Will checkout elves make Walmart’s customers merrier this Christmas?

Walmart is introducing a new “Holiday Helpers” in-store position this season focused largely on solving and reducing stress around checkout bottlenecks. “Decked out in bright yellow vests, jingling hats and a colorful satchel full of goodies, our Holiday Helpers will be stationed near the registers to provide an extra fast, friendly checkout experience,” Walmart said in its blog. Carrying “S'no line here!” signs, Holiday Helpers will guide shoppers to an available cashier, open an extra register or fetch a forgotten item so customers don’t lose their place in line. “The Holiday Helpers are actually a great combination of a little bit of retail-tainment to bring fun back into the store, and it serves an incredibly practical purpose,” Walmart U.S. COO Judith McKenna told Fortune last week at a press briefing in Teterboro, NJ. “That’s the #1 thing that customers told us; they want faster checkout.” The Holiday Helpers will arrive in stores beginning Nov. 4 in various numbers depending on the size and volume of each location, and they’re expected to be more available during busy times. In a related move, Walmart will add a department manager to each store's pickup area. Staffers in those areas will also have handheld devices for non-register checkouts. In-store pickup during the holiday season is roughly five times the volume seen in a normal week. In the second quarter, Walmart reported its eighth consecutive quarter of same-store gain that’s being at least partly attributed to investments in worker wages and taking other steps to improve its customer satisfaction scores.

• As the holidays grow nearer, our shopping lists begin to lengthen. – Walmart
• Walmart Unveils Holiday Plans: Invests in Pickup, Introduces Holiday Helpers – Walmart
• Walmart Will Deploy Thousands of 'Holiday Helpers' to Shorten Checkout Wait Times – Fortune
• Walmart shoppers will have plenty of helpers this holiday season – USA Today