Prepare in Advance for Seasonal Needs
The holiday shopping season is one of the busiest times of the year for retailers, and success depends on planning long before shoppers begin checking items off their gift lists. As promotions roll out earlier each year, retailers need seasonal employees in place well before customer demand increases. While Black Friday remains the biggest in-store shopping event, hiring needs extend far beyond a single day.
With more than 81 million consumers shopping in stores during Black Friday weekend and millions more shopping throughout the rest of the holiday season, competition for seasonal talent is fierce. Starting your hiring strategy early gives you more time to recruit, onboard, and prepare your team before peak demand arrives.
Here’s how retailers can stay ahead of seasonal staffing needs, from early preparation through post-holiday fulfillment.
Build a Flexible Hiring Strategy
Seasonal hiring is a flexible solution for managing the holiday rush without the long-term commitment of adding full-time associates. A temporary staffing approach allows retailers to scale quickly while reducing training time and overhead costs.
Analyze past sales data to determine how many employees your store needs. Looking back at previous holiday seasons helps identify your busiest periods, uncover missed opportunities caused by understaffing, and better prepare for increased customer demand. Project-based, high-volume, or seasonal hiring can reduce overhead costs by minimizing onboarding and benefits expenses, which allows retailers to scale efficiently while maximizing productivity.
Starting early also gives you more time to attract qualified candidates before competition for seasonal talent intensifies. One leading global fashion retailer put this approach into practice by partnering with Atrium in mid-July to hire seasonal customer service representatives for training classes in September and October. Approximately 80% of accepted offers came from candidates our team sourced, and the client ultimately named Atrium its primary staffing partner.
Set Up Staff for Success
Bring seasonal employees on board a few days early so they can become familiar with the store layout, products, and team dynamics before customer traffic increases. Training should cover point-of-sale systems, product knowledge, and back-of-house operations. Make sure each employee understands their responsibilities before their first shift, whether that’s helping customers, working the register, or supporting inventory. Finally, review schedules, break times, and workstation assignments so everyone knows what to expect.
Preparing your workforce before the holiday rush also helps ensure your team is ready to deliver a consistent customer experience from day one. That preparation proved especially valuable for one consumer technology company, where Atrium staffed 100% of hiring needs for a seasonal retail pop-up in New York City, including sales associates, in-store technical support specialists, and onsite supervisors. Because hiring was completed before opening day, the store remained fully staffed throughout the September-through-January holiday season.
Don’t Get Caught Understaffed
Having extra staff on hand during peak shopping days is more than just a precaution; it’s a smart strategy. Even the best forecasts can’t predict every surge in customer traffic, and managers can easily shift employees wherever they’re needed most, whether that’s helping customers on the sales floor, restocking merchandise, or keeping checkout lanes moving efficiently.
Having the right number of associates in place helps keep operations running smoothly during the busiest shopping periods. For one luxury e-commerce retailer, that meant strengthening warehouse operations before fulfillment demand accelerated. Atrium quickly placed warehouse and shipping associates responsible for picking, packing, and order fulfillment, with two associates converting to full-time employees in less than one month. As hiring continued throughout the holiday season, the retailer had the support needed to meet fulfillment demand from October through January.
Plan Early for Peak Season Performance
The earlier you build your team, the more time you’ll have to find qualified talent and prepare new employees for demand throughout the holiday season. Waiting too long can leave your team understaffed and stretched thin when demand is at its highest, which can ultimately impact sales.
For over 30 years, Atrium has helped retail, fashion, and e-commerce companies develop scalable Talent Solutions for temporary, temp to hire, direct hire, and remote or onsite roles. Whether you need sales associates on the floor or inventory support behind the scenes, we can help you build the right team for the season. Contact us today to learn how we can help you prepare for the holiday shopping season.
