Major retailers are hiring for Xmas – but is that right for you?
As Christmas approaches, many shop owners are looking for ways to draw more people in – one way is to have more help from assistants on the floor. But with retail growth expected to fall by half and with more people shopping online, is that the best idea?
As the festive season approaches, shoppers in the UK are gearing up for Christmas spending, while retailers are preparing themselves to get rushed by mad crowds. A number of high-profile retailers – including Tesco, Sainsbury, Majestic Wines and Aldi – have already announced that they are looking to hire many in temporary roles.
With enough staff on the floor, that means more sales, faster restocking of in-demand items and more assistance for customers, but would reinforcements really be needed this golden quarter?
Despite facing a 9.3% increase in retail prices, Christmas retail growth is projected to fall short of last year’s increase at 3.4%, according to GlobalData. This increase will take retail spending to £109.7bn in Q4 – and while a significant rise – it is barely half the 6.2% achieved last year when people were able to celebrate properly for the first time in two years, following the relaxation of pandemic restrictions.
This projection also marks a second quarter of slowing growth, with the increase falling from a peak of 5.2% in Q2.
Nick Gladding, lead retail analyst at GlobalData, notes that this year’s growth in retail sales is mainly due to inflation. This means that shoppers will actually spend less in real terms than last year, choosing to either trade down or trim the number of presents they buy.
Besides inflation, a new study from VoucherCodes.co.uk found that over a quarter (27%) of consumers have bought items to wear and return. This trend, which has come to be known as ‘wardrobing’, and the perpetrators ‘wardrobers’, has seen a 50% rise over the last decade.
The discount site also found that shoppers feel less guilty about wearing items and returning them when shopping online as opposed to in-store, with some 30% saying as much.
Michael Brandy, the senior commercial director at VoucherCodes.co.uk, said: “There are some measures that retailers can take to limit the number of people wearing their items and returning them. For example, as our data shows, adding additional tags in prominent places and increasing return costs are just some ways to deter consumers from wardrobing.”
The decision to hire more people temporarily for the festive season is prudent, but given the current market, it may look like hiring thousands or even hundreds of people may be too ambitious.
