Why does my boyfriend have a compulsion to talk to women?

My boyfriend seems to have a compulsion to meet and charm women. Every woman he knows he seems to want to think he's special and memorable, e.g., giving champagne to a business associate he says he barely knows for a holiday gift. Calling a friend five times on the way to her house, for no particular reason. When we went shopping together yesterday, I was amazed at how many conversations he started. He would ask the shop clerks the most inane questions just to start a conversation. If a store had 5 male clerks and 1 woman, he'd make a beeline for the woman, even if he had to pass all the men to get to her. (It got so predictable, I was having a hard time not laughing.) Even when a woman didn't know anything, he would keep asking her stuff, drifting from one woman to another. We were out for 2 hours at least and although he said he needed to buy presents and I ditched my work to go with him, he didn't buy anything.

After we got home, he told me he had a great time and commented on one shop we'd been in where I bought something and had a little conversation with the clerk. He was at the other end of the store but it turns out he was listening to my whole conversation with her. He said, "She really liked you" like he was sort of impressed. (It was just an ordinary friendly conversation while she rang me up. )

He says he has some anxiety disorders, procrastination and depression, but he always seems cheerful (except when I ruin the mood by complaining about him ditching me for another woman or something like that). Until today I thought he was an offscale flirt, but after watching him in action yesterday, I'm wondering if this is an actual compulsion.