What Is Personal Shopping, Really?
It’s February!–the month of looooove, and do we love personal shopping for our clients. After diving into the ins and outs of the closet audit in January, we felt like the natural progression for our next basics-of-wardrobe-styling focus should be personal shopping, because a closet audit often reveals holes in a client’s wardrobe that, if filled, would dramatically revolutionize and simplify her/his everyday dressing routine and lifestyle.
Even without a prior closet audit, an initial personal shopping consultation helps to provide insight. It allows us to talk through what important pieces are missing or need to be replaced in a client’s wardrobe. Personal shopping, for us, means equipping you with the appropriate apparel and accessories for anything. From a single event or trip to a complete wardrobe overhaul, because just like all of our services, it is personal. Each component of personal shopping is customized to your specific requests and parameters. Even down to the way we communicate (online or in person), it’s all about what works best for our clients.
THE TIME COMMITMENT
How much time a client spends “shopping” with us really depends on the client. If she/he is wanting to start over with their entire wardrobe, or just for the new season, personal shopping can be quite extensive. This could require up to a day’s worth of shopping, in addition to the preparatory conversation(s) so that we know how to shop for you. However, if a client just wants a few new pieces for the upcoming season, we do a lot of two- to three-hour personal shopping appointments.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Again, what a day of personal shopping looks like completely depends on you. Some clients like to go with us. They want to learn and be there to ask questions. We love it when clients want to shop with us, as it makes the process a little easier on us! Having them there in person to try on things, so we can see what styles and brands fit and work well for their particular body types is really helpful. For those clients needing more attention, we usually break up the shopping into two days; so much trying on can be exhausting after two to three hours. For those clients needing less, we can usually finish their shopping in one day.
However, we also do a lot of shopping for clients. Many of our clients are busy professionals or moms and just don’t have the time to get away with us. For those clients, our services are especially valuable, as we save them time by handling their shopping for them. When we are done shopping, we then set up a time to deliver the items to their homes or offices. They’ll either try the items on in their own time, or we stay and do a fitting to see which items work/don’t work and to take notes.
As we mentioned in a previous blog post, we can shop anywhere from large department stores to small boutiques, based on the client’s tastes and budget, and are not motivated by commission or other incentives. We also happily pass along savings and don’t mark up merchandise.
SPECIAL EVENTS
We do a lot of business trip/special event/vacation shopping and packing for clients. For example, we have a client right now who is taking a business trip next week. We met for a consult last week to determine what she needs to take with her, what she already has in her closet that will work, and what she still needs to acquire. From there, we shopped for those needed items, and we are meeting one more time to put the final looks together for each day of her trip. That way, all she has to do when I leave is pack and go.
THE ONLINE OPTION
Oh my goodness! We get so excited talking about our online closet (although it’s easier to show than tell–see above screenshot). Through our online closet system, we are able to online shop for clients and pin items (think Pinterest) in their online “Finds” section. We can add notes to each item about how to wear/style. Clients can also comment and give us feedback. If they like the items we recommend, all they have to do is click on the item picture. From there, they will be directed to the link to purchase that particular item from the original website.
Our online closet system also has a “Lookbook” section, where we put looks together for clients. It also has a “Closet” section, where we can upload photos of items clients already have in their closets. We incorporate the latter into looks as much as possible when appropriate.
