Joy Henry, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Americas
Over the past few years, the retail industry has experienced a profound transformation. The rise of e-commerce, rapid technological advancements, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic have reshaped the way retailers operate. As we look ahead to 2025, business are not only adapting to these changes but also expanding their reach, with many setting their sights on global markets.
The complexity of global hiring is further compounded by high turnover rates, the need to scale for seasonal demand, and the recent rise of employment fraud. As retailers expand globally, they’re looking to support this growth with fast, cost-effective, compliant background checks and identity verification.
However, many organizations are unaware of the broad functionality of modern background checks. Tech advancements and investments have now transformed traditional screening methods to meet the seasonal hiring demands of large-scale retail hiring.
Now in 2025, retailers have an outsized opportunity to streamline their hiring process while helping to stay compliant with hiring standards. Let’s explore how.
North America’s Retail Hiring Challenges
Retail talent acquisition and hiring managers must still wrestle with:
- High employee turnover – Retailers continue to weather high turnover rates, with a clear impact on staffing and their bottom line.
- Seasonal and high-volume hiring needs – Peak seasons require HR professionals to rapidly staff as part of their skillset. Meanwhile, retailers continue to expand stores in anticipation of an expected retail growth estimated at 7.9 trillion USD in retail sales by 2026.
- Global hiring – As retailers expand into international markets, the need for a streamlined, scalable global hiring process has become essential.
If you’re a global retailer relying on multiple background check providers, you may already have seen how a lack of consistency can slow down background check turnaround time, increase cost, and impact overall efficiency. Global retailers can benefit from using a single global provider, leveraging modernized background checks to help streamline the hiring process, regardless of borders.
Tech Innovation Yields ROI in Background Screening
Global retailers hiring at speed can benefit from recent advances in AI and automation. According to a recent survey conducted by Kissflow, 69% of HR professionals leveraging automation for hiring confirmed that it substantially reduced time spent in the hiring process. By prioritizing these technology investments, organizations can add substantial efficiency gains.
What do the business benefits look like in real terms?
Retail employers often reduce their reliance on manual processes, freeing up time for HR professionals to focus on more important work. However, automation must be used in ways that don’t automate decisioning itself. Technology used in hiring needs to ensure it doesn’t create hiring bias violating EEO laws and create discriminatory impact. Before adopting new automation technology, best practices in this area include keeping a human in the loop and conducting bias testing, both of which are increasingly required under new laws addressing AI in hiring. Automation improvements also bolster the hiring process by helping to enhance background check accuracy and potentially reducing human error.
Benefits of Tech-driven Screening Solutions for Retailers
Modernized background checks offer several benefits to global retailers, including:
- Accelerated hiring processes: Streamlining the background check process makes it much easier for employers to hire with agility and confidence.
- Improved candidate experience: Help reduce candidate drop-off by giving your retail candidates full transparency, complete with regular notifications and check-ins
- Cost-efficiency and resource optimization: Relying on a single global provider allows retailers to save costs and resources otherwise spent on multiple vendors.
Future trends
Retailers are always seeking to stay ahead of the next hiring trend. What’s the buzz in 2025 and beyond?
- Data-driven hiring: Leveraging data and analytics to drive smarter hiring decisions is fast becoming the norm among global retailers. A truly informed approach includes assessments to ensure cultural alignment and to fine-tune hiring strategies.
- AI and automation: Retailers are now using AI to automate repetitive tasks, enhance candidate matching, and personalize communication. When balanced with human experience and oversight, AI can also help hiring managers to ensure fairness and accuracy. However, note again that the use of AI in decisioning must be tested for bias.
- Post-hire expansion: Known as rescreening, periodically background checking your employees after their start date helps retail employers to maintain a trusted, safe workforce over time. Rescreening is also an excellent way to show your candidates that you’re committed to safeguarding your corporate culture and values.
How can you combine these seemingly-separate capabilities to gain an edge in 2025?
Forge a Truly Global Retail Hiring Program
Retail employers seeking to ride the hiring headwinds in 2025 have good reason to be optimistic, especially about what HR technology can do for them. Yes, AI and automation investment promises to “float all boats,” but HR leaders can also optimize the hiring process with a single provider.
A trusted global background screening provider can help your retail business to scale up your hiring, enabling you to source candidates across the globe.
First Advantage can support your global retail hiring program and run background checks in over 200+ different countries and territories. Whether you’re hiring in several countries around the world, or in a single region with diverse compliance requirements, First Advantage is fully invested in your success.
Click here to learn more about our global capabilities for the retail industry.
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