Recruiting in retail is tough, and online retail even tougher
Filling any retail opening is tough these days, and e-commerce positions even tougher, according to executive recruitment firm answerQuest Executive Search.
A recent survey of retail industry hiring showed the average retail posting at online job sites gets 38.37 responses, compared with an average across all industries of 80.53. While the survey conducted during the first quarter did not break out e-commerce from other retail positions, Rebecca Bamman, director of answerQuest’s retail division, says it is especially difficult to fill positions in online retailing.
“There’s a huge demand for talent in that marketplace, and the demand is continuing to grow,” Bamman says.
She says the firm, which primarily is engaged by retail chains, including PayLess ShoeSource, says those chains increasingly are recognizing that they may have to hire from online-only retailers to find the talent they need. Previously, she says, chains were intent on finding managers with experience working for companies with both bricks-and-mortar stores and an online presence. PayLess is No. 268 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
There is especially strong demand in such areas as search engine optimization, search engine marketing and affiliate marketing, Bamman says. Companies that may have put all those responsibilities under one person in the past increasingly are breaking them out, prompting retailers to seek people with experience in these areas. Given the shallow pool of people with experience in these relatively new disciplines, Bamman recommends that retailers look to smaller organizations where individuals may have gained experience in these fields.
AnswerQuest is a franchisee of Management Recruiters International Inc., which operates the MRINetwork of executive recruitment firms.
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