The fact that shopping can make or break a relationship — and that a relationship can make or break shopping expeditions — is one that retailers are paying attention to.

Glasgow's Braehead Mall recently offered women a "shopping boyfriend," a guy who "takes a girl around, helps her pick her outfits, stands outside the change rooms — does all the things men don't like about shopping," in the words of organizer Pauline Shaw.

Several dozen women checked their regular boyfriends into a "recharge zone," complete with video games, music and lad magazines, to take advantage of "the novelty that someone actually enjoyed shopping with them."
—Jessica Johnson, "Walking down the aisle: how shopping tests your relationship," The Globe and Mail, April 12, 2003

Women can hire "surrogate boyfriends" to take them shopping while their real other halves relax in a men-only zone, under a pilot scheme taking place today.

The stand-in boyfriend promises to be enthusiastic, attentive, admiring and complimentary, according to organisers of the promotion. ...

Carol-Ann Stewart, brand manager for Lucozade Energy, said: "Our research reveals just how much of an energy-draining experience, not to mention a strain on relationships, shopping with a girlfriend can be for men.

"Our pilot scheme gives men a chance to enjoy 'boys' toys' in a guilt-free zone while their girlfriend shops in the capable company of a shopping boyfriend."
—Graham Hiscott, "Shop-hating boyfriends can hire stand-ins for their partners," Press Association, November 9, 2001