Shopping discounts the top employee benefit in 2023
New data analysis has found that shopping discounts were the most used employee benefit in 2023.
Analysis of user data for Engage – one of the UK’s top B2B mobile-based employee benefits and rewards apps provided by employer solutions expert HIVE360 – shows that downloads of shopping discounts for supermarkets, online and high street retailers surged in January and July last year, and accounted for 11% of the total annual total respectively.
The data also confirms an uptick in seasonal usage, with more than half of discounts downloaded in the second half of 2023 and in the run-up to Christmas, with the number of discounts accessed and downloaded doubling in November and December when compared to September and October.
Engage provides users with access to more than 900 discounts on everyday household food and essential items purchased and ordered using the app and its exclusive discounts for major supermarkets including Asda, Sainsbury, Argos, Tesco, Morrisons and Amazon.
As well as a sustained use of discounts for everyday shopping, the 2023 data shows a consistent use of all the training features available on Engage. The app provides access to online and mobile-based workplace training and employee development programs covering Health & Safety, HR and Business compliance, management development, and a range of soft skills. User numbers were at their highest for the year in March (14% of the annual total) and January (9%).
HIVE360’s analysis aims to delve into the trends and usage levels and numbers, to identify exactly what workers and employees with access to the range of support available via the app want, need, and use most.
Commenting on the findings, HIVE360’s Customer Experience Manager Claire Lidgbird says: “The effects of the high cost of living continued throughout 2023. The user data for the financial benefits accessed via our Engage employee benefits app suggest that growing numbers of workers are feeling the pinch and actively looking for and using financial savings on everyday purchases in particular, and that those lucky enough to have these kinds of discounts and savings available to them, are using them more and more.
“Engage offers a whole host of employee benefits and well-being services all completely free for the workers to use and all in one centralised app,” she explains. “Our analysis of the 2023 usage data provides insights that can guide the specific kind of additional support employees want from their employers and their perks and benefits schemes. Our findings echo other data and research – including the Gympass second annual State of Work-Life Wellness Report – that confirm that unsurprisingly financial support and wellbeing continues to top the list of the support workers want at.”
The Gympass second annual State of Work-Life Wellness Report also sheds light on the growing significance of employee wellbeing, with one of the key findings of the Report being that 88% of UK employees say wellbeing is more important than salary.
David McCormack, CEO of HIVE360, adds: “Employee benefits are a significant and cost neutral solution that employers can use to provide their workforce with tangible financial support. They have the potential to play a huge role in enhancing an employee’s life, both at and away from work, and enhance employee engagement, recruitment and retention strategies, and worker and business productivity levels too.”
HIVE360’s Engage employee benefits and rewards platform can be fully branded for clients, and is supported by a dedicated engagement team who work hard to optimise engagement of the app to well over 80% for all clients. Engage is available in 120 languages, collates payslips, contracts, pension tracking, 24/7 access to a GP, and includes My Training, My Health, My Money, My Discounts, and My Work features. HIVE360 also offers a free payslip audit via its partner SafeRec.
HIVE360 is an employment solution expert, that is focused on adding value to its client’s businesses, and looking after their people and workers. As a specialist, expert outsourced employment services and administration partner, HIVE360 provides effective outsourced employment administration and PAYE HMRC compliant payroll, and employee engagement and employee benefits solutions. The company works with owner-managed, privately-owned and medium-sized (150-plus employees/workers) businesses, as well as recruitment businesses and agencies, their workforce and candidates. By tackling the challenge to attract, engage and retain the best talent, HIVE360 strives to help its clients become employers and recruiters of choice by giving them a strong employment offering in the market. More information: https://www.hive360.com/payroll-pension-perks/