Wednesday 13 August
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Costa Rica to Join
Petrocaribe
Amazon Announces Opening
Of Costa Rica Call
Centre
Confiscated
Fishing Boat Out Of Fuel, 280 Tons Of
Tuna To Be Lost
Gasoline Costs More
Today
Outer Space
Flights To Be Sold In Costa Rica
|
Amazon Announces Opening
Of Costa Rica Call
Centre
Amazon, the world’s
largest internet
retailer, is to
establish a customer
contact centre in Costa
Rica, as its steps up
its efforts to woo
Spanish speaking
customers both in the US
and in Latin America.
The retailer is planning
to open a Latin America
contact centre in San
Jose in Costa Rica, with
between 100 and 300
staff, in its first
direct presence in Latin
America.
Amazon said it will be
hiring people
fluent in English to
answer telephone
inquiries and emails
from customers in the
U.S. In addition, the
company said it would
hiring an additional 400
people for the Christmas
season.
"Costa Rica has
developed a great
infrastructure that
meets our needs and has
become an operational
base for many other
customer service centres,
from which we can use
the talent and
experience. Our centre
in Costa Rica will allow
us to continue to serve
our customers in a quick
and efficient manner",
said Brent Jay, customer
service director for
Amazon North America.
Costa Rica, which has
wages well below those
in the US, has attracted
several call-centre
operators who use it to
service customers in the
US, Latin America and
Spain.
Amazon’s planned
investment in Costa Rica
comes as the retailer
expands the Spanish
language offerings on
its US site. This week
the retailer launched a
Spanish-language
software store, and it
plans to add a
Spanish-language DVD
section alongside its
existing Libros En
Espanol books section.
Amazon is one of the
most popular internet
retailers in Latin
America, in spite of
currently selling to
customers there only via
its predominantly
English-language US
site.
According to figures
from ComScore Media
Metrix, an estimated 5.9
million Latin American
users visited its sites
in May, trailing the 7.5
million visitors to the
retail, entertainment
and travel sites of B2W,
a subsidiary of Brazil’s
Lojas Americanas.
The traffic to its US
site from Latin America
exceeds traffic to
Amazon’s independent
French website,
according to Media
Metrix figures.
Amazon has not expanded
into new territories
since 2004, when it
acquired China’s
Joyo.com site. |
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