/_Cropped%20Version/_Cropped%20SVGs/ZayZoon%20Logo-FC-Cropped-Slate%20text.svg)
/_Cropped%20Version/_Cropped%20SVGs/ZayZoon%20Logo-FC-Cropped-white%20text.svg)
.jpg?width=300&name=Gray%20America%201%202%20(2).jpg)
Country Fair cuts employee turnover by 22 percent with ZayZoon
How ZayZoon helps Semiramis Logistics LLC employees get to work
About Semiramis Logistics LLC
- Location: Virginia Beach, VA
- Industry: Amazon DSP/Logistics
- Employees: 50
Package deliveries are so pervasive we sometimes forget to consider who facilitates the delivery of these orders.
Major companies all over the world have logistics partners powering same-day delivery. Amazon, for example, has thousands of delivery service partners, with close to 300,000 drivers worldwide. Semiramis Logistics LLC in Virginia Beach, operated by Tameeka Holmes, is one of nearly 3000 in the U.S.
Holmes started her own DSP business in 2024 after years spent working in the industry at a different one. She currently has an average of 50 employees working for her. One issue Holmes found in the industry at large is that many drivers can’t afford the gas to get to work and drive their delivery trucks.
When considering what benefits to give her staff, Holmes was already familiar with earned wage access (EWA) and the advantages it provides employees before payday. To ensure she could run her business without any hiccups in payroll time management or figuring out wage advances, and to give her employees financial freedom and a safety net if they needed it, Holmes turned to ZayZoon.
Problem
For Holmes, issuing pay advances to her employees was both a time-consuming task and a potential loss for her new business.
“In previous roles my conversations with employees who wanted pay advances go, ‘Oh, well, you know, if you advance me this amount of money, then you know, you can take it out of my check over a certain amount of time.’ But a lot of times I understand nine times out of 10, we weren't going to get the money back,” Holmes explains.
Holmes wanted an easy financial solution that could both help her employees that would give her time, ensure employees had access to funding for emergency situations, and give them a benefit as an incentive to stay.
Solution
Holmes used ZayZoon in a prior role at an Amazon DSP, and says it was the only option for her new business.
“When I launched my business I immediately brought in ZayZoon because I've seen how beneficial it has been for drivers,” she explains. “There’s nothing worse than a driver saying they can't come to work and make $200 that day because they don't have $15 to put into their gas tank.”
ZayZoon works for Holmes because it was easy to set-up and integrate into her payroll provider. She can quickly check or confirm employee transactions without spending additional time digging deep into paperwork or documents to find the answers.
ZayZoon’s fast activation empowers her employees to manage their own financial needs without missing an opportunity for work.
“Having a safe space or a safety net in-between pay weeks is crucial,” she says.
In addition to ZayZoon’s instant access to earned wages, there’s education, perks, and discounts to round out an employee’s financial wellness benefits. “ZayZoon is a great opportunity for a lot of our drivers. They provide an education piece that makes it easy for me and for my team. I just say, ‘Hey, this is how you guys can go and learn more about a budget.’
Results
60%
Consistent employee usage of ZayZoon
85%
Employees have used ZayZoon at least once
250
Total hours saved on payroll processing
The no-news-is-good-news adage to be true: Holmes knows her employees consistently use ZayZoon for instant access to their wages when they need it without having to tell her.
New small business owners have to do so much to keep their operation afloat. With ZayZoon, Holmes knows her employees can get to work and she doesn’t have to sacrifice her time.
"Sitting down to do payroll every two weeks is already time-consuming," she says. "With ZayZoon, I don't have to calculate how much money I have to pull out of somebody's paycheck for an advance. My employees get to see upfront exactly how much they're taking out now and how much will be coming out of their regular paycheck."
About Country Fair
Country Fair is a convenience store chain with over 70 locations in three U.S. states. Its mission is “Country Fair Cares—For its Employees, its Customers, and its Community.”
To meet and surpass their company mission every day, Country Fair partnered with ZayZoon to address high turnover rates and offer the best benefits to its employees.
- Industry: Convenience
- Headquarters: Text
- Payroll platform: Text
- Number of employees: Text
Challenges
High turnover and financially stressed employees
The convenience store industry has notoriously high turnover rates. The National Association of Convenience Stores reported turnover rates for full-time and part-time employees in the industry averaged 141 percent in 2022.
Driving employee retention was a priority for Country Fair, whose customer-oriented mission was negatively impacted by the operational burdens caused by high turnover.
While Country Fair’s turnover rate was much lower than the industry standard, at close to 60 percent, the high costs associated with hiring and training new employees still presented the company with a challenge.
“We're always looking for ways to improve that turnover rate. We do that by finding vendor partners and offering products and services to our employees. This was just a really good opportunity for us to add something to our arsenal that we thought would help us retain folks.”
–Steve Seymour, Director of Personnel Training & Development, Country Fair
Financial stress among employees was another significant challenge, contributing to absenteeism and productivity issues. This is common for most workplaces today, as ZayZoon’s State of Employee Financial Wellness Report found that:
- 35% of employees are stressed about their finances daily
- 63% of employers said that financial stress negatively impacts employees’ performance at work.
Employees who experience financial stress are likely to not show up for work or have productivity issues during their shift. This affects the consistent and high-quality customer experience Country Fair strives to provide.
Country Fair needed a cost-effective solution that drove retention and supported employees’ financial wellness.
Our solution
Earned wage access (EWA)
To help decrease employee turnover rates and manage hiring and training costs, Country Fair worked with ZayZoon to introduce earned wage access (EWA) to its employees.
When considering competitors, ZayZoon’s people-driven product, no-cost-to-employer model, and quick and easy onboarding process was the obvious choice.
ZayZoon’s emphasis on employee well-being, with features like fee-free early wage access through gift cards and bonuses, aligned with Country Fair’s commitment to supporting its team members. This was a key factor for Country Fair in choosing ZayZoon over other EWA providers.
ZayZoon offers fee-free gift cards that encourage employees to get early access to their wages via bonuses for gas or groceries that actually give them more money than their regular paycheck.
“When we vetted other companies, they wanted to charge for this, that, and the other thing. But our employees love the idea of the gift card purchases, especially with the add-ons on the gift cards. I mean if you think about this a minute, a $100 Walmart card, maybe 110 because of a 10 percent advantage on that card, that's ten dollars that might be a dinner at somebody's house one night.”
–Steve Seymour, Director of Personnel Training & Development, Country Fair
Results
22% reduction in turnover with ZayZoon
The impact of ZayZoon’s partnership with Country Fair was immediate. A year-long analysis comparing Country Fair employees enrolled in ZayZoon compared to those who weren’t found remarkable results: employee turnover was 22 percent lower among employees who used ZayZoon.
This is a significant reduction in turnover, which directly contributes to better customer service offered by Country Fair. Reducing turnover means that Country Fair customers aren’t impacted by the gaps in customer experience that can sometimes occur during periods of hiring and training new employees.
Reduced turnover also reduces hiring and training costs, positively impacting Country Fair’s bottom line.
ZayZoon helps Country Fair employees manage their financial wellness
Country Fair integrated ZayZoon into their employee orientation, ensuring new hires were introduced to EWA on their first day of work. This process boosted adoption rates to 37 percent, helping over a third of their workforce access immediate financial support.
Country Fair employees found that access to ZayZoon’s EWA helped them manage financial emergencies. One employee’s car battery stopped working on his way to work—a nightmare in the tough winters of Erie, PA. Because this employee had access to ZayZoon’s pay on-demand, he received an immediate pay advance that helped him fix the issue and get to work.
Other employees didn’t have gas money for the week, but by using ZayZoon’s gift cards, they could make it to their shifts.
ZayZoon’s earned wage access helps Country Fair employees manage instances of financial stress, enabling them to be more present at work.
“I think [ZayZoon] helps our company in that [it helps] people to come to work," says Steve Seymour, Country Fair's Director of Personnel Training & Development. "Call-offs hurt in a convenience store because customer service is lost when you’re short-staffed. So for people to be able to get access to their pay to get fuel, a new battery, that’s kind of a big deal.”
Empower your employees with earned wage access
ZayZoon’s earned wage access made a difference for Country Fair because it provided a meaningful benefit that helped employees close gaps between paydays. By doing so, ZayZoon directly improved employees’ financial wellness and job satisfaction while decreasing costly turnover and absenteeism rates. It's a win-win for employers and employees!
If your organization is dealing with financially stressed employees or turnover and engagement issues, give your team an impactful solution with ZayZoon.
Contact us for a free demo with a real live person who can walk you through our seamless, payroll-embedded EWA solution today.
“You try to bring programs in and see how they do for your company. Some programs go by the wayside. I have a feeling [ZayZoon] is gonna stay a good while.”
–Steve Seymour, Director of Personnel Training & Development, Country Fair
