Navigating the Upcoming Holiday Season's Workforce Trends

With the holiday season comes bustling stores, online shopping sprees, and a surge in consumer demand. As the retail landscape evolves, so do the job opportunities within it. If you’re looking to amp up your customer’s holiday shopping experience, you may want to consider investing in some high demand talent this time of year.

 E-commerce Fulfillment Specialists: The rise of online shopping has led to an increased demand for e-commerce fulfillment specialists. These professionals ensure that orders are picked, packed, and shipped efficiently. As more consumers opt for the convenience of online shopping, expect to see a surge in these roles during the holiday season.

Customer Experience Associates: In an era where customer experience is paramount, retailers are hiring associates dedicated to providing exceptional service. These roles often involve engaging with customers in-store, offering personalized recommendations, and ensuring a seamless shopping experience.

Technology and Data Analysts: Retailers are increasingly leveraging technology to enhance customer experiences and optimize operations. Technology and data analysts are needed to gather and interpret data, enabling retailers to make informed decisions about inventory management, marketing strategies, and more.

Seasonal Sales Associates: Seasonal sales associates are a staple during the holiday season, but their roles are evolving. Retailers are now seeking individuals who not only assist customers with purchases but also possess strong product knowledge and can engage in cross-selling and upselling.

Online Merchandisers: Online merchandisers curate product displays on e-commerce websites, making sure they are visually appealing and user-friendly. Their role is pivotal in driving online sales, especially during peak shopping seasons.

The holiday season brings a wave of job opportunities in the retail industry, but it's essential to stay informed about emerging roles and trends. Whether you're a job seeker looking to capitalize on these surging opportunities or a retailer seeking to meet evolving customer expectations, understanding the changing landscape of retail jobs can be key to success. 

At EB, we specialize in connecting businesses with talented professionals who can navigate these workforce trends for a prosperous and fulfilling season. We strive to help elevate brands’ holiday season workforce strategy and ensure a seamless and successful retail experience for both job seekers and retailers.

References:

• https://www.mktalt.com/blogs/five-tips-for-e-commerce-fulfillment-success-during-the-holiday-season.html 

• https://supplychain.amazon.com/learn/2023-holiday-shopping-ecommerce-fulfillment-guide 

• https://danavation.com/the-importance-of-technology-in-retail/#:~:text=Data%20analytics%20and%20business%20intelligence%20technologies%20are%20utilized%20in%20the,prevention%20and%20so%20much%20more. 

https://nrf.com/blog/how-retail-sales-associate-role-has-changed-over-last-decade

Connection = Conversion: The Formula for a Fruitful Holiday Season

Trends This Holiday Season

According to holiday shopping statistics from 2020, 38% of US consumers planned to start stocking on gifts in October, and another 23% before Thanksgiving. Only 22% said they’d wait until Thanksgiving to start their holiday shopping.

With the customer concerns of the state of the economy, many retailers are encouraging early consumer spending by running sales to compete with their Black Friday promotions. These sales are spanning from anywhere between 20%-70% off to capture even the most strategic of holiday spenders. With early promotions and strategic sales tactics ruling the holiday season, we can only wonder, what this will look like for consumers and how can retailers best prepare?

What Retailers Can Expect

Higher volumes of shoppers! Customers will capitalize on these promotions while also heading to retailers for the in-person experience, service, and holiday shopping tradition.

“In the US, 81% of Gen Z consumers prefer to shop in stores to discover new products and more than 50% say in-store browsing is a way to disconnect from the digital world.”

— Kearny.com

What Customers Can Expect

With customers being hyper focused on promotional sales, many of which they can capitalize on through omni channel, their in-store shopping experience will be quite specific. Customers will be seeking excellent service, authentic engagement, a well-loved store, and overall, a strong brick and mortar shopping atmosphere.

Implement A Fluid Shopping Experience

In-store and omni channel experiences are more intertwined than ever before. While some customers may visit stores to view an item and later order it online, some customers will do the opposite: viewing merchandise online and making purchases in-store. Brands that create fluid cross channel shopping experiences for the customer will see a smooth and fruitful season.

Be a Leader That Inspires

In the spirit of the holiday season, we cannot forget the hard retail workers that drive the in-store experience. As retail leaders, it is important to inspire excitement of suggestive selling and authentic customer engagement to all employees that interact directly with customers. This year, a big driver of conversion of sale will be the connection that is made between the customer and the sales associates. Customers are being very thoughtful and strategic in their purchasing, so it is important when they are visiting the stores to invoke a connection and level of trust in what is being suggested to the customer by the team. A great reminder is to keep work fun for the team! In-store contests, praise, and empowerment make a big difference in employee attitude during this time of the year.

Take Care of Your Team

Employees tend to buy into initiatives and perform better when they feel valued and motivated. This season can be physically and emotionally training for most, including the teams that work tirelessly to support the magic of the season in the retail setting. This is a reminder to be empathetic leaders this season. Honor requests and suggestions where possible without disrupting business. Check in on your team, an extra 10-minute break when business permits will go a long way on those long days. You can also consider shorter shifts to optimize productivity and minimize burnout. It is in your power to set the example for tone and pace when working with the team. The season is taxing for retail employees, so be thoughtful and creative in ways to keep it fun. The greatest asset to a brand’s success this season, and every season, is its people.

Articles referenced:

Retail Statistics for 2022: 53 Data-Backed Retail Stats To Know (shopify.com)

115 Customer Service Facts (Including Trends and Statistics) | Indeed.com

Retail Facts and Figures – October 2022 Update (shopreme.com)

https://savemycent.com/holiday-shopping-statistics

Tis The Season: Retail Holiday Hiring

Holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 4% and 6% in 2022, according to Deloitte’s annual holiday retail forecast. eCommerce sales will grow by 12.8% to 14.3%, year-over-year, during the 2022-2023 holiday season.

Due to recent inflation, budgeting is top of customers’ mind this season. Brands are having to be strategic about their Q4 hiring forecasts and distribution of talent. Some areas brands are digging into for hiring are:

• The number of roles to fill vs. the number of people to hire.

• When to hire (now vs. later as customers are starting holiday shopping now.)

• Peak weeks vs. peak days (Customers are forecasted to be less interested in Black Friday and boxing day deals and more focus and multi-day discounts over the season.)

• Diversifying the support needed for all channels of service for the customer to maximize ease of purchase and quality service (forecasting the needs for DTC, BOPIS, and in store success and hiring to those needs vs. historical holiday hiring forecasting.)

With current and anticipated customer purchasing trends throughout the season, the second week of October could be considered a bit of a delay for Q4 hiring. However, creative, strategic, and focused brands can still hire optimal talent in time for the holidays. 

1. Get creative in how you connect with your market talent. As we head into the holidays, retailers are focusing on creativity and strategy with their hiring and marketing efforts. Brands across the country are hosting company hiring events and are taking to their corporate blog posts to communicate their seasonal hiring strategy with full transparency. We are also seeing an increase in brand partnerships beyond hiring but in a way that could drive talent interest. For example, Howard Meitiner, managing director at Carl Marks Advisors said  that retailers that have “increased their visibility through strategic partnerships, will benefit in terms of sales from such exposure (Neiman’s/Farfetch, Toys R Us/Macy’s, Amazon/Kohls, Ulta/Target etc). This is a winning strategy when the partnership adds value to both parties.”

2. Meet your talent where they are. Store signage, flyers at the local coffee shop, and job postings on your website’s career page are classic ways to let talent know you are hiring, but these are no longer the most effective way to grab the attention of your talent. More brands than ever have turned to virtual hiring tools and social media strategies for hiring. Brands are tapping into passive interested talent by meeting them where they are, on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

3. Consider referral incentives this season! We believe that good people know good people. Encourage your employees and customers to support your hiring efforts by offering a Referral Bonus Program! The return on asking for referrals can be good, but the return when incentivizing referrals is better!

If you’re ready to grow your retail team for the peak season and could use a helping hand, connect with us or shoot us an email at info@emergingblue.com!

References & Additional Sources:

Kohl’s Prepares for the Holidays with Seasonal Hiring Across Stores and Supply Chain (kohls.com)

Remote Work, Quiet Quitting May Make Holiday Hiring Difficult For Retailers (forbes.com)

Holiday Retail Forecasts and Predictions for 2022 | RIS News

How retailers are hiring for the holidays in 2022 | Retail Dive

Make Your Pop-Up Event an Experience!

With many big retailers closing their brick-and-mortar retail locations, brands are turning to experiential pop-up events to give customers a fun experience, drive customer loyalty, and bring about new customer acquisition.

According to Storefront — a platform where you can rent retail spaces — user-friendly ecommerce shops will be crucial for the survival of brands. They also must pair it with unique, customer-centered physical stores, too. A key element to these unique stores is that they must give an amazing experience to continue to drive customer engagement. Many of these physical store locations will be in the form of an experiential pop-up shop so that retailers do not have to get tied into a long lease.

As a brand, you may be thinking “how do I create a unique retail experience that highlights our brand while standing out and driving customers?” Great news, our team at Emerging Blue put together a list of creative ideas to start your on your path of designing an experiential retail experience that customers won’t forget.

-- One of our amazing clients, Havaianas, wanted to stand out and try something new so they created an experiential experience where they sell their products our of vintage Vans near the beach. It speaks to their brand, product, and delivers a shopping experience that is unlike its competitors.

-- It also doesn't have to just sell a product, for example, our client Blondey McCoy combined retail with art to give an experience their customers would never forget. By collaborating with other local events and artists that vibe with your brand, you maximize your reach and success of the event.

--You can also combine it with a nonprofit or social cause to stand out. Our client Manduka collaborated with Susan G. Komen Foundation to host Project OM in Bryant Park and Santa Monica.

As you have read, it is important to design a unique retail experience to help drive customers back into the stores and to develop new customers. Whether it’s an experiential retail store on the beach or in the middle of a park, craft it to be true to your brand’s identity, as well as make it fun and interactive!

With the rise in experiential retail events and pop-up shops, freelance hiring is also on the rise. During the pandemic, freelance work has been crucial for many businesses and continues to be. Freelance work currently represents 36% of the current workforce, and is on the rise with the opening of new experiential stores.

Experiential retail stands out and it is critical to have the right staff to deliver that exceptional and unique experience. You definitely want to stand out compared to the kiosks found in malls, as well as have the right talent. A major part of having a successful experiential retail event / pop-up shop is to have staff that is brand appropriate to give your customers your specific, unique brand experience. Recruiting, hiring, and staffing takes times (and money), that is why many brands turn to Emerging Blue because we specialize in all things hiring so that brands can focus on their product, experiential store design, and other logistics around running a successful pop-up event.

Here at Emerging Blue we specialize in experiential retail staffing, and work with our clients and brands to make sure we find the right talent for their specific needs. We design specialized recruiting plans and leverage all of our networks to drive the best and brightest talent to our unique clients to help them achieve their goals and have successful events.

Click here to read more about our recruiting services and choose a staffing solution that works best for you!

Hiring For This Retail Holiday Season

The retail holiday season is going to be different this year.  With people still hesitant about shopping inside stores, and curbside pick-up and eCommerce shopping at an all-time high, staffing for your usual holiday season will need to be analyzed and thought-out.

Here are a few ideas to help you be prepared:

1. Listen to your customers. Ask your customers what their shopping preference will be this holiday season and how best you can support them. Based on the results, analyze your current org. charts and adjust where needed to support the additional staffing needs. 

2. Safety comes first. The last thing you need is a new hire that has to take 2-3 weeks off for testing positive. Therefore, ensure you’re following CDC guidelines when conducting interviews, staying 6 feet away, wearing a mask, and swap the handshake for an elbow bump. Also, when possible, utilize digital or video interviewing instead of in-person.

3. Extra, Extra! We can’t predict the future, but chances are there will be times when employees call-out last minute to care for someone or to care for themselves. Therefore, hire a few extra seasonal employees to allow for back-up needs.

4. Ask for help. This is the time to work with external partners to help recruit and hire for your staffing needs.  At Emerging Blue, we are here to support your hiring objectives with temporary staffing, seasonal hourly workers and pop-up retail support. Reach out to us at info@emergingblue.com to learn more about how we can help you!

Happy Holidays!

With Love,

Emerging Blue

We Have Remote & Onsite Job Opportunities!

Hiring has increased! Take a look at the jobs and their descriptions below with our wonderful clients across the fashion, home and beauty industries. If any of the roles speak to you, apply! If you know someone who is a great match, feel free to pass along the job opportunity along. We love referrals!

Planning Excel Analyst — Remote (freelance/temp)

Senior UX Designer — Remote (full-time)

COO — Las Vegas (full-time)

Technical Designer, Intimates Apparel — San Francisco (freelance/temp)

Design Lead Manager — San Francisco (full-time)

Part-time Retail Sales Associate — Newport Beach, CA (freelance/temp)

Key Holder — Newport Beach, CA (freelance/temp)

Human Resources Business Partner — Modesto, CA (full-time)

Director Account Management & Customer Success — Nassau, The Bahamas (full-time)

Head of Merchant Onboarding & Account Management — Nassau, The Bahamas (full-time)