Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts from mid-September to mid-October, celebrates the history and culture of Americans whose ancestors come from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, and Central America. The tribute started over 50 years ago when President Lyndon Johnson established a week-long national observance of the many ways Hispanic citizens contribute to U.S. culture and commerce.

Just a few days ago we witnessed the fury of Hurricane Dorian and its terrible toll on the Bahamas. The devastation caused by the giant storm is reminiscent of the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico in 2017. We know, because our Cura Resources Group team has been instrumental in helping the people of Puerto Rico rebuild their lives ever since.

The purchase process for many goods has become a completely digital experience, with buyers and sellers all but eliminating human interaction. Almost everything can be done online. Unfortunately, that eliminates  in-person customer service when purchasing a product. Is that really what consumers want?

If you’re a direct sales individual distributor, you realize that time is money. You want to be able to get the fastest moving products while they’re hot, so you can get them into the hands of your customers.

Having bilingual customer service representatives can help increase customer satisfaction and grow your business.

Have you underestimated the impact that customer service has on your organization? Customer service representatives can make or break how your customers feel about your business — especially if there are language barriers that make communication falter.

Sales are easy. Customer demands are not.

We all want life to be easy, but it rarely is. So a person, product or institution that makes it easy to get what we need or do what we want is memorable. We look forward to interacting with them again.

When it’s harder than it should be to get something we need or want, we’ll look for other ways to accomplish our goals. This is especially true for retail, where customers vote with their wallets. If one merchant makes it hard to get a product, or makes it difficult and expensive to return something, we’ll look for another one who won’t.

Here are 6 ways retail is using big data to keep operation costs low, increase customer satisfication, and increase profits.

When it comes to retail, the smallest gains can count the most. With such small margins, every bit helps to keep the bottom line in the black. This goes into keeping track of overhead as well as delivery costs. Now analysts are able to use data to keep operation costs low, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. So how are retailers using big data to bolster their sales and marketing efforts?

Retail is evolving.

Retail is changing so fast, it’s hard to keep up.

• Online merchants are going traditional and buying entire brick-and-mortar chains. (Amazon buys Whole Foods).
• Traditional retailers are buying same-day local delivery companies to compete with online merchants. (Walmart buys Parcel).
• Big-box retailers are encouraging customers to demo products without ever entering the store. (Ikea uses augmented reality to bring the showroom to your home.)

The one thing that never changes, however, is that the customer is always right.  Why? Because they always have the final say on whether to give their business to you or someone else.   

Think about your last e-commerce purchase experience. What’s one of the first things you think of? If you said the delivery of the product, you’re not alone.

Regardless of the experience of the actual purchase, the perception of the business — rightly, or wrongly — is often shaped by the circumstances surrounding the delivery.

We intend this blog to be a resource for direct selling and e-commerce businesses trying to overcome last-mile delivery and shipping challenges. We want to keep you informed about the latest news and trends in your industries, particularly when it comes to last-mile challenges and customer pick-up centers. This is the second part of a two-part series recounting our most popular blog posts covering these topics. See part one here.