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Retailers Amp Up Hiring With Eyes on the Holiday Season

Retailers have begun prepping for the holiday season with as much zeal as shoppers are looking forward to eye-popping deals. Players in the industry are all geared up to walk the extra mile this holiday season to capitalize on any surge in demand. However, supply-chain issues and rising freight charges are headwinds that the industry is currently struggling with, but retailers remain hopeful of a fabulous festive season.

The holiday season, which accounts for a sizable chunk of yearly revenues, is a make or break for retailers. Hence, retailers need to address any logistical or inventory issues and roll out strategies to provide a seamless shopping experience, whether offline or online. Keeping all these aspects in mind and to keep pace with any unprecedented increase in demand, retailers are unveiling hiring plans for the holiday season.

Considering consumers’ product preferences, retailers need to replenish shelves with in-demand merchandise and ramp up investments in digitization. These will result in the deployment of a reasonable number of seasonal associates to deal with the curbside and in-store pickup of online purchases as well as doorstep delivery. Also, retailers are likely to appoint more warehouse staff to ensure the smooth supply of inventories to stores from distribution centers during the festive period.

Retailers on a Hiring Spree

The retail behemoth, Walmart WMT, plans to hire about 40,000 workers, including seasonal and full-time. The company will also offer additional hours to its existing workers. The job roles include seasonal store associates, full-time permanent truck drivers and customer care associates.

Walmart is making solid price investments across key categories to offer great value to its customers. It is also offering more rollbacks to boost savings on gifts like toys, electronics, beauty and home, to name a few. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company is also making efforts to ease the returns process, as part of which it announced that Walmart+ members can avail of new return options, including Holiday Guarantee, Curbside Returns and Return Pickup from Home, starting October.

Meanwhile, Target Corporation TGT plans to appoint up to 100,000 seasonal workers to better serve its guests and provide a seamless shopping experience. To make the most of the festive season, this Zacks Rank #3 company is back with its “Deal Days” and Price Match Guarantee.

Through its “Target Deal Days” shopping event, it will offer guests the best deals on must-have items and everyday essentials. Interested customers can access amazing deals from Oct 6 to Oct 8. To attract deal seekers, Target is offering “Holiday Price Match Guarantee”, starting Oct 6. The program will run through Dec 24.

Keeping in mind the festive rush, Macy’s M plans to fill more than 41,000 full and part-time seasonal positions. Recruitment will be done at its Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury stores, supply-chain locations and call centers.

Macy’s has undertaken initiatives to better engage with customers and gain market share. The company believes that the Polaris Strategy positions it well to navigate through the dynamic retail landscape. This Zacks Rank #3 company is on track to strengthen its omnichannel capabilities with investments in online shopping experiences, data and analytics, technology infrastructure as well as better fulfillment capabilities.

DICK'S Sporting Goods DKS plans to appoint up to 9,000 seasonal associates for the 2022 holiday season. Favorable customer demand, a solid product portfolio and strength in the online platform have been contributing to DICK'S Sporting Goods’ upbeat performance. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company remains optimistic about demand trends in athletic apparel, footwear, team sports and golf. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Wrapping Up

While inflation may play a spoilsport, we still believe that stimulus savings from last year, steady wage gains and a lower unemployment rate should help keep demand alive. Per Mastercard SpendingPulse, U.S. retail sales, excluding automotive, are anticipated to increase 7.1% from a year earlier during the traditional holiday period that runs from Nov 1 to Dec 24.


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