4 Ways Personal Shoppers Can Take the Work Out Of Online Shopping

Personal shoppers can be a great way of overcoming the obstacles that often stand in the way between international buyers and online U.S. retailers. In spite of the fact that billions of packages leave the U.S. each year, there is still some hesitancy to shop online due to communication barriers, return issues, and other inconveniences. A personal shopper can help with this by taking the “work” out of the overall experience. Let’s look at some of the ways.

1. Bridging communication gaps

While English is widely spoken alongside other languages outside the U.S., it’s a bit more isolated from within. Many retailers are closing the language gap, but there is still a long way to go, and if you struggle with English yourself, then that can create a significant barrier to the online shopping experience. Personal shoppers are great for working around this issue. As in the case of PuntoMio’s personal shopping service, you can actually communicate the details of your order to someone versed in both languages to ensure that buyer and seller know exactly how to move forward with a transaction.

2. Placing orders

Online shopping continues to increase in popularity, but due to security reasons, it’s still a bit more difficult than if you were to pay cash in a store (or even use your card). Using a personal shopper to complete your orders means that you can be done with the process once you’re ready to checkout instead of going through the additional steps on your own. Definitely a time-saver!

3. Processing payment

One big hurdle that international buyers face: many U.S. retailers don’t wish to accept international credit cards. Through the use of a personal shopper, you can pay for the transaction on your end and have the shopper — as in the PuntoMio example — complete it on theirs using an accepted form of payment and a U.S. shipping address for easy forwarding.

4. Handling returns as needed

Mistakes do happen when you’re shopping online. Maybe you picked out the wrong item number, or they shipped a defective product. Regardless, personal shoppers can complete any returns requirements for you so you don’t have to go through the steps and take on the frustration.

But what about cost?

According to a recent report from CNN Travel, some personal shoppers can charge as much as $65 per hour on top of massive four- and five-figure annual membership fees. Of course, in these cases, the process is more involved. The shopper is actually picking out product and making recommendations to the buyer. But the personal shopper experience doesn’t have to be so exclusive. The PuntoMio experience is open to anyone with the means to shop online. Prices run around 10 percent of the overall order.

If you’ve ever wanted to buy from the U.S. directly, PuntoMio offers some great workarounds for the obstacles that would otherwise stand in your way. The personal shopper experience is just one more way to break through those barriers. Have you ever used a personal shopper? What was your experience like?