Ramping Up Customer Service Over the Holiday Season
This weekend we will don our costumes and stock up on candy to delight those trick-or-treaters, but as we do so, we will be inundated with seasonal decorations not of the terrifying variety, but more so the red and green kind (although admittedly this in itself is terrifying because of the number of shopping days left!). Retailers have been getting ready for the Christmas season for weeks, and that means new staff and stocking back rooms in an effort to match customer service levels with expectations.
Based on research done through the year, and by comparing annual sales, US retail consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has predicted that holiday sales for 2015 will be healthy, and anticipate retail hirings will match or exceed the 755000 individuals hired for the 2014 season.
Many retailers have already started in an effort to ramp up customer service levels. American Girl, a division of Mattel, started in June, hiring almost 3000 seasonal workers for everything from floor staff to packaging. Kohl’s and Target plan to hire more than 69000 new employees to staff their stores across the U.S. Check out http://host.madison.com/business/holiday-hiring-gears-up/article_4e61e6a2-fe36-5b68-bd50-c1ae5b765ef5.html for a few other retailers who are also taking charge early.
According to a recent Nasdaq release, Macy’s will also be hiring 85000 workers, many for direct-to-consumer needs, for the upcoming holiday season. Walmart will also increase its staff numbers by hiring 60000 seasonal workers to help handle the crowds.
Regular staffing however is not the problem. According to the article, while soliciting seasonal floor staff isn’t necessarily an issue, “employment agencies for retailers and logistics companies say they are already having trouble finding warehouse workers to stock early holiday inventory and employees to train for work in fulfillment centers, where holiday orders will be packed and shipped.” This could spell problems when it comes down to the wire. Read more about this here: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/macys-to-hire-85000-workers-for-holidays-20150921-00559.
If you’ve waited until now to start thinking about hiring additional staff to ramp up customer service, you may just find that the available workers are not what you’d hoped. You may also find timing is limited when it comes to the training time required to ensure these workers are in tip-top shape to handle the holiday madness. But what can you do? If you’re too late, you’re too late, right? Nope. You just need the right company that can offer people support in the form of professional, experienced, and trained employees – then all the work is done for you.
Marketsupport is just the company. We can provide the individuals to help ensure your busy season is a little less stressful. Call us today to find out more: 905.847.6513.
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