Tuesday November 21, 2017
In Malaysia, there is actually an increasing number of people who are becoming personal shoppers, either on a full-time or part-time basis supported by the readily social media platforms and higher demand of local consumers.
To give you an idea of the booming industry of personal shopping just take a look at HonestBee, a Singapore-based online grocery concierge and delivery service that ventured into Malaysia a few months ago. Or, you can look at GoGet Malaysia that helps customers to run errands, receive or deliver parcels, shop or even queue for tickets!
How to Get Started?
Before becoming a personal shopper, you will need to identify the various categories of products – women’s wear, men’s wear, furniture, groceries, etc – and its demand.
There are, so far, two types of personal shoppers in Malaysia: those who focus on local retail outlets, and the rest that focus on international retailers. For local retailers, companies like Helpr.my and GoGet are some of the pioneers in our local market by offering customer’s help to run errands or do shopping, whereas there are several independent personal shoppers that multitask as stylists or beauty consultants too.
On the other hand, we also have personal shoppers that travel overseas and help their customers shop for branded or international products that are more expensive or cannot be found in Malaysia such as the Adidas NMD series.
How Much Do Personal Shoppers Get Paid?
For a full-time personal shopper, the starting salary for someone without any experience ranges between RM1,500 to RM2,500 a month, depending on the companies.
On the other hand, start-ups and companies that run errands for their customers deal with freelancers such as single moms and students and they are paid hourly, which is about RM15 to RM25.
It is understandable that ShopAndBox shares with its personal shoppers a commission fee of 10% to 14% commission charges (personal shoppers get the chunk of it.
What to Watch Out For a Personal Shopper?
There are generally two main challenges to be a personal shopper: Creating a catalog and setting minimal fees. In terms of creating a catalog, it is somewhat difficult to create a user-friendly and accurate catalog for certain products as this can keep changing and each brand’s catalog is diverse.
On top of that, personal shoppers must find a sweet spot to ensure their business is sustainable by not pushing the customer away but also ensuring they do not lose money. The minimum purchase amount and service fee must be carefully calculated so customers feel that the money they part with is worth the convenience of hiring a personal shopper.
3 Ways to Become a Personal Shopper
Here are the 3 options to kick start your journey as a personal shopper:
1.Set Up Your Own Business
Create your social media page or website and start getting your customers.
2. Join a Personal Shopping Company
Send out your resume to the companies such as GoGet.my, HonestBee or Happy Fresh and be a personal shopper in your favorite category.
3. Freelance During Overseas Trip
Whenever you plan an upcoming overseas trip, do look up for the popular products that may have high demand in Malaysia or branded stuff like handbags that are sold cheaper in these countries so you can shop on behalf of your friends and family with a minimal fee. (Watch out for import tax though!)
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