Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesRetail

Could Employee Engagement be Draining your Bank Account?

Designed for retail leaders and lovers alike, Retail Refined explores the in-store technology of the future, challenges the industry’s preconceived notions, and brings together retail’s biggest names to understand the brand strategies that will define the next decade in retail.   The pandemic’s impact on retail was so disruptive. It changed the industry forever, and a big…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Retail teams put it to work with Sales Enablement.

Share

Free workspace

Turn your Retail expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

Designed for retail leaders and lovers alike, Retail Refined explores the in-store technology of the future, challenges the industry’s preconceived notions, and brings together retail’s biggest names to understand the brand strategies that will define the next decade in retail.

The pandemic’s impact on retail was so disruptive. It changed the industry forever, and a big part of this is the associate model. As retailers lean into technology, they’ve learned it can be the most significant component of agility around workforce management. To discuss the topic, Retail Refined host Melissa Gonzalez spoke with John Orr, Senior Vice President of Retail at Ceridian, an HCM (human capital management) platform that combines workforce, talent, and payroll management in one.

Orr said of his career, “I’ve spent 30 years working with retailers to provide technology that adds value, both to the bottom line and empowers associates.”

The challenges that retailers are facing complex. COVID-19 was a catalyst for retail to examine their ability to respond and be agile. That prompted them to consolidate and streamline technology, seeking visibility in a more real-time nature.

“Sephora had a specialist model for associates. With fewer people in-store, their operational model changed to generalists. That triggered new training on procedures and their role, delivered by our LMS.” – John Orr

Orr noted that “employee engagement was often overlooked before the pandemic.” He now believes executives get it. “Around 75 percent of them view customer-facing employees as having a strong impact on sales, productivity, and profitability.”

Ceridian designed its Dayforce app to disrupt traditional barriers for retailers, getting rid of legacy designs that prevented them from moving faster. “They can make decisions quicker, have single access to accurate information, and stay compliant,” Orr added.

The app introduced some new features during COVID to engage employees, including on-demand pay and health and safety monitoring. “Last year, we focused on what do our customers need right now,” Orr said on changing product roadmaps.

Orr provided some success stories of retailers leveraging Ceridian’s technology, including DSW and Sephora. “Sephora had a specialist model for associates. With fewer people in-store, their operational model changed to generalists. That triggered new training on procedures and their role, delivered by our LMS.”

Listen to Previous Episodes of Retail Refined Right Here!

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Retail starts with a company putting its merchandising leads, store operations teams, and category managers on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Category buyers trust operators, so your merchandising leads shorten the distance between first search and first call.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Retail, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Retail: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Retail buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Retail expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your merchandising leads, store operations teams, and category managers into the articles, video, and social content Retail buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Retail Insights

Grocers matching store prices on Instacart grew 10 points faster, Instacart says

Grocers matching store prices on Instacart grew 10 points faster, Instacart says

Instacart says it named five grocers as "among" this year’s no-markup adopters, including Grocery Outlet. Using its internal data through Q2 2026, Instacart reports no-markup retailers grew 10 percentage points faster than those charging a markup. Participating grocers also get placement in a dedicated in-app "no markups" tab.

  • 01On Instacart, matching store prices earns a yellow banner and placement in a filtered "no markups" tab; Instacart’s internal data through Q2 2026 shows no-markup retailers grew 10 percentage points faster than those charging a markup.
  • 02The 10-point gap compares grocers that chose parity with grocers that didn't, so it can't separate the effect of pricing from the kind of retailer that opts in first. The sharper question is how retailers with similar baskets fared before and after they switched.
  • 03Parity covers item prices only. Service fees still apply, so the app price-to-shelf-tag comparison evens out while convenience charges remain their own line on the receipt.

Sep 26, 2026

Suja's CEO says wellness drinks win in produce, not center store

Suja's CEO says wellness drinks win in produce, not center store

Suja Life CEO Maria Stipp argues better-for-you beverages win or lose based on store placement, with the produce department offering an advantage over crowded center aisles by signaling freshness alongside organic produce. She pairs this with packaging guardrails around organic, low sugar and function, plus a commitment of roughly 10% of net revenue to full-funnel marketing aimed at building trust.

  • 01Suja’s cold-pressed, HPP-treated juices can move from partner farms to shelf in eight days, a cadence Stipp says matches how produce buyers operate.
  • 02Average retailer carries low-teens SKUs despite 37,000 retail locations and 400,000+ distribution points; closing the SKU gap in existing accounts is the priority over new logos
  • 03Suja allocates roughly 10% of net revenue to full-funnel marketing—unusual in the next-gen category—to drive awareness and conversion through omnichannel tools

Sep 23, 2026

Deloitte: Holiday e-commerce to reach up to $319B in 2026–27

Deloitte: Holiday e-commerce to reach up to $319B in 2026–27

Deloitte forecasts U.S. holiday e-commerce of $316.1 billion to $318.9 billion for November 2026 through January 2027, up 7.5% to 8.4%. Total retail is projected to grow 4% to 4.8% to about $1.7 trillion. The faster online growth rate is a planning input for fulfillment staffing and site readiness.

  • 01Last season's total holiday sales grew 4.1% by Census Bureau count, above the 2.9% to 3.4% range Deloitte had forecast in fall 2025.
  • 02Deloitte's 2025 survey found 33% of U.S. consumers expected to use generative AI somewhere in their holiday shopping; product data quality now matters for machine readers as well as human ones.
  • 03Adobe's and Salesforce's holiday projections landed in late September and October last year, so the next two to six weeks should bring corroborating or conflicting numbers to plan against.

Sep 18, 2026

Explore More Retail Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Retail.

Browse Retail Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Retail and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512