the Cost of Temporary Retail Employees

Part time holiday help for retail chain store selling personal electronics and related accessories and services. Employees were responsible for selling, upselling, promoting add-ons and other services, ringing up customers and general store maintenance (keeping items priced and orderly, etc). Wages averaged at about $9/hour, after a base pay plus commission.

Employees were generally hired for a 2-3 month period. Depending on the individual's learning curve and desire to excel, it could take from 2-4 weeks for them to maximize their selling abilities, during which point they are not earning enough to make up for their salary, so it is important to leave enough time for training before the peak part of the season hits. It is also important to leave enough time before the height of the selling season to hire them, for those hired out of desperation to have bodies on the floor may wind up being higher theft risks than those who you took more time to select.

Do background checks! The unfortunate fact of retail is that more theft is internal than external. With temporary help this can be an even greater risk if they figure they won't be working there long anyway. However, careful selection, preparation and training can minimize this threat, and increase your productivity. After all, being short staffed can cause you to lose customers permanently.