How to optimize your retail volume hiring process

In the dynamic world of retail, the ability to quickly hire quality candidates at scale is a competitive advantage. Whether it's gearing up for the holiday rush, expanding into new markets, or simply keeping pace with industry turnover, retailers face unique challenges in volume hiring — but that doesn't mean they don't have the tools and skills to overcome them.

In this article, we're sharing some of the top challenges retail recruiters face when it comes to volume hiring, and best practices they can use to mitigate them. We also spoke to Rosie Williamson, Manager, Talent Acquisition & People Experience at Herschel Supply Company, who shared some of the strategies she and her team have used to streamline their high-volume hiring efforts.

When retailers may need to hire at scale

For large-scale retailers, there are several scenarios that may require volume hiring. The most impactful is usually the holiday season, which starts in the lead up to Black Friday through to the New Year. This is typically a season of massive consumer demand, and retailers need to staff up their teams accordingly. Other seasons that can lead to high-volume hiring include the summer in tourist-driven markets, new "Black Friday in July" sales, and the back-to-school season.

Another common trigger for large-scale hiring is store expansion. When a retailer opens new locations or expands into new markets — like Herschel did last year — they need to quickly build a team of sales associates, managers, and more. Entering a new market can also require setting up new warehouse locations, which also need to be staffed.

For retailers that have multiple offerings and product areas, like the Nordstroms and Holt Renfrews of the world, restructuring or launching a new department could also require hiring specialized staff across multiple locations.

The common challenges in retail volume hiring

While essential for meeting seasonal demands and business growth, retail volume hiring has its own set of unique challenges. Understanding these challenges is the first step towards developing strategies to overcome them.

1. Complex and inefficient processes

Retail recruiters often find themselves juggling multiple tools and platforms to manage different stages of the hiring process. This complexity not only slows down the recruitment cycle, but can also deter potential candidates from even finishing an application, let alone going through the full hiring journey. Moreover, recruiters have to spend so much time managing these various systems that they struggle to focus on strategic planning and implementing proactive sourcing.

2. A high rate of no-shows

In the 2023 edition of the Retail Hiring Insights Report by GoodTime, 23% of retailers reported significant challenges with candidate no-shows. This indicates a breakdown in the hiring process from initial engagement to the interview stage. In 2024, this issue has evolved. Now, 25% of respondents say that one of their biggest challenges is that candidates are dropping out during the hiring process. There's a growing need for more effective candidate engagement and communication strategies to ensure applicants remain interested and committed throughout the hiring journey.

3. Getting access to high-quality candidates

The struggle to attract and compete for top talent has intensified in the retail sector — especially when it comes to high-volume recruiting. According to the 2024 Retail Hiring Insights Report, the percentage of respondents citing a lack of qualified candidates has jumped from 21% in 2023 to a concerning 31% in 2024. This trend points to a widening gap between job requirements and the available talent pool, making it increasingly difficult for retailers to find candidates who are the right fit for their positions at scale.

4. Lack of insight into recruitment data

Many retailers struggle with effectively collecting, analyzing, and utilizing recruitment data. Without clear insights into metrics such as time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and candidate source effectiveness, it can be challenging to optimize hiring processes. This lack of data-driven decision-making can lead to inefficiencies, missed opportunities to improve candidate experience, and difficulty in demonstrating the ROI of recruitment efforts to interested stakeholders.

4 ways to streamline retail volume hiring

For teams looking to get ahead of these common challenges, efficiency is key. With this in mind, we've compiled five proven strategies that can significantly streamline your process and ultimately lead to better hires.

1. Prioritize the candidate experience

While focusing on the candidate experience is important for all recruitment teams, it's particularly pertinent for retail recruiters. In retail, "you have to remember that your candidates are likely also your customers!" says Rosie Williamson. "If someone has a poor candidate experience, it can be damaging to the customer relationship and buy-in to your brand, meaning they may stop purchasing from you."

She advises treating candidates with respect during the interview process, providing constructive and timely feedback, and standardizing your approach to hiring across different locations.

2. Leverage automation where it makes sense

Introducing technology and automation can significantly reduce the complexity of high-volume hiring workflows. Consider implementing tools that:

• Automate how your candidates move through the hiring journey
• Integrate seamlessly with your ATS
• Use resume parsers with keywords and Boolean strings to efficiently sift through large volumes of applications
• Employ automated communication features with templated email responses

These tools can support your recruiters and streamline the hiring process, saving time and resources. That said, remember that your automations should never come at the expense of a positive experience — make sure that candidates have ways to communicate with humans if they want or need to.

3 Run hiring events with a powerful hiring event platform

In an industry characterized by high turnover, seasonal fluctuations, and a series of hiring challenges, hiring events help streamline the hiring process — especially when you have a large number of roles to fill.

Recruiters that run effective hiring events can efficiently assess multiple candidates across functions and departments. Plus, hiring events offer a way to quickly showcase company culture while significantly reducing time-to-hire.

Key best practices for successful hiring events include:

• Being proactive with your logistics and planning
• Setting your team up for success
• Keeping the candidate experience top of mind
• Promoting the event across various channels
• Leveraging the right technology

A powerful hiring event platform like Withe can help teams:

• Seamlessly create hiring events and job postings in just a few clicks
• Automatically manage candidate registration and scheduling — candidates can self serve rather than going back and forth with recruiters
• Track candidate sources
• Automatically queue candidates that sign up while the event is running, so they don't have to wait more than a few minutes
• Run video interviews within the platform itself, and write down notes on a candidate
• Leverage QR code ticketing to streamline in-person hiring events
• Automatically sync all candidate interview data with the ATS — no more paper resumes and manual entry!

In addition, Withe provides clarity around which candidate sources are working best for your team so you can make informed decisions as you establish a sourcing strategy.

4. Take on a spirit of continuous improvement

To truly optimize your retail volume hiring process, you'll need to embrace a spirit of continuous improvement. This involves:

• Regularly tracking and analyzing key recruitment metrics such as time-to-fill, source of hire, offer acceptance rate, and cost-per-hire.
• Using these analytics to make data-driven decisions on process improvements, tool selection, and investment priorities.
• Consistently addressing issues that cause candidates to drop off or disengage.
• Refining hiring practices based on performance data and candidate feedback.

By implementing these five strategies, retail recruiters can significantly streamline their volume hiring process, improve the candidate experience, and ultimately build a stronger, more efficient workforce.

The evolution of retail volume hiring

As the retail landscape continues to evolve, the strategies for hiring at scale need to evolve as well. The challenges outlined above tell us that there's a need for innovative approaches to retail volume hiring. By prioritizing candidate experience, leveraging automation, running hiring event platforms, and committing to continuous improvement, retailers can significantly enhance their recruitment processes.

These strategies don't just address immediate hiring needs, they also contribute to building long-term brand strength and customer loyalty. In an industry where the line between candidate and customer is often blurred, optimizing your volume hiring process isn't just about filling positions — it's about building relationships, showcasing your brand, and setting the stage for sustained business growth.

Withe's hiring event platform is designed to help retail recruiters meet their high-volume goals. Learn more about Withe today.