This Is the Fastest Growing Job at Large Retailers

• Author: Jeffrey Simmons
• Posted: 2024-12-02

As of February 15, 2021, there are 11 million fewer jobs in the United States compared to the same date in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in massive furloughs, layoffs and closures, with most of those jobs in tourism, hospitality, retail, restaurants, bars and related service industries. One segment of the retail industry that has thrived is online shopping. There are a lot of jobs related to online shopping, and retailers are hiring for more of those jobs right now. Here are some examples of those jobs, the skills sets required, the typical job duties and which retailers are hiring for those positions.

Personal Shoppers

Personal shoppers are the employees who fulfill online orders made for curbside pickup. This is the fastest growing job at Walmart, Kroger and other large grocers and retailers that offer both online and in-person shopping. They also fulfill online orders that other people will drive to the customer's home. Walmart alone employs more than 170,000 personal shoppers. That is more than double the number of jobs in this category compared to one year ago. The surge in online shopping triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic is what fueled the growth of this job category. Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kroger and other retailers have thousands of open jobs. Stores are using their shelves as a type of warehouse for fulfilling these local online orders of perishable and consumable goods. Customers get their orders faster and save on shipping costs. Some of the duties of being a personal shopper include picking items from the store shelves, substituting like items when something is out of stock and packing the order. The personal shopper also handles writing a receipt and printing or emailing it to the customer. The order is typically handed off to a different person who pushes it to the curb when the customer is there to pick it up or hands it off to a driver for delivery. Pay for this job starts at about $13 per hour. Workers are expected to pick more than 200 items per hour. It is a physically demanding, high-pressure job. It is more intense than a typical cashier or stocking job.

What One Personal Shopper Has to Say About the Work

A personal shopper who has worked in the role for two years said that before the COVID-19 pandemic, his store got about 90 online orders for curbside pickup or delivery each day. Now, the store gets more than 200. At the peak of the COVID-19 related closures, the store received around 300 online orders each day. He said that the job is physically demanding. For a fit 23-year-old man, this is a considerable statement. He said his team is understaffed, which adds to the pressure. Some customers place large orders of up to $500. Many states now allow EBT to pay for online orders that are set up for curbside pickup or delivery.

Retailer Comments About the Work

Several anonymous employees of large retailers offering online orders for curbside pickup and delivery admitted to the fact that the work has a fast pace and is physically intense. They also said that they are doing their best to staff teams and provide fair compensation and benefits to their associates. They expect the demand for curbside pickup and home delivery of groceries and other consumable consumer goods to stay high, so these jobs are likely to stick around for a while.

Curbside Retail Associates

At some retailers, there is a dedicated team who takes the fulfilled order to the curb when the customer comes to pick it up. This frees up the fulfillment specialists who know where everything is located in the store. Specializing in picking versus wheeling the order out to the curb speeds up the process of online order fulfillment. Curbside retail associates need to lift heavy items, interact with the customer and accept the method of payment. Pay begins at $11 per hour with most retailers.

Delivery Associates

Delivery associates are the people who take online orders from the bricks-and-mortar store to the customer's home. They load the vehicle and unload the items on the customer's porch. Some of these jobs are freelance or contract, while others are employed by the retailer directly. Some jobs require the delivery driver to use their own vehicle, while others allow for the use of the company's vehicle. Pay starts at $13 per hour plus tips. A valid driver's license and drug testing are requirements.