of all kinds and styles. People are becoming more sensitive to all the cultures and they want to try the food, clothing, living style, etc of various places to have the experience of various cultures and places in their life.
Nowadays people are interested in varieties. They want to have varieties in their wardrobes and clothing also. It is very similar to the desire to taste multiple kinds of cuisine to know the taste of new food items. The desire to have multiplicity in terms of clothes and foods is not very new so to say but the rapid trend is seen in today’s world more than what was seen in earlier generations. It is however very important to select your clothes, jewelry, etc with great caution otherwise instead of looking good, you may end up looking terrible. Not everything suits everybody. Different people have different body types and size, it is therefore needed to understand the demand for your physique and choose your clothes accordingly. Clothes and styling also depend on the occasion, for example, you can not select to wear a bright colour dress for formal meetings.
Who is a personal shopper?
The selection of clothes according to body type and occasion is very important to look good and sensible, as it is mentioned earlier. Clothes define your personality and earn you respect in today’s world. So having a good dressing and styling sense is very crucial these days. This is true for all the other things in life; you need to have a proper balance of everything starting from your clothes to your household items. The personal shoppers make your work easy, they design your look, they buy you stuffs that you need for your home like groceries, etc.
In other words, a personal shopper is somebody who eases your work by helping you to select the best-suited items for yourself. They advise you to shop for things according to your needs and they suggest ways to buy good items. The job of a personal shopper is getting very famous these days. They are usually employed in boutiques, departmental stores or in markets of clothes. They also are employed for handling online stores and fashion industries to help the customers with good suggestions and give feedback on their purchasing.
What are the roles, functions, and duties of a personal shopper?
Personal shoppers have various works to do. Their duty sometimes depends upon their place of employment, however, the basic works that they do is the same.
Following are the roles, duties, and functions of a personal shopper:
- Personal shoppers purchase things on behalf of their customers rather on the demands and needs of their customers. They connect to their clients via email, call, live chats, etc where they discuss the requirements of their clients and then they buy stuff accordingly.
- They make suggestions to their clients as per the latest trends. They must keep their customers informed about the new things and items that flash the market. Also, they advise their clients to buy some necessary or rather the must-have items as per the new trend or fashion.
- The personal shoppers must know the best shopping strategies and techniques to buy the best products in less time, as they need to advise their customers accordingly.
- The roles of the personal trainers do not end when they are done shopping; they also have to get their purchasing approved to form their clients. If the items do not suit their customers then they also have to help them to exchange or replace them and get the suitable products.
- Personal shoppers also have to take care of the financial adjustments of the purchasing. They have to verify the adjustments of the payment as per the budget and plan their shopping appropriately. In other words, they have to plan the entire shopping as per the budget.
Some tips to become a personal shopper
Personal shoppers need to have some basic capabilities so that they satisfy their customers. Below are some of the basic tips mentioned that are necessary for every person who wants to become a personal shopper:
- It is very crucial to discover the field of interest in any profession that you choose. You need to do proper researching about the profession that you are going to opt for. Personal shopper’s job is intense; there are many options and varieties in this job. A job of personal shoppers could only be restrained to buying groceries and other such stuff if they work for an elderly person. But this job can be very intense when it comes to working with fashion industries. So you need to decide that on what basis you want to specialize and shop before you opt for this job.
- You need to plan your shopping and maintain the budget of your client. You need to know good money adjustments so that you invest money wisely and buy things appropriately without going beyond the budget. You also should know about handling excel and word so that you can prepare your buying list and budget efficiently.
- For jobs like personal shoppers, you need to develop skills for customer servicing as such jobs demand a lot of communication skills and abilities to interact with the clients and understand their needs.
- You need to be fully aware of all the new fashion trends and styles regularly. This job demands a lot of craftiness and creativity as the new things always keep on coming in the markets so you need to know all of them so that you satisfy your clients.
- Always focus on the item that you need to buy, that means that if you are shopping for groceries the do not look into toys, accessories or any other section as this will distract you. Try to finish buying from one section at a time and then jump to others.
- The job of personal shopper requires good managing skills that include finance management also. If you are determined to become a good personal shopper you need to have a good hand in calculation and mathematics so that you don’t end up messing up with prices, discounts, sales, etc. You need to manage all these things easily and efficiently.
- Marketing skills are a few of the most essential skills that all personal shoppers need to have. Management and marketing become a day to day activity of the personal shoppers so you need to develop these skills.
- It is not essential to have a certified degree of any course for this job but you may get a certified degree from any online or offline course to be more confident and professional in your work. You can get a degree from the fashion industry that offers such courses if you want to work in fashion industries in particular.
- What matters the most in any kind of job is the personal experience so you need to give yourself some exposure in the work field so that you built confidence and strength to work. Do not hesitate to start to work in small places also because working is always beneficial and adds to your experience. This boosts your capacity and prepares you for big projects.
So it can be concluded that for becoming a good personal shopper you need to be very efficient and possess some basic skills related to customer service, time management, good communication skills, organizational and management skills. All these qualities will help you to become efficient in your work. Apart from all these skills, you need to have the basic knowledge of computes to at least handle word, excel and mailing services. You also need to have patience and adaptability to stick in this field. If you want to make money in this field then you should work according to the clients and satisfy their needs. You may choose to work in some odd hours like weekends when the client would be free so that you know your buying list and customer’s wish properly.