Personal shopper
Personal shopping assistant
Personal shoppers give advice to customers and suggest products that may suit their needs.
Salary range: £14,000 to £25,000
How to become a personal shopper
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
College
You can take a college course to help you get into this job. Examples include:
- Level 1 Award in Customer Service
- Level 1 Extended Certificate in Making it in Fashion
- Level 2 Award in Understanding Customer Service in the Retail Sector
- 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
Apprenticeship
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
Work
You could start as a retail assistant and take bookings for people wanting 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 some experience in retail, you can apply for a role as an assistant personal shopper and learn on the job.
Direct application
You can apply directly to employers if you have some of the 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.
Other routes
There are short courses available with private training providers on topics like colour styling, image consultancy and personal styling.
More information
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. Many self-employed personal shoppers have this sort of background.
Professional and industry bodies
You can join an organisation like the Federation of Image Professionals International for professional recognition, training opportunities and to make industry contacts.
Further information
You can find out more about becoming a personal shopper from the Federation of Image Professionals International.
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
- sensitivity and understanding
- the ability to use your initiative
- excellent verbal communication skills
- the ability to sell products and services
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
What you’ll do
Day-to-day tasks
Your day-to-day tasks may include:
- meeting customers who’ve booked an appointment
- getting to know customers’ likes, dislikes and budget
- selecting goods or services to meet customers’ demands
- meeting individual and team sales targets
- making sure unsold goods are returned to the right departments
- following store security procedures on payment, packing and collection
- using computer systems and filling in paperwork
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.
You could start your own business and work freelance for a number of shops.