10 types of employee discounts for your scheme
There are countless different types of employee discounts you can offer under the framework of an employee discount scheme. Naturally, the best schemes have the best and biggest variety of discounts!
At Perkbox, we strongly believe that employees should have access to a wide variety of discount options under a scheme. This is because every employee has a different lifestyle with different needs, so being able to choose the discounts that are most meaningful and impactful to them is important.
Additionally, discounts aren’t all about financial savings. Everyone loves saving a bit of money, but discounts can provide more than that. Perkbox offers different discount themes, which all impact different parts of people’s lives and overall wellbeing. Our three main discount themes are:
- Financial wellbeing
- Emotional wellbeing
- Physical wellbeing
We offer thousands of different discounts with our perks platform. They fall under many different categories and are always changing and being added to. In order to give you an idea of some of the types of employee discounts you can offer with an employee discount scheme, we’ve broken down ten of the top categories below.
1. Clothing and accessories
First of all, one of the main types of discounts offered through schemes is clothing and accessories discounts. It’s also one of the most popular!
When employees get access to clothing and accessory discounts, they usually receive anywhere between 5-20% off their purchases at a specific shop. They also sometimes receive additional freebies or access to special promotions.
Clothing and accessory discounts are popular for a couple of reasons. While it’s great to save a little money when buying a new outfit you’ve had your eye on, many people find ways to make these kinds of discounts go even further. They use them to buy clothing, shoes and accessories for their families as well. Those savings certainly add up over time.
The best employee discount schemes offer discounts for clothing and accessories stores that are well-known and have wide selections. Perkbox offers discounts for Asos and Debenhams and people save an average of 9% on clothing overall.
2. Supermarkets
Another popular kind of employee discount is for supermarkets. The practicality of this type of discount is what really makes it stand out.
Supermarket discounts are great perks to offer your employees because of their universality. People do a grocery shop on a regular basis - supermarket bills are a staple of most people’s budgets - so savings really add up over the course of a year.
Perkbox users save an average of 6% on their grocery shopping and supermarket expenses at big names like M&S, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco.
3. Cinemas & entertainment
Discounts for cinemas and other entertainment venues are also highly popular types of employee discounts. Many people enjoy unwinding by watching a film. In fact, a 2017 Attest study showed that 49% of people in the UK go to the cinema at least once per month.
Many employees really appreciate discounts to cinemas and entertainment venues because they make for great outings with family or friends over the weekend, or on special occasions.
By offering these types of employee discounts, you’re contributing to an activity that’ll help them destress, unwind, and enjoy themselves in their leisure time.
4. Gyms & fitness centres
Discounts at gyms and fitness centres are another great perk you can offer to your employees. Not only will you help them save money on their monthly memberships, but you’ll also be investing in their physical and mental wellbeing. After all, physical health and mental health are intrinsically connected.
You can also get a lot of bang for your buck when you’re offering employees discounts at gyms and fitness centers. Perkbox users save a whopping average of 28% in the gym and health perk category, which is an impressive total. With our perks platform, we offer discounts at places like Anytime Fitness and Sportsdirect.com.
5. Holidays & travel
Travel-related discounts can help your employees enjoy their well-deserved time off to an even greater extent. They can apply to everything from travel packages to accommodation to transportation. These discounts really help during busy travel seasons when prices are higher than usual.
Employee discounts related to holidays and travel repeatedly top lists about the kinds of perks employees really want. In fact, they were listed as top ten most-wanted benefits for both Millennials and Generation Xers in a comprehensive Perkbox report.
6. Bars & restaurants
Discount schemes also allow employees to save big while dining out. This is an attractive kind of perk because it allows people to enjoy nice evenings out, perhaps even a little bit more frequently than they would otherwise.
In 2019, Statista found that 34.15% of United Kingdom residents dined out a few times per month, while another 39.48% dined out once per month.
Eating out discounts also add up fast. Tellingly, Perkbox users save 20% dining out on average. Some of the places we offer bar and restaurant discounts are Bill’s, Pizza Hut, and Zizzi.
7. Food delivery & takeaway services
Food delivery and takeaway services have skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years due to people’s busy lifestyles and innovations within the industry. If people aren’t relaxing over a meal out on the weekend, they’ll likely be ordering in or picking up a takeaway.
This rise in popularity makes food delivery and takeaway discounts increasingly attractive perks to offer to employees. Employee discount schemes usually offer between 5-15% off eligible food delivery and takeaway services.
Perkbox offers users discounts to well-known food delivery services like Deliveroo, JustEat, and UberEats.
8. Technology & electronics
Although you won’t find them offered through every scheme, discounts at technology and electronics stores are great perks to offer employees. Electronics have become fundamental parts of our day to day lives, and they can be used for both professional and recreational purposes.
Additionally, since electronics like computers, mobile phones, and televisions are on the expensive side, even a relatively low discount will go a long way.
Perkbox users save an average of 20% on mobile phones and electronics, which can lead to some seriously deep savings. We offer discounts at places like Samsung, Lenovo, and EE.
9. Online retailers
When it comes to employee discounts, choice is extremely important. As we’ve discussed, different people have different lifestyles and needs, so it’s important to give them access to discounts and perks that they’ll truly benefit from.
While choosing a discount scheme, it’s important to be mindful of your team’s needs, interests and demographics.
While offering different categories of discounts is one way to provide this variety, online retailer discounts can achieve the same thing. Offering an employee discount to a large online retailer like Amazon is a great choice because of the limitless shopping choices your team will get.
10. Home & garden
Last but not least, discounts to home and garden stores make great additions to any employee discount scheme. Everyone’s had the experience of decorating a new home or refreshing an existing space and having the associated costs add up fast. Home and garden discounts can certainly take the edge off that kind of spending.
When you consider the rise of remote working, it becomes even more important for people to invest in their home spaces, so they can work there comfortably.
At Perkbox, we offer discounts to B&Q as part of our perks platform.
Something for everyone
All in all, there’s a huge variety of discounts you can offer through employee discount schemes like Perkbox. This article provides an overview of some of the most popular types of discounts at the moment, but there are many more possibilities out there.
Regardless of your industry, company size and employee interests, employee discount schemes have something for everyone. There’s no doubt you’ll be able to find a perfect combination of discount types that’ll make everyone on your team happy.