UK workers are using company benefits and perks schemes for discounts and cash savings on day-to-day spending at supermarkets, to help cope with the soaring cost of living.
Analysis by HIVE360 of the trends in user downloads from its employee benefits app Engage, shows that last month, around 30,000 shopping and mobile discounts for supermarkets including Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons were made.
The findings are in-step with reports that the record high cost of living has already hit more than three-quarters of UK households, as David McCormack, CEO of the outsourced PAYE payroll, employee benefits and engagement company HIVE360 explains:
“New data* from The Office of National Statistics (ONS) reveals that just over 83% of UK adults reported an increase in their cost of living in March.
“The impact of rising inflation is already hitting the financial resilience of the majority of households, and the situation is set to get harder as people feel the real financial impact of the steep hike in energy bills that took effect in April,” he says.
The Engage app has an average of 200,000 user sessions each month, with levels of user engagement topping 80%. Employees taking advantage of its discounts are saving between £70 and £247 per week.
“Employee benefits that deliver instant financial savings on the everyday essentials like food and household goods are what staff want and need more than ever, and employee benefits providers and employers themselves need to ensure employees have easy access to savings and discount that represent tangible financial help wherever possible,” David says.
“The key lies in creating an employee benefits programme that is in-tune with what workers want, available when they need it most.
The HIVE360 Engage app is provided as standard to businesses that outsource payroll and employment administration to the company. The app includes My Training, My Health, My Money, My Discounts and My Work features.
