We try out the Personal Shopping Service at Zara!

Nearly everyone in our office owns at least one item from this high-street fashion brand. From work wear must-haves to everyday basics, this store has you covered. And now with a massive flagship in the middle of Queen’s Road Central, it’s even easier to pick up essential outfit additions. Have you guessed which brand I’m talking about yet? Yep, it’s Zara!

Situated in the heart of Central, this four-storey shop is stocked full of all the latest and greatest styles at affordable prices. With new shipments of different collections and pieces every week, there is always going to be something fresh for you to snap up! However, as much as we all love the incredible selection at this massive Zara store, it can get a bit overwhelming. With so many different colours, designs and patterns, shopping for a complete and cohesive outfit can be a challenge… but that’s where the brand new personal shopping service comes in.

I’ve not really had a personal shopping experience before. I tend to dash in, grab the first couple of things I see that I like, shove them on in a teeny changing room (under the always unflattering light) and choose the items that look remotely acceptable, before quickly rushing over to the burgeoning check out queue. The fast pace of Hong Kong really does seep into every aspect of life! However, the personal shopping service forces you to slow down, turning a usually manic shopping trip into a more leisurely experience.

I headed up to the changing rooms where I was greeted by the very sweet sales assistant. The personal shopping experience gives you access to an exclusive section in the changing rooms which is a bit more spacious than the other cubicles and also offers an assortment of refreshments. A selection of clothes and shoes had already been laid out on a rail for me to browse, and I could already spot a few outfits that I wanted to try on.

After a short personal consultation with the sales assistant where she asked me what kind of styles I liked, what I was looking for and what colours I loved, we went out into the store to have a browse. Anything I spotted and liked the look of was swooped up in the right size and taken back to the changing room, all ready for me to try on. It was really useful to have someone who knew the store so well and can instantly identify where a certain type of style might be located. The sales assistant even recommended a number of different pieces that I honestly wouldn’t have even noticed or found if I had just been browsing on my own!

With a good selection in hand, we headed back to the changing room where I tried on several items. The sales assistants were great at recommending other additions to the outfits (a different style sandal or a smaller size for the playsuit) and I wanted to buy about 75% of what I had tried on, which is far more than usual. In fact, I did walk away with a new top and playsuit… so it was a shopping success!

The personal shopping service doesn’t come at any extra cost which I was quite surprised at – you simply have to book in advance here for a session and turn up. As the service is new, I do think that it could be slightly polished up so that it’s a bit more streamlined (I didn’t know where to go when I first got to Zara), but if you’re looking for a one-on-one styling session free of charge, then I’d recommend trying it! You’ll also get to see a different side of Zara – usually I find the staff a little frantic (which is understandable considering the high turnover of customers). However, with the personal shopping service I really felt that the staff I encountered understood what I was looking for and couldn’t have been more helpful. They even let me pay for my chosen items in the dressing room – great for avoiding the long queues! Hopefully this service will give customers the chance to slow down, unwind and navigate the vast array of clothing with a bit more direction.

www.personalshoppinghk.com, see all Zara store locations in Hong Kong here.