Hiring is becoming more and more challenging for many retail businesses. With high turnovers, seasonal demands, and difficulty finding qualified candidates with matching availability, some retail businesses are now turning to modern hiring solutions to speed up this process and save their teams from unnecessary and tedious work. Below, we will cover some of the biggest challenges in retail hiring today and how recruitment automation may be the answer.
Introduction to Complete Frontline Recruiting Solutions in Retail
Recruitment automation has changed the way many companies do their hiring. A Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) study posted in October 2024 reported that holiday job postings are heading back to the levels they were in 2019 before the pandemic. As of September 24, 2024, seasonal job postings were 0.5% higher than they were on the same day in 2019. Retail work accounted for 66% of these open jobs. This is 8% higher than the percentage retail accounted for in the previous year.
These postings historically increase the most from September to November each year. This is why retail automation is becoming such a big part of many companies’ hiring processes. It helps expedite the hiring process even during the busy seasons by tracking down qualified candidates, checking their backgrounds, scheduling interviews, and much more. This not only speeds up the process but also makes it more efficient and minimizes the work needed from the in-house hiring team.
Cost Analysis of Manual vs. Automated Recruitment
A lot of money goes into traditional hiring processes. This includes both direct and indirect costs. Traditional recruitment methods may require methods such as running advertisements for open positions, hiring recruiters, and other administrative expenses. Once training, hiring, background checks, and job posting fees are all paid, studies show it could cost anywhere from $7,500 to $28,000 to onboard a new employee. This is not even accounting for indirect costs, like lost productivity and time to hire, which could add up to another 60%.
It may be a more beneficial choice to carry out the hiring processes through a recruitment automation solution. Solutions like AppyHere help businesses save up to 75% on hiring costs. These automation platforms automate everything from the application process and screening to interview scheduling and hiring document signing. They also help businesses quickly identify candidates that would be the best match based on availability, experience, salary expectations, etc. These solutions work quickly and are very easy to maintain.
ROI from Reduced Time-to-Hire
Automation also significantly decreases time-to-hire. This means positions get filled faster, and less money is required to be spent on hiring resources. Recruitment automation platforms like AppyHere can reduce time-to-hire by 85%. This is a significant amount of saved time, as Talent Climate reports show that recruitment processes take an average of 44 days, with many going as long as at least 2-3 months before filling the position.
A Robert Half survey with 1,680 hiring manager participants explained the consequences of these longer hiring processes. 42% of participants claimed taking too long to fill these roles led to burnout of other employees and stretched bandwidth. Additionally, 39% said this created delays in project timelines, and 37% said this led to decreases in productivity. All of these factors cost the businesses money. Many of these issues could be avoided with faster hiring processes. This does not even account for the additional loss of money in sales opportunities.
Impact on Employee Turnover and Retention
Gartner data shows that departing employees often cost organizations as much as $18,591. This is one of the main reasons it is so important to maintain good retention rates. One of the best ways to retain employees is to hire and keep qualified team members. These candidates improve the experience of other employees.
Using a recruitment automation platform can help companies find the ideal candidates for the role more quickly since part of the automation process is sorting through potential employees' applications and backgrounds to find the best matches. In addition to helping other employees' satisfaction, having better retention for qualified employees saves businesses from having to conduct future or more frequent job-filling searches and training, saving them even more money long-term.
Enhanced Recruitment Analytics
Recruitment automation solutions today come with enhanced recruitment analytics. These analytics use statistical algorithms, data mining, and machine learning to find patterns based on historical trends or data. This information is then used to predict future outcomes. For example, these analytics may be used to predict how certain candidates would work out if hired by the company. They can see if they have the skills and background needed to fill the role successfully. It can also help businesses identify hiring trends, predict future hiring needs, and allocate resources more effectively.
Solutions like AppyHere also provide businesses using their platform for retail hiring with additional insights into the overall market. This includes geolocation awareness, where candidates are prioritized based on location in relation to the specific retail location doing the hiring. It also includes salary expectation data, which tracks real-time salary expectations data to help businesses set more competitive wages. Overall, these analytics allow businesses to plan for the future more easily than ever, saving them time and money both long- and short-term.
Long-term Financial Benefits
Data shows that companies usually save around 20% when they use AI for their recruitment processes. However, the savings can go far beyond this 20%. There are many long-term benefits of using AI recruitment technology. These solutions can help with workforce management, reduce legal risks, and make it easier to scale the business to meet new demands. This makes it easier for businesses to both save and grow simultaneously.
One large-scale example of long-term savings is Dollarama's use of AppyHere’s AI recruitment technology. In 2024, the company hired over 15,000 associates and sift through a massive pool of applicants. Using AI recruitment technology, they were able to reduce their cost per hire by 91%. This software reduced hiring times, found qualified candidates, and delivered significant cost savings. This process could also be easily replicated for future hiring needs.
Barriers and Considerations
While precise figures fluctuate based on vendor, feature sets, and implementation complexity, it's clear that costs correlate with hiring volume and geographical footprint. Businesses managing a handful of hires across a single location can expect a relatively modest monthly outlay. Conversely, organizations onboarding thousands of employees across numerous locations will see a significantly larger investment. Ultimately, the ROI hinges on the efficiency gains and cost reductions achieved, which often far outweigh the initial expenditure, especially for enterprises with high-volume, multi-location recruitment needs.
Most barriers to AI recruitment technology can be avoided by making sure trusted software is being used ahead of time and looking out for hidden fees. For example, solutions like AppyHere do not charge high upfront costs and already have a proven track record of helping employers fill their positions 3x faster than traditional ATS, job boards, and staffing agencies. It can also be helpful to gradually make the shift instead of all at once to make sure that all technology is cooperating and employees know how to use it.
Conclusion
Recruitment automation is changing how retail companies handle hiring, bringing in major financial advantages. By speeding up the hiring process, lowering recruitment expenses, and boosting employee retention, these automation tools help businesses make their hiring more efficient. These solutions can be beneficial for retail locations of all areas and sizes, helping them save thousands of dollars annually and find better-matched candidates. It also frees up the time of in-house teams, which sometimes would take months to complete manually.
If you are looking for a way to speed up and improve your recruitment processes no matter what time of year it is, consider an automated recruitment solution like AppyHere. AppyHere takes all the hard work out of the hiring process, such as skillset matching, scheduling, in-app communication, background checks, predictive analytics, and more. AppyHere can be a strategic investment to boost your bottom line, helping you quickly find qualified and diverse new team members.
