Retailers Grapple with How to Manage Customer Expectations, Staffing Issues Entering Another Unconventional Holiday Season

LOWELL, Mass. & WESTON, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE). retailers surveyed¹ through UKG say they are committed to improving the in-store customer experience for the holidays – this is their top priority for the season² — and 91% agree that store associates are instrumental in bringing those experiences to life. However, 84% of retailers say customer expectations are now higher than what their stores can offer in terms of service (up from 75% in 2021).

That third annual holiday season retail survey and trend report of UKG notes that many US retail stores are struggling to meet their sales targets due to understaffing (80%, versus 68% in 2021) and say customers are likely to feel the impact of these work-related challenges when they shop for the holidays (72%).

Almost all retail stores will be understaffed at least once a week during the holiday season

Despite best efforts, 95% of retailers forecast weekly understaffing in stores over the holiday season. One in ten (11%) say stores could be understaffed five days a week minimum, and nearly 1 in 3 (29%) are preparing to be understaffed “most weekends”. To fill workforce gaps during their busiest months, 77% plan to hire gig workers, and retailers estimate that on-demand talent could represent up to 14% of their total in-store workforce for the 2022 season.

Do people still want to work in retail?

Looking back, 36% of retailers had to change store hours in 2022 due to understaffing, and nearly one in five (19%) said their stores were understaffed at least half of the time in August. explosive sales,³ employee ghosting,⁴ and unplanned absences⁵ are all partly to blame. The monthly UKG workforce report similarly highlights a steady decline in retail shiftwork throughout 2022, including a 3.1% decrease from August to September.

Taking stock of recent workforce patterns, nearly two-thirds of retailers (63%) feel that people just don’t want to work in retail anymore – a preference they say is mainly motivated by concerns about health and safety risks in the workplace . such as contracting COVID-19 or dealing with hostile customers (52%), and wanting higher pay (49%) and flexibility (40%).⁶

A pandemic era is dawning retail theft and guest-on-employee violence has a real impact on employees’ physical and mental health. According to 42% of retailers, store associates respond to angry shopper situations at least once a week, and 13% say shopper behavior has recently gotten worse, not better. Almost a third of retailers (31%) said store managers had resigned in the last 30 days⁷ because they were mistreated by customers.

Store managers are also quitting in search of more scheduling flexibility, according to 50% of retailers. Increasingly, job seekers want flexibility to work the shifts they want (39% agree it’s an important aspect), and the survey highlights a number of ways to use this unmet demand to attract and retain talent (e.g. employees to self-planning), as described in the report.

“understanding why People turning away from working in retail or leaving their employer in search of a better alternative is the first step in improving the workplace experience and creating a safe and comfortable environment for employees to work and customers to shop,” said Rob Klitsch, director of retail, hospitality and catering at UKG. “The employee experience determines the customer experience. So to improve the latter, retailers must first address the needs of their employees.”

Retailers are reluctant to hire amid economic uncertainty^8th

Retailers, who find themselves in a difficult position, are cautious about hiring vacation jobs.

• Only 40% say their businesses are hiring seasonal workers for the holidays and 35% will be hiring fewer seasonal workers than last year.

• A third (33%) are reducing all in-store hiring for the remainder of 2022, and more than a quarter say in-store hiring freezes are likely (26%). Another 26% are now actively taking downsizing measures.

Future success is determined by ‘total experience’

Priorities for retailers in 2023 are aligned to provide people with a strong overall experience to shop and work: Their top three initiatives include employee training and development (42%), employee experience and engagement (40%) and customer experience (39%) ). .

“Bringing exceptional experiences to life for managers, employees and customers at the same time is crucial all year round. The key is to listen, adopt and adapt quickly because the future of work is now,” said Klitsch.

About UKG

Our goal at UKG is people. A firm believer in the power of culture and belonging as the secret to success, we champion great places to work and build lifelong partnerships with our clients to show what is possible when companies invest in their people. Born out of a historic merger that created one of the world’s leading HCM cloud companies, our Life-Work technology approach to HR, payroll and workforce management solutions for everyone helps more than 70,000 companies around the world world and across all industries, to anticipate and anticipate the needs of their employees beyond just work. To learn more, visit ukg.com.