These findings were a part of RedPrairie's Holiday Hiring Snapshot, a survey of 250 executives from big box, specialty, grocery, convenience store and food service retailers based in the United States. The survey sought to better understand how retailers will leverage seasonal staff to serve today's all-channel shopper during a time of year that is often the busiest, and most crucial, for a majority of retailers.
Additional survey findings include:
• Fifty-six percent of retailers will hire seasonal employees.
• Nearly 40 percent of retailers will have the greatest number of seasonal employees on the clock in December.
• Big increases in staff levels do not come without challenges. In addition to training, retailers will be focused on scheduling, time and attendance, and task management to get their seasonal staff ramped up and ready to serve customers.
"Today's hyper-connected consumers give retailers little margin for error when it comes to delivering a superior, consistent customer experience across all shopping channels; and this is amplified during the holidays," said Dave Bruno, director of marketing at RedPrairie. "To achieve this, retailers will rely on the union of people and products to make customers feel good about their shopping experiences no matter which channel is utilized for the transaction. There is a lot of pressure on retailers to get things right. The Holiday Hiring Snapshot indicates that retailers are willing to invest in their most important asset - employees - to ensure that customers are satisfied and not leaving their channels empty-handed."
