How Is AI Revolutionising Retail Recruitment During the Holiday Surge?

At FutureMatch, we believe that recruitment should be as innovative as the talent you’re seeking. Our mission is to empower retailers by using advanced AI technologies to simplify recruitment, especially during high-demand periods like the holiday season. With tools like our programmatic advertising platform, Reach, we aim to enhance the quality of hires, reduce recruitment costs, and ensure that businesses connect with top talent, especially in the early stages of their careers. We understand the importance of targeting digital natives like Gen Z and believe that recruitment strategies should be as agile and dynamic as the talent pool itself. Our goal is to make retail hiring more efficient, scalable, and forward-thinking, positioning our clients ahead of the competition in the fast-paced retail industry.

Our programmatic adverting platform, Reach, plays a significant role in this transformation. Reach automates the placement of job ads across a wide range of platforms, utilising advanced algorithms to target and attract quality candidates. It optimises advertising spend, ensuring that job postings reach the right audience at the right time, especially during crucial peak hiring periods like the holidays.

How can AI improve Gen Z talent Acquisition in Retail?

When it comes to Gen Z recruitment, AI is a game-changer. Gen Z, being digital natives, expect quick, seamless interactions during their job search. Retailers using traditional methods may struggle to connect with this generation effectively. AI can target job postings specifically to Gen Z by using data on their behaviours, interests, and the platforms they frequent, ensuring that recruitment efforts are more aligned with this generation’s expectations. In fact, LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends 2020 report notes posts that mention artificial intelligence or generative AI have seen 17% greater application growth over the past two year.

Take, for example, the use of AI chatbots in recruitment. AI can engage with candidates in real-time, answering their questions, providing information about the role, and even scheduling interviews. This approach helps retailers not only speed up the recruitment process but also create a more engaging and user-friendly experience for Gen Z candidates.

With Reach, retailers can automate and optimise their job ads specifically to target platforms Gen Z frequents, ensuring that your company stays ahead in the competitive world of Gen Z talent acquisition.

How Does Programmatic Advertising Enhance Early Career Recruitment in Retail?

Programmatic advertising, driven by AI, can significantly enhance early career recruitment in retail, especially during high-demand periods like the holidays. Traditional job advertising often results in inefficient spending and limited reach. Programmatic advertising, however, uses algorithms to ensure that your job ads are seen by the right candidates, at the right time, across multiple platforms. This approach increases the chances of attracting high-quality early career talent while keeping advertising spend under control. 

For instance, imagine you’re a retailer looking to fill entry-level roles quickly for the holiday surge. Instead of manually placing ads across multiple job boards and social media platforms, Reach automates this process. By utilising AI to continuously optimise ad placement based on real-time performance, Reach ensures that your job postings reach top early career talent without wasted effort or budget.

Companies like Amazon have adopted programmatic advertising to streamline their seasonal hiring. By utilising AI, they ensure that their recruitment ads reach relevant candidates, especially for roles like warehouse workers and customer service associates. This strategy allows them to meet the demands of the holiday rush while minimising recruitment costs.

How Can AI Reduce Recruitment Costs for Retailers During the Holiday Season?

One of the key advantages of AI in retail recruitment is its ability to reduce hiring costs. Retailers often need to hire quickly during the holiday season, which can lead to increased spending on job ads, candidate screening, and interview scheduling. AI, through automation and optimisation, helps retailers streamline these processes, leading to reduced time-to-hire and lower overall costs.

For example, AI-powered recruitment platforms can automatically sift through applications, identifying the most suitable candidates based on pre-set criteria. This reduces the time and effort spent by HR teams manually screening applicants, freeing up resources for more strategic tasks. Moreover, by targeting ads more effectively through programmatic advertising, retailers can avoid wasting money on job postings that fail to reach the right audience.

Our product, Reach, is designed to optimise recruitment advertising spend by using AI to continuously adjust ad placements in real-time. This ensures that job postings reach high-quality candidates efficiently, cutting down on wasted ad spend during peak recruitment periods like the holiday season.

How Do AI and Programmatic Advertising Improve Candidate Quality in Gen Z Recruitment?

Improving candidate quality is a major challenge for retailers, particularly when hiring Gen Z and early career talent during the holiday season. AI helps improve candidate quality by using data-driven insights to target the most relevant candidates for each role. For example, programmatic advertising can place job ads on platforms where Gen Z is most active, such as Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, while also using behavioural data to ensure that the ads are shown to candidates whose skills and interests align with the job requirements.

By using AI, retailers can filter out unqualified candidates before they even apply, ensuring that only the most relevant candidates make it to the interview stage. This results in a more efficient hiring process, with a higher percentage of qualified applicants. According to PwC’s Global Artificial Intelligence Study , AI has the potential to transform retail in three key areas: personalised design and production, anticipating customer demand, and improving inventory and delivery management. Retailers are already using deep learning to predict customers’ orders in advance, while the longer-term potential includes products that anticipate demand based on market signals. For consumers, this means on-demand customisation and better availability of products tailored to their preferences.

Our product, Reach, not only automates job ad placement but also uses AI to optimise targeting in real-time, ensuring that your job ads are seen by the most relevant early career candidates. This not only improves the quality of applicants but also speeds up the hiring process—crucial during the holiday surge.

Can AI and Automation Improve the Candidate Experience During the Hiring Surge?

AI can also play a significant role in improving the overall candidate experience, which is crucial for early career recruitment. Gen Z, in particular, values seamless, tech-driven experiences during their job search. Long response times, lack of communication, and a cumbersome application process can easily deter them from pursuing a job. AI-driven tools can help streamline these touchpoints, making the application and recruitment process faster and more engaging. According to Glassdoor, 43% of candidates say recruiters/hiring managers not responding in a timely manner is their biggest frustration when job seeking.

For example, AI chatbots can provide instant feedback to candidates, update them on their application status, and even offer interview preparation tips. This level of engagement helps maintain candidate interest and reduces drop-off rates during the recruitment process. Through Reach retailers can automate much of this communication, ensuring that early career candidates are kept in the loop throughout the recruitment process. Whether through programmatic advertising or real-time updates, AI makes the entire candidate experience smoother and more engaging.

Why Should Retailers Prioritise AI in Holiday Recruitment for Gen Z Talent?

The holiday season brings immense pressure on retail recruitment efforts, and with the increasing demand for Gen Z talent, adopting AI is no longer optional—it’s essential. AI-driven recruitment strategies not only streamline processes but also ensure you’re attracting the highest-quality candidates at a reduced cost. For Gen Z, who are accustomed to fast, digital-first experiences, retailers who adopt AI will stand out as progressive and appealing employers.

Consider companies like Target, which have embraced AI and automation to meet their holiday hiring needs. By integrating programmatic advertising and AI-driven candidate screening tools, Target has managed to significantly reduce hiring times and costs, all while maintaining a high standard of candidate quality.

Reach helps retailers stay competitive by automating job ad placement, optimising recruitment spend, and targeting high-quality candidates. With tools like Reach, your retail business can manage the pressures of holiday recruitment while ensuring that you attract top Gen Z talent and early career professionals.

Is AI the Future of Retail Recruitment?

As the holiday hiring surge approaches, adopting AI-powered recruitment strategies can make all the difference in meeting your seasonal workforce needs. By leveraging tools like Reach, retailers can automate and optimise the placement of job ads, reduce costs, and ensure that they are attracting top-tier Gen Z and early career talent.

Book a demo today to see how our Reach platform can automate and optimise your job ads, improve candidate quality, and reduce hiring costs, all while targeting top Gen Z and early career talent or for more information on reach, our programmatic advertising platform.