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Employee Discount Schemes are a great addition to any company’s employee benefits package. Such benefits help show your employees that they’re valued and that you want to support their financial wellbeing.
There has never been a better time to implement one either. The cost of living is still affecting people in the UK, with many having to make their income stretch further each month. A discount scheme is an appealing benefit as a result.
But how much does an employee discount scheme cost? We’ve put together this guide to help you understand exactly what a discount scheme is and how much it costs to implement one.
An Employee Discount Scheme helps your staff to save money. It can give them buying power on everyday purchases across a wide range of retailers.
Companies can partner with specific brands to offer discounts. With this approach, you need to be confident that the retailer is desirable in the eyes of your staff. You also need the time and resources to set everything up.
Alternatively, you can join an online employee discounts platform. This is the most popular option. It gives your employees access to unbeatable savings that can be used online or in store.
Online platforms offer a much wider range of retailers. This can be an advantage for your employees, as there are savings for everyone. It doesn’t matter their age or everyday preferences, there’s a saving to be had on almost everything.
Categories Of Retailers | |
|---|---|
🛒 Supermarkets | Most big chains including Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, M&S, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland. |
👖 Fashion | Hundreds of high street retailers like ASOS, Nike, Debenhams, Go Outdoors, Selfridges, H&M and more. |
🎭 Entertainment | All major cinemas, theatres, heritage sites and experience day companies. |
🏠 Home & garden | B&Q, Halfords, Hobbycraft, IKEA, Cherry Lane, Emma Bridgewater and many more. |
🍏 Health & wellbeing | Brands such as Boots, Decathlon, CyclePlan, etc. |
✈️ Travel | Providers like Virgin, Travelodge, Cottages.com, Railcard and JustPark. |
🍕 Eating out & takeaway | Everything from Just Eat and Graze to Costa and Pizza Express. |
💻 Technology | Retailers like Currys and Argos, as well as brands like Apple and Canon. |
It’s not always possible for employers to give pay raises or bonuses. An Employee Discount Scheme is a cost-effective way to help your employees make their salary go further.
There are many benefits to setting up a discount scheme for your workforce. First and foremost, your staff get access to great discounts and savings from leading retailers such as those listed below.
Providing employee discounts on everyday costs not only helps your workforce to save money but can also:
Employee discount programmes aren’t just beneficial for your staff – they offer significant benefits for you as an employer too:
Discount schemes, as part of a comprehensive employee benefits package, help show your employees that the company they work for cares about their overall wellbeing. When staff feel valued at work, this has a great knock on effect on workplace productivity, morale, and satisfaction.
Nadeem Farid
Head Of Health & Wellbeing Benefits
It’s clear that discount schemes have a lot to offer to you and employees. So, how much will it cost your business to implement a scheme? Below are the potential costs you need to be aware of before setting one up.
Employee discount schemes have no set-up costs for employers, making them an affordable benefit to provide to your staff.
Once you’ve found the right scheme provider, all you need to do is let them know you want to go ahead and they will do the rest for you. Setting up an employee discounts portal is straightforward and can be done relatively quickly, which is why there are no traditional set up fees like other benefits.
While employee discount schemes are among the simpler benefits to set up, they can still come with their own set of challenges. Finding the right platform for your workforce takes research, and can take a lot of time—something many employers simply don’t have. That’s where speaking to an employee benefits specialist, like one of the Drewberry team, can make all the difference. An adviser can help you find a scheme that fits your needs and budget, while also pointing out valuable features you might not have considered.
Though the cost of specialist advice can vary, it’s worth the investment. Not only can an adviser help you implement an effective discount scheme, but they can also guide you in optimising your entire benefits offering. This is more important that than ever, with 71% of UK employees saying they would leave their current job for better pay and benefits.
If you’re looking to set up an employee discounts programme for your staff, we’re here to help. Call 02074425880 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.
Joseph Toft
Senior Employee Benefits Consultant
Employee Discount Scheme providers charge companies a monthly fee for their discounts platform. This is normally on a per employee basis and can be as little as £5 per month, per employee.
However, the cost can vary depending on certain business-centric factors, such as:
The majority of discount platforms charge per employee, per month. If you’re a small business with five employees, for example, and the scheme charges £5 per person, you’ll pay £25 a month for your staff to access the platform.
The more employees you have, the higher your monthly subscription fees. That said, it’s still one of the more affordable options for companies.
Another influencing factor is how many discounts are available to staff. If you’ve got a tight budget and opt for a cheaper platform, it’s likely your workforce won’t receive as many discounts as another platform with higher monthly costs.
Some providers have several tiers to their Employee Discount Scheme. Choosing the top tier will offer more generous discounts, across a wider range of brands, but this will come at a higher cost. The more you’re willing to pay, the more generous the discounts.
Most Employee Discount Schemes are flexible and allow you to add extra benefits and rewards as and when you need to. Some even come with additional functionality, such as HR capabilities.
The benefits you opt for and the features you choose will all affect the price you pay. If all you want is a basic, no frills employee discount scheme, you’ll pay less than a full platform, such as My.Drewberry, with additional perks.
Discounts vary in value and some have higher savings than others. Regardless of their salary, staff members have the potential to save thousands of pounds a year.
Some supermarkets offer discounts of up to 7% as part of an Employee Discount Scheme. For a family of four (two adults and two children) that spend an average of £157 a week on food, could save £348 a year.
These figures are calculated using the savings calculator accessible through the discount scheme on My.Drewberry. When your employees start to make the most of all the discount types, their annual savings quickly increase. This can have a positive impact on your staff, helping them to save some cash and reduce money worries.
Discounts for other retailers can be even more generous than the typical 7% discount at supermarkets. For example, your employees could save up to 12% on dining out, up to 10% on fashion, and 10% on travel.
To help give you a better idea of the great savings your employees can get their hands on, here are some examples.
Example Savings | |
|---|---|
Retailer | Monthly Spend |
🛒 Food & Groceries | £600 |
🍔 Eating Out | £230 |
👖 Fashion | £170 |
🚘 Motoring & Fuel | £350 |
🍏 Health & Fitness | £60 |
🏡 Home, Garden, Pets & DIY | £100 |
🍿 Days Out & Experiences | £100 |
✈️ Travel | £250 |
💄 Beauty & Fragrance | £60 |
💐 Gifts & Flowers | £40 | Total Yearly Saving | £1,404 😮 |
There are many discount scheme providers available to businesses in the UK. Choosing the right one for your employees might not be the easiest decision to make, especially if you have a large number of employees.
Here are some useful tips on how to find the best employee discount scheme for your team:
When you’re looking for an Employee Discount Scheme that really works and offers great value, it’s important to keep costs in mind.
Typically, you can expect to spend around £5 per employee each month. If you want to offer more discounts and extra features, the price may rise, with some platforms charging up to £10 per employee per month. It all depends on how much variety and flexibility you want to provide for your team.
For the most cost-effective employee benefits, it’s smart to choose a flexible platform. This will give you the freedom to tailor your benefit based on your budget and requirements. You can then create a meaningful scheme that fits your business criteria.
A flexible scheme can allow you to make changes later down the line if, for example, your benefits budget changes and you want to add or remove discounts/features easily.
Joanne Jones
Consultant, Employee Benefits
To help you find the right discount scheme for your budget and your employees, we have listed some of the best providers below. When researching different providers, keep in mind what you want a scheme to offer, as well as the discounts your staff would use and find value in.
As specialists within the employee benefits landscape, we’ve helped many UK businesses to develop their employee benefits package. Our specialists have also helped many employers actually set them up from scratch.
Drewberry is a leading team of employee benefit consultants and we know the market inside out. This awards us with the ability to find you the best employee benefits for your company and its needs.
So, whether you just want to implement an Employee Discount Scheme or build a full flexible benefits package, we’re here to help. Call us on 02074425880 or email help@drewberry.co.uk for more information.
Employee benefits can be a headache. But our specialists do this day-in, day-out, offering first class service when you need it most. Here’s why you should talk to us:
