Boost Your Retail and E-Commerce Marketing Teams for Busy Seasons

Competitive advantage

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Marketing and creative

By Lucy Marino, Executive Director, Marketing and Creative, Robert Half

For retail and e-commerce companies, the holiday season is more than a time for flashy product launches and attention-grabbing discounts. It’s an operational marathon that can significantly impact your bottom line—especially during the e-commerce peak season.

And that marathon starts much earlier than November. For any e-commerce peak season team, success depends on having the right marketing professionals in place far before the holiday rush begins.

Holiday Staffing Tips for Retail and e-Commerce Teams

Avoid these common seasonal staffing challenges
Start hiring holiday season help now
Seasonal staffing strategies for retail and e-commerce teams
Hire these in-demand marketing professionals for peak-season success
How to maximize seasonal staffing during the holiday season

Avoid these common seasonal staffing challenges

Picture this: It’s early November. You’ve just launched an eye-catching range of new products, perfectly timed for Black Friday and the holiday shopping spree. Everything points to this being a record-breaking season.

However, a less rosy reality emerges as you check in on your departments. Your marketing team is working long hours to design, version, place and track advertisements and promotions across many different platforms. Your customer support unit is swamped with problems ranging from product specifications to delivery deadlines. Meanwhile, your website traffic is surging as eager shoppers scramble for deals. Your teams are stretched thin—and some of your hardworking staff could be headed toward burnout.

Overtaxing your core team means risking both employee well-being and your company’s reputation, both internally and externally. But bringing in specialized reinforcements for this intense time can be a game-changer.

Start hiring holiday season help now

The solution to avoiding this challenge? Start recruiting and hiring holiday season help now. We’re already seeing many marketing teams ramp up their holiday-related marketing campaigns—weeks earlier than in previous years. That means now is the time to start planning, staffing and securing top marketing professionals and creative professionals for the projects that will define the busy season.

Waiting until November could put you behind competitors who have already locked in contract talent to handle the seasonal demands of the holiday rush.

Seasonal staffing strategies for retail and e-commerce teams

The power of seasonal staffing is its ability to right-size your workforce precisely when you need it most. This is especially critical for retail and e-commerce sectors, which face intense seasonal demands during the holiday season.

Rather than maintaining a large, year-round staff, you keep a core team of permanent employees and bring in highly experienced temporary marketing roles for peak periods. This approach is also a financially savvy way to manage long-term labor costs.

And the trend is accelerating: 80% of in-house marketing and creative teams and 67% of agencies are increasing their use of contract talent in the second half of 2025, according to Robert Half research. Leaders cite benefits such as:

Access to specialized skills or experience

Flexibility in scaling the workforce

Cost savings compared with hiring permanent employees

Faster time to staff critical roles

When asked what types of projects they plan to hire seasonal marketing jobs for, e-commerce holiday promotions and campaigns, competitive analysis and campaign performance reviews topped the list for marketing and creative leaders.

Bar chart with title reading "Top 5 Marketing Projects Driving Seasonal Hiring."

Hire these in-demand marketing professionals for peak-season success

These numbers reflect one clear reality: Demand for specialized contract marketing support is at an all-time high. In fact, successful retail and e-commerce holiday promotions often require:

Designers (graphic, packaging, visual, etc.): These creatives are essential for making your products visually irresistible, whether through engaging social media graphics, compelling packaging or eye-catching marketing campaigns.

Content managers and copywriters: There’s no point in great design if the message doesn’t resonate. Content professionals and copywriters can craft the right wording and tone for everything from holiday ads to product descriptions that help your brand stand out.

UX designers and front-end developers: These professionals help ensure your website and apps aren’t just functional but also visually appealing and user-friendly. A clunky website can be a major turn-off for online shoppers.

Digital marketing and analytics specialists: Brick-and-mortar retail remains important, but the digital realm is where the modern holiday battle is won or lost. You’ll need a team that knows how to run effective online campaigns, manage SEO and get the most out of your marketing and advertising dollars, all while deploying the newest AI, automation and analytics tools.

Email marketing specialists: During the holidays, everyone’s inbox is flooded with promotional emails. Your team should know how to break through the clutter and get your message in front of the right eyes at the right time.

Project managers: Holiday campaigns move fast, and project managers keep everything on track. They coordinate across marketing teams and e-commerce departments, manage budgets and timelines and ensure seasonal staffing runs smoothly. Their leadership helps marketing professionals deliver campaigns on time, reducing the team’s stress and protecting the retail customer experience.

Social media specialists and video producers: The holiday season is a shopping spree powered by digital storytelling. Social media specialists create timely posts and campaigns that break through crowded feeds, while video producers deliver reels, live streams and demos that spark engagement. Together, these marketing professionals help brands stand out and connect with customers.

These aren’t just extra hands. They’re in-demand marketing professionals and creative professionals who can elevate every aspect of your peak-season operations.

How to maximize seasonal staffing during the holiday season

Given the seasonal demands, it’s no surprise that a majority of marketing and creative leaders plan to hire contract talent in the next few months. To get the most out of it:

Don’t skimp on onboarding: Tailoring your onboarding process helps ensure new hires can contribute right from the start.

Clearly outline team roles and responsibilities: From day one, let them know who to go to for different types of questions. Uncertainty can be a productivity killer.

Consider top performers for permanent roles: Seasonal employees often make great candidates for permanent placement. They have proven their worth during the retail calendar’s most demanding period. This can also be a great recruiting tool.

Benchmark your employees’ salaries: Avoid turnover among your core team by continuously checking if compensation is competitive. Resources like the Robert Half Salary Guide can help you stay ahead.

Work with a talent solutions firm: Teaming up with a specialized recruiting team can give you a significant hiring advantage, especially when managing seasonal demands, by providing you access to turnkey talent, advanced skills training and remote-ready teams.

The holiday hiring season is already underway. Starting your recruitment efforts now, if you haven’t already, leaves you free to focus on delivering an outstanding retail customer experience when it’s crunch time. The earlier you plan and hire, the better positioned you will be to execute holiday campaigns, keep your team energized and maximize results during the most critical retail and e-commerce peak season of the year.

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