Personal shopping hits the high street

Personal shopping services are quickly gaining popularity across the UK's retail sector, appearing in outlets where you least expect them, according to the Retail Bulletin. Whilst the service is hardly novel: Harrods, Harvey Nichols and upmarket boutiques such as Browns and Cricket have long offered personal shopping to their star clients, though these days it is not a service solely available to the rich and famous. In fact, it's a cost-effective service which can help you save time and money by having an expert select pieces that are suitable to your size, taste and budget, without you having to trawl clothing rails with the masses.

KPMG head Helen Dickinson reports personal shopping services are gradually becoming more established on the High Street. Traditionally the preserve of the larger department stores and fashion boutiques, Topshop was one of the first to emulate them and now offers a trio of personal shopping options. They consist of the in-store Style Advisor; Top Shop To-Go, where a car load of products can be perused in the comfort of your own home, and Top Shop Express, a service in which the Oxford Circus store in London will respond to emergency shopping requests for products by text and deliver on the same day within the M25.

Dickinson says personal shopping will become more important to the retail experience being offered on the UK high street. It will help to provide a service which appeals to the ego of the UK shopper and makes a high street outlet a destination - a place in which to slow down and take your time, as opposed to racing through to pick up an item. By now, retailers must be alert to the possibilities which these services offer and how they can greatly enhance the brand in an individual consumer's mind. There's nothing revolutionary here as many retailers who already offer great in-store customer service have always been applying many of these principles.

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