Personal shopper
Personal shoppers give advice to customers and suggest products that meet their needs.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
As a personal shopper, you will:
- meet customers who’ve booked an appointment
- get to know customers’ likes, dislikes and budget
- select goods or services in store or online that fulfil customers’ needs
- meet individual and team sales targets
- make sure unsold goods are returned to the right departments
- follow store and online security procedures on payment, packing and collection
- use computer systems for customer records
Working environment
You could work at a store.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could become a personal shopping manager, in charge of a team, or move into retail buying and merchandising.
You could also start your own business and work freelance on behalf of a number of stores, or shop for individual clients.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- customer service skills
- the ability to work well with others
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to sell products and services
- sensitivity and understanding
- the ability to use your initiative
- excellent verbal communication skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- applying directly
- specialist courses run by private training organisations
You can take a college course to help you get into this job. Examples include:
- Level 1 Award in Customer Service
- Level 2 Diploma in Retail Skills
- Level 3 Diploma in Fashion Retail
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 2 or fewer GCSEs at grades 3 to 1 (D to G), or equivalent, for a level 1 course
- 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course
More Information
You may be able to start by doing a retailer intermediate apprenticeship.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
More Information
You could start as a retail assistant and take bookings for people who want to use a personal shopper.
You'll be the first point of contact in a store and will learn how to work well with a wide range of customers.
Once you have experience in retail, you can apply for a role as a personal shopper and learn on the job.
You can apply directly to employers if you have relevant skills and knowledge needed for this role. Employers will look for a good standard of education, with GCSEs in English and maths.
You'll need experience of working with customers in a face-to-face setting like a shop, supermarket, restaurant or hotel, or online.
There are short courses available with private training providers on subjects like colour styling, image consultancy and personal styling.
Career tips
If you want to work as a personal shopper for clothing, you'll have a definite advantage if you've got skills in fashion or design.
Professional and industry bodies
You can join an organisation like the Federation of Image Professionals International.
Further information
You can find out more about becoming a personal shopper from the Federation of Image Professionals International.
Related videos
Suggested videos
Coffee With is in early release mode with a limited number of videos. New videos are being added every week, so please check back for updates.
External links
This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.