Uber of X: Retail Freelancers On Demand Via AllWork

Hiring the right candidate for the job can be a difficult task in almost any industry. Narrowing down the hundreds of applications and resumes to find the top five to ten for interviewing can be exhausting all on its own, prior to the interviewing process.

One of the industries that is likely the most difficult to vet for employees is retail. From Macy’s to J.C. Penneys and more, brick-and-mortar locations are being reduced to help offset the consumers drawn to more online shopping. As such, retailers’ staffing needs are likely to fluctuate as the industry navigates itself for the foreseeable future.

To help out with these tough socioeconomic times, there is a company that’s working to alleviate stress by providing a seamless hiring system for retailers. AllWork‘s sole purpose is to help locate, vet, manage and pay workers on the retail floor. We sat down with AllWork’s CEO, Glenn Laumeister, to learn more about how the company came to be, the service it’s providing and what it hopes for the future.

PYMNTS: What’s the story behind how AllWork started?

GL: AllWork’s co-founder Scott Gurfein owned a consumer brand, and in order to sell his products at retail, he needed to quickly deploy his own sale talent into stores. There was no simple way to do that and no technology to manage it all. So, he built a software platform to help him manage and pay his remote team.

PYMNTS: In your own words, what is AllWork about?

GL: AllWork is the easiest way for brands and retailers to find, manage and pay their in-store freelancer talent. Our advanced job-matching system saves time and money during the recruiting process by allowing both talent and brands to find each other. AllWork’s enterprise software handles all day-to-day talent management including timesheets, scheduling, communication, training, education, sales reporting and more. When it comes to paying staff, our platform offloads the legal and administrative burden that can be associated with paying large remote teams of freelancers. Altogether, we are the only end-to-end solution for retail staffing.

PYMNTS: How does the pricing model work, and how does AllWork get paid?

GL: We’re an enterprise SaaS platform, so we charge clients a fee to use our platform and services. We never charge freelancers — all of the fees are paid by our large enterprise clients.

PYMNTS: Who does AllWork see as its competition, if any, and why?

GL: We consider AllWork to be in the “second wave” of freelancer platforms (the first being UpWork, TaskRabbit and other marketplaces that focus only on short-term projects); this “second wave” is focused on helping enterprises leverage freelancer talent strategically for their long-term staffing needs. AllWork is the only one to provide a complete retail-focused solution for in-store talent management.

PYMNTS: Since its inception, how much has AllWork grown year over year or since it was launched? Does it have any further projections for where it hopes to grow within the next few years?

GL: We’re growing tremendously month over month in terms of both the talent on the platform and our clients. We attribute this growth to the recognition by brands and retailers that they need to figure out a way to access the large number of freelancers that exist today in our economy and create a more agile and reliable on-demand staffing process.

PYMNTS: How many rounds of funding has AllWork received?

GL: As with any high-growth company, we raise venture capital to fund our growth and product development.

PYMNTS: What does the term “Uber of X” mean to you, and how does AllWork fit that mold?

GL: Imagine a brand or retailer being able to fill an open position in a store with the same efficiency of calling an Uber. The implications for the retail industry are enormous and extremely timely.

The future of retail is evolving, and the brands and retailers that will be successful are the ones who understand how to create a meaningful experience in the stores. While some retailers are struggling or downsizing, others like Ulta, Sephora, and Apple Stores are thriving and expanding because they provide customers with an experience they can’t get online.

PYMNTS: As most startups have their fair share of hiccups, can you share a few lessons-learned anecdotes?

GL: What we’ve learned is to build our software after working closely with our clients to really understand what they need before we start to build a feature. Often, we see companies build software based on what they think is valuable instead of what customers truly will use.

PYMNTS: What are AllWork’s 2017 goals?

GL: Our first goal in 2017 is adding to our sales team and increasing our marketing efforts. We want to get the word out! When we find clients, they are so excited by what we’re doing. We want the retail industry to know we’re here to help them.