CINCINNATI, United States — Macy's Inc said on Wednesday it would hire 80,000 temporary workers to deal with extra customers shopping during the crucial holiday season.

The department store chain said 23,500 of its seasonal positions will be based in fulfilment centres to support online orders, a 31 percent increase over 2017.

Last year, the company had hired the same number of temporary workers, before adding 7,000 more in December. Seasonal hiring plans of retailers indicate their sales expectations for the holiday season, which starts a day after Thanksgiving and continues into early January, and accounts for nearly a third of their annual sales.

Macy's, like other department store operators, has been investing heavily on workforce and delivery services to lure shoppers and ward off stiff competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc.

By Uday Sampath; editor: Arun Koyyur.