Les "personal shoppers" vont-ils conquérir les français?

Personal shopper, private stylist… These words are slowly begining to find their way into French vocabulary. The progress is small, however, since most French people don’t have a clue what a personal shopper is. In contrast, in England, “personal shopper” seems to belong to the daily vocabulary. The place of these personal helpers is so established its barely possible to count the different agencies of personal shoppers in the UK…

Personal shopper

So, what is exactly a personal shopper? He (or she) is a fashion and styling professional who is at people’s service to help them to find the look that suits them best, do their shopping and accompany them. This service is aimed at everyone who wishes to be advised for his retail, wants to discover new fashion designers or just wants to please himself.

But above all, a personal shopper is a time-saving service. So, if you don’t have enough time to spend afternoons trailing round shops, it’s perfect for you. You just have to tell your personal shopper what you need, and he will arrange you a shopping session. You’ll follow him and try on different items he pre-selected and put aside the day before. No need any more to spend hours searching in the shops… And if you are really busy, your personal shopper can also pick up items from shops and deliver them to your office to be tried on.

This service is already well known among wealthy women around the globe. Many of them can’t imagine a retail session without their personal shopper. And they love to shop in Paris… So, the French market had to adapt to the needs of this demanding clientele. That’s how the first personal shoppers agencies were born.

Personal shopper

On the very beginning, these agencies were aimed only at these extremely rich foreign women who wanted to buy the last creation of a fashionable French stylist. 10 Vendôme is one of those. Created in 2003 by Isabelle Dubern, this agency has more than 1000 clients, who are all foreign people coming in Paris on regular basis. At a price of 1000 euros for a day's service, this kind of advice does not come cheap.

But some other agencies have since been created, offering more democratic and affordable services. With “The shopping by Lilye” for example, a day comes at 450 euros, including a review of your wardrobe and some help to define your hairstyle and your make up. 450 euros is hardly cheap but it is already more affordable and therefore more accessible to a lot more women. However, even Lilye recognizes that most of her clients come from abroad. “French are not yet used to that kind of service,” she says.

Perhaps the concept of personal shopper just needs some time to get a place in the French people’s daily life. But will it really manage that? In fact, the French have a passion for retail. French women just love to go around the shops and spend hours looking for a real bargain… Would they be able to give up this pleasure?