Interactive Insights

Recruiting Retail Sales Associates

A Deep Dive into Talent Sourcing and Recruitment Advertising Benchmarks

Retail Sales Associates

A Bit About These Talented Professionals

Retail enthusiasts and customer whisperers. As masters of persuasion and product knowledge, these folks are the driving force behind the retail industry, guiding customers on their purchasing journey, creating memorable shopping experiences, and providing a little retail therapy! From fashion to tech, these retail maestros make shopping an art form, ensuring that every customer leaves with a smile.

The employment forecast for retail sales workers is dancing to a unique beat, with little to no change in overall employment… but high occupational drain means approximately 595,000 openings per year. What keeps overall growth flat? Well, e-commerce is definitely giving brick-and-mortar establishments a run for their money and we don’t see that trend changing any time soon! But in-person shopping has one thing the online version just can’t offer – a human touch.

So, ready to find more great-fit retail sales folks for your funnel, at the most optimal cost?

It’s time to let Joveo’s data do the talking!

0%
Year-on-year decrease in CPC
0%
Year-on-year increase in median advertised salary
0%
Year-on-year change in unique postings

CPA App-lause or App-loss

Yes, CPAsCost per application (CPA) measures the cost incurred by an organization to receive one job application from a potential candidate. depend on CPCs. But there are a bunch of other factors, too! You can’t control everything (ex. market conditions), but you can work on shaping that ideal apply experience.

If you’re ready to take it on, here are a few key factors to consider: employer brand, recruiter time and effort, app quality, CPA, and candidate experience. Even though easy apply CPAs are minimal, recruiters may not receive all the necessary info, and apps from unqualified or disinterested candidates can pour in! On the other end of the spectrum, a lengthy apply process can lead to high applicant drop-off rates, a suboptimal candidate experience, and a high CPA.

Recommendation: Examine your application process to figure out what info your team needs – whether it is easy apply, optimized ATS-based apps, or something more complex, your recruitment strategy should be data-driven!

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

CPC, Ya You Know Me!

Nationally, the average cost per click (CPC)Cost per click (CPC) is the cost incurred by an organization for each click on a job advertisement or recruitment campaign. stands at $0.79. Alaska is at the forefront as the most cost-effective state for acquiring a click, priced at just $0.47. On the opposite end of the spectrum, New Hampshire stands out with the highest CPC at $1.39.

Recommendation: Make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck! Leverage this data, study seasonality and macro trends, and stay nimble. Keep an eye on performance across states and engage in A/B testingA/B testing refers to a randomized experimentation process. Two or more versions of a variable (job title, job description, etc.) are shown to different segments of users at the same time. The goal is to determine which version leaves the maximum impact and drives conversions. to enhance CPCs and conversion rates.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Demand-Supply: The Golden Ratio

There’s a definite trend in these numbers, as the ratio of hires to postings hovers fairly close to 3.26 over the months. What does this mean, you ask? Well, three hires are made for every posting.

Recommendation: If your ratio is less than 3.26, we strongly recommend an old fashioned recruitment marketing audit. That means reviewing job titles, descriptions, compensation, and benefits compared with your competition. Oh, and how could we neglect reach, ad dollars, and return on ad spend per source!

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Mind Your Demand-Supply Gap… by State

Wondering just how aggressive your sourcing needs to be? Well, this chart will come in mighty handy, giving insight into the demand-supply gap The demand-supply gap is calculated by dividing the number of unique job postings by total employment in the occupation. The higher the number, the greater the demand-supply gap, compared with the national average., by state, and indicating how assertive you need to be when it comes to talent sourcing or job advertising.

For example, if you’re looking to hire in South Dakota, Wyoming, or New York, you shouldn’t have a problem. In fact, these three top our list of easiest to fill states when we take a look at demand and supply of retail sales folks. On the other end of the spectrum, filling your hiring funnel in Washington DC, Kansas, or New Hampshire is going to be a challenge, given the low supply and high demand!

Recommendation: If the color of your state is in the deep gold, it may indicate that you need to jazz up your job content, A/B test titles A/B testing refers to a randomized experimentation process. Two or more versions of a variable (web page, job description, etc.) are shown to different segments of users at the same time. The goal is to determine which version leaves the maximum impact and drives conversions., expand across locationsGeographic optimizations expand the targeted location to include surrounding communities. This is an easy way to extend your reach and reduce CPAs by sourcing from less competitive markets., and spend considerably more on recruitment marketing and job advertising to attract all great-fit candidates you need to fill your funnel.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Who Posts the Most?

The competition is meh when it comes to recruiting retail sales workers, with an average posting intensity Posting intensity is the ratio of total job postings to unique job postings. A higher posting intensity means employers are sending copies of their reqs to several job sites or other locations on the web, to reach a bigger talent pool. of 3:1 across the occupation, nationally. Top employers like like PetCo, Old Navy, and Nike distribute their jobs with the same intensity, while other giants like Macy’s (6:1), Verizon Communications (5:1), and ALDI (5:1) go a step further, beating the national occupational average. Best Buy tops them all with a posting intensity of 7:1!

Recommendation: Be sure to get your posts out to all the right job boards and on social media. We may be a little biased, but one great way to automatically post jobs across the best-performing sites is to use programmatic job advertising – plus you can take advantage of job title Job title expansion means leveraging alternative job titles, using commonly searched terms. These are published as new listings in addition to the original post. and geographic Geographic optimizations expand the targeted location to include surrounding communities. This is an easy way to extend your reach and reduce CPAs by sourcing from less competitive markets. expansions.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Show Candidates the Money!

While the national median salary is approximately $30,500, advertised median salaries over a 12-month period hit $35,000, as of December of 2023. This delta (15%) is mostly due to two reasons: Employers with higher salaries are the ones that generally tend to advertise them. Also some employers tend to only advertise the upper end of their salary brackets. This definitely gives them a competitive advantage when it comes to sourcing.

Recommendation: If you offer a great salary, don’t forget to call it out in your job description, even if your state doesn’t enforce it legally. Currently, 40% of unique job postings for retail sales workers include wage info. This will help you attract more candidates, lower CPCs, and fill your funnel faster.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

An Eye on DE&I: How Do You Measure Up?

We know diversity is important! For one, 67% of today’s candidates take a serious look at potential employers’ DE&I programs, and what they find influences their decision making. Secondly, and as we well know, the more diverse your workforce, the better your business outcomes!

Recommendation: Take a gander at diversity in the profession in the top and bottom three most diverse states. If you find you’re falling a bit short, have no fear! There are a ton of relevant job boards to give your DE&I program the boost it needs.

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Occupational Gain to Attract and Retain

By understanding what occupations retail sales workers come from, you can tailor your job ad content and channels to reach those audiences – over and above the standard talent supply in your location. For example, many come from previous professions in customer service and other sales-related roles.

Recommendation: Identify the right channels with a combination of keyword research, using a programmatic job advertising partner with publisher-level historical data and expertise. Now go get those great-fit candidates!

Source: Joveo and Lightcast Research

Curious about how your own talent sourcing and recruitment advertising efforts compare? Find out what it takes to be best-in-class and leave your competition in the dust.

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