There is no distinction in the shopper when it comes to age, sex, race, or any other human difference. Every person on the planet shops at one time in his/her life time.
In my opinion, I have divided the shopper into specific categories: 1) The Obsessive Shopper, 2) The Window Shopper, 3) The Returns Shopper, 4) The List Shopper, 5) The Professional Shopper, 6) The Collector Shopper, and 7) The ‘I Hate Shopping’ Shopper.
The obsessive shopper is equated with the term ‘pack rat’. The individual buys all kinds of items and keeps or ‘hordes’ them in his/her home. This person is not a specialty collector.
The window shopper is a looker and toucher of any item but usually never buys it. This person is poor but has dreams of becoming wealthy where he/she can buy anything. In the meantime, the window shopper receives pleasure in using all of the senses–sight, touch, smell, hear, taste.
The origins of a returns shopper reminds me of the old days when a person mail-ordered from various colorful pictures thick catalogs, i.e. Montgomery Wards, J.C. Penney’s, Sears and Roebuck. When I was a child who lived in the middle of nowhere South Dakota small town, my mother ordered then returned numerous items. She also shopped in a city, brought home several bags of stuff then returned most of it on the next shopping spree. This individual has a hard time making up his/her mind on what to and not to buy. This is a frustrating experience for the individual who is stuck assisting the returns shopper because his/her opinion when asked for is completely ignored.
A quick and easy experience is the definition of the lists shopper. He/she makes a list of what is wanted or needed. Perhaps the person researches the item in paper shoppers or on the internet prior to purchasing it. This time-managing individual is efficient and short on time and energy to expend on wandering around a store searching for items.
I have a sister who is labeled a professional shopper. In fact, while living in Korea for a year, she was awarded with a desk placard ‘Professional Shopper’. This individual spends a great deal of time and energy shopping. He/she loves to shop and knows where to find anything and everything. Pleasure is found in discovering and purchasing a bargain.
Part of the pleasure gained from being a collector is searching for a specific item to add to a collection, hence the collector shopper. There are different types of collectors, i.e. coins, stamps, plates, antiques, artwork, the list is long.
The ‘I hate shopping’ shopper is me. Whenever a person decides to hate something, there is a good reason for generating that negative feeling. You guessed the cause of my deep feelings, my mother.
Therefore, I am a decisive and lists shopper, but take no pleasure in the detail planned experience. Wandering around a store searching for an item gives me a headache and puts me in a bad mood.
Can you identify with one of the above described individuals?