Bargain Hunt finds extreme value in a single system

Everyone loves a bargain. Whether you are a couponer who scours flyers for the best deals, or you frequent discount and thrift stores to search for treasures amongst their weekly shipments – the thrill of getting a good deal is universal, and something that Bargain Hunt is proud to offer its customers.

Bargain Hunt is an extreme value retailer based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company specializes in “secondary inventory,” which is unwanted inventory from other retailers and manufacturers.

Visit one of Bargain Hunt’s 90 store across 10 states, and you will find everything from pool toys, to designer brand shoes, and even furniture and large appliances. All the merchandise that ends up in Bargain Hunt stores is processed through one of its two warehouses – which boast 560,000 square feet of merchandise being sorted, priced, and packaged for shipping. 

Bargain Hunt employs 2,100 people, and its workforce is expanding rapidly to meet the company’s growing needs.

“A few years ago, we had 36 stores. Now, we are at 90 stores, and we're looking to grow to 250 stores in the next three to five years,” explains David Wachsman, CEO of Bargain Hunt.

Growing pains

The fast-paced growth that the company has experienced has led to a number of HR priorities to keep up with its expansion.

“When you grow this fast and you have a widely distributed labor force, making sure that you have a platform to not only organize all that data, but ensure that we have the proper incentives and motivations in place becomes paramount,” says Wachsman.

To complicate matters, finding and retaining top talent has become more challenging than ever in the retail industry. “We believe there's a war for talent in retail right now,” Wachsman explains. “As companies grow, they've been increasing their pay to above minimum wage in order to get talent into their stores.”

Bargain Hunt also faces the challenge of staffing stores that vary in size and workforce needs.

“None of our stores are the same. This can create problems when management is trying to figure out what scheduling, budgeting, and labor hours need to look like at each location – it varies,” says Johnice McGee, Bargain Hunt’s HR Manager.

Driving the top-line

When Bargain Hunt partnered with Dayforce in 2016, the retailer had a vision to leverage the platform through the entire employee lifecycle – from hire to retire. Bargain Hunt uses Dayforce Recruiting, Onboarding, Payroll, Workforce Management, Benefits, and is currently working to implement Performance, Compensation and Learning. “Dayforce has enabled us to have a one-stop shop when it comes to managing our workforce,” says McGee.

With all its workforce and payroll data in one spot and accessible from anywhere, Bargain Hunt is able to focus on attracting and retaining top talent. Dayforce links with the company’s external recruiting services, allowing it to pull in applicant information automatically and assign to store leaders for review. “Dayforce gives us an edge in the market. It streamlined our recruiting process tremendously. Before Dayforce, it was very hard to coordinate for so many locations,” says Samantha Cooper, Bargain Hunt’s Director of Human Resources.

Bargain Hunt has also streamlined scheduling and labor planning for its 90 stores with Dayforce. “The district leaders are now able to see schedules for all of their stores in one spot, without having to individually login to specific regions,” says Cooper. 

“For us, it comes down to driving revenue at the store level,” Wachsman adds. “Dayforce allows us to look at the hours required at each store in order to drive our top line and matches those hours to when people are shopping in the store – that has been a breakthrough for our company.”

With Dayforce, Bargain Hunt has been able to zone in on attrition rates, turnover rates, and hiring and training metrics that it didn't have before. With that data, the company has developed programs that are creating a better employee experience. “It costs us two to three times more to replace a great employee than to retain one, so it’s very important to us to not only onboard our employees properly but to also develop and engage with them. If we don't have motivated, well-trained people in our stores, we're not going to be successful,” says Wachsman. 

“The visibility that Dayforce gives us is priceless,” McGee adds. “We’re able to pull reports, see the data, and make decisions on how to move forward and improve.”

Extreme value

Right from the start, Bargain Hunt knew its partnership with Dayforce was going to be a success. “I've never gone through an implementation like I went through with Dayforce. I've been through a few, and I've never had one where the people were so willing to help. They were there for us 24/7, and that support has continued throughout the last two years,” says Cooper.

From an operational perspective, Bargain Hunt has also seen measurable results.

“A couple of years ago, we were at about 275% turnover. Within the last year, we've been able to get that down to 200%. There are a lot of ingredients that go into reducing turnover, and we feel that Dayforce was instrumental in this regard,” says Wachsman.

Bargain Hunt processes approximately 300 new hires a month, and Dayforce has helped the company to reduce its time to enter their information into the HR system by 66%. Dayforce Workforce Management has also helped managers reduce their time spent scheduling by 87%. Processing payroll used to take Bargain Hunt’s payroll manager four days, and with Dayforce it now takes 4 hours.

Cooper recounts another instance where Dayforce gave her time back: “For our 401(k) census that we run every year, we used to have to pull three different reports and merge them together in our old system. With Dayforce, I was able to contact Support, tell them exactly what I need to be able to run every year, and the report was created. I just recently completed the census for this year, and it took two days to pull all the information together, whereas before it took me three weeks. It's been a tremendous time saver.”

A transformative partnership

With the goal to expand to 250 stores in the next five years, Bargain Hunt needs a technology partner that can help it to scale its workforce accordingly.

“We are in a transformation stage, and Dayforce has been right there with us making sure that our transformation is as easy as possible,” McGee explains. “The relationship between Bargain Hunt and Dayforce is like a fine wine – it will only get better with age. With Dayforce, the possibilities are endless. As our workforce continues to transform, we know that Dayforce will be right there with us, making sure that the platform is transforming as well.”