Personal Shopping Services in the US Industry Market Research Report Now Available from IBISWorld
New York, NY (PRWEB) March 18, 2014 -- Over the past five years, consumers have been searching for higher quality and more personalized customer care, which increasing disposable income has allowed them to pay for it. Consumers overwhelmed by an abundance of clothing choices, or too busy to shop for themselves, have sought to outsource their shopping to professionals who specialize in style consultations, wardrobe edits and a variety of other specialty shopping services. Economic recovery has brought with it a decreasing unemployment rate and increased consumer spending, giving the Personal Shopping Services industry a 4.1% boost to $761.7 million over the five years to 2014.
According to IBISWorld Industry Analyst Sarah Kahn, “Personal shoppers face fierce competition for their discretionary, often luxury, services.” Due to the personalized and time consuming nature of the services, the lack of universally recognized credentials and the minimal start-up costs, the industry has become crowded and fragmented. Over the past five years, employment has increased at an average annual rate of 4.0%. Additionally, department stores competing for customer satisfaction and loyalty have been contending with personal shoppers, providing their own stylists that offer many of the same services for free. Facing this competition, revenue is expected to increase at a slightly lower 3.9% rate in 2014.
A new form of competition is being perfected in the form of online services and mobile apps. "Personal shoppers are expected to struggle to compete with webpages that use algorithms and predictive analytics, extracting information from consumers' personal spending habits to determine patterns and predict future trends,” says Kahn. As the percentage of services conducted online increases and shifts to mobile devices, new apps are expected to emerge, providing networks of stylists available through in-app messaging systems.
Setting themselves apart from department store stylists, e-commerce webpages and mobile apps, personal shoppers are expected to expand their clientele by offering lower-cost services to lower-income consumers or specialize in a more niche market. Over the next five years, revenue is expected to continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate, as post-financial-crisis consumers consider lower-cost alternatives to satisfy their personal shopping needs.
For more information, visit IBISWorld’s Personal Shopping Services in the US industry report page.
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IBISWorld industry Report Key Topics
Operators in the Personal Shopping Services in the US industry provide personal shopping services. Personal shoppers assist individuals by purchasing items on their behalf, suggesting items to purchase and providing style assistance. Personal shoppers employed by department stores (IBISWorld report 45211) and e-commerce sites (report 45411a) are not included in this industry. Personal shoppers serving corporations only are also not included in this industry.
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Gavin Smith, IBISWorld, +1 310-866-5042, [email protected]
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