Editorial Team
4 min read
Katy Truck Parts is a small business in Houston, Texas, with deep family roots. Since many of his customers lack English fluency, owner Muizz Kabani goes the extra mile to understand their needs and track down the filters, fans, and engine parts these truckers use to keep rolling.
Approximately 80% of the customers who shop at Katy Truck Parts are non-native English speakers. As the son of immigrants, Muizz makes a special effort to understand and address customers’ needs–often using his smartphone’s translation app. Muizz listens to their stories of frustrating customer service at big-brand automotive stores. He believes that Katy Truck Parts will continue to thrive in a highly competitive market by delivering individualized service in person and expanding into eCommerce.
“Because we’re a mom-and-pop business, we make the customer experience worthwhile by trying our best to meet you in the middle, in terms of the language barrier.”
Going the extra mile for customers
If the customer requests a truck part but has little information, Muizz plays detective. He’ll take down their VIN and contact local dealers to ask for the specific part number. Then, if he doesn’t have the part in stock, he’ll help the customer shop around by phone. “We try our best to get the part shipped to our store or send customers to the right vendor.” He’s confident that developing Katy Truck Parts as an online store will help streamline the process without eliminating the personal touch.
The road to Katy Trucks
Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, the Kabani family includes Muizz’s brother Asif and father Abdulaziz, who founded Katy Truck Parts. Muizz’s father Abdulaziz made the rounds, introducing himself to mechanics and other neighborhood businesses before opening their first shop in 2013.
That cramped retail space wasn’t optimal: the building frequently lost electricity and Internet access. Choosing Clover for payment processing at Katy Truck Parts was Muizz’s first major decision after college. He recalls how their Clover Station saved the day, “We were still able to process payments, even when we were offline, which was great. I love how seamless it is, how user-friendly it is, and how we can easily take payments offline if something happens.”
Modernizing with Clover
Katy Truck Parts now occupies a modern retail space in north Houston. Clover is essential to their business plans as Muizz relies on his Station to support sales, inventory, and their online expansion using the free Clover integration with BigCommerce. “My brother Asif and I are taking the store online in a seamless way. Clover allows me to use good-quality pictures and resize them for the online store. We also work with search engine optimization to help customers find our products more quickly, by making sure how the products are searched online.”
Muizz and his brother Asif plan to integrate all the categories and individual items in his physical shop with the Katy Truck Parts online store. Clover integration with BigCommerce helps to feed his optimism. “As a small business owner, if you’re offered a free service, why not take advantage? I know it’s going to be worth all the time and the blood and sweat and tears I’m putting into it ultimately.”
The Clover Dashboard is a hit with Muizz. “I love it because I can go in there on my computer and add inventory, reword item names, add pictures, and check sales. If it’s a really busy day, I can quickly check how much quantity we have before we create a new order.”
A smooth ride with apps
Muizz and his brother Asif check out the Clover App Market for ideas to streamline their business. He’s interested in adding Pointy to work with Google and a sales tax calculator. “I like logging in on a daily basis while I’m at the store and I keep it open. I calculate how much cash came in and remember to transfer everything into the proper account.”
Each week when Muizz highlights a special product online, he carefully translates the description into Spanish. “Having a mainly Spanish-speaking clientele, I make sure that they also understand what’s on sale, to help them out.” Just another example of how the family-run business ensures customers enjoy a smooth ride.
Read more stories about how Clover is helping retailers manage inventory and serve their communities.
Related Posts
Support small businesses while celebrating Dads & Grads
The Bellflower Chocolate Company
Popular Topics
Stay in touch
Sign up and learn more about Clover.
More posts about starting a small business
eBook
Retail roadmap: Financial goal-setting for the year ahead
Please share your contact information
to access our premium content.
Thank you for sharing your contact information.
Download Now