Employees looking to employers for support on groceries 

Research, based on the platform’s 80,000 UK users, reveals supermarket reward redemptions increased by over a quarter (27%) between February 2022 and February 2023.

Proprietary data shows Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco reward redemptions by its users has increased by over a quarter (27%) between February 2022 and February 2023.

Comparing the number of redemptions for three of the UK’s largest supermarkets, the findings show that Asda redemptions rose by 32%; Sainsbury’s redemptions increased by 31%; and, Tesco redemptions increased by 18%. 

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The research highlights the extent to which employees are relying on their employer to support with household expenditure including groceries.
 
Perkbox, a global rewards and benefits platform, has supported its findings with a survey of over 2,000 UK workers to show how the impact higher costs are having on worker wellbeing.

Over a third (38%) of workers are spending over a quarter of their monthly income on food shopping, the survey showed.
 
Additionally, over a quarter (26%) of employees have been severely affected by the increase in food prices. When it comes to the impact of financial pressure on employee morale, the research found 22% are worried about their ability to pay their bills and other life expenses because they’re spending more on food shopping. 

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Gautam Sahgal, CEO of Perkbox, said: “Our data clearly shows the impact of rising food prices, which are pushing employees to the limit and impacting their ability to cover their basic costs. This further emphasises how important the role is of employers in supporting their workforce through times of economic difficulty.”

“There are many ways businesses can do this outside of obvious solutions such as salary increases, including a specialised rewards and benefits programme to celebrate great achievements, values and milestones.

"The key here is to ensure employees have the freedom to choose the rewards that provide the greatest benefit to them and their individual circumstances. Businesses that adapt to the needs of their workforce, particularly during economic uncertainty, will find they can beat the competition in the battle to attract and retain the best talent.”

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