Has it happened in your workplace yet? The arrival of the smug-employee, complete with wrapped gifts and a pocketful of money ready to spend on themselves on Black Friday! According to new research, employees started shopping for Christmas savings very early this year according to figures by LifeWorks’ Financial Wellness team, with shopping across its Perks & Savings in October up 32% on the same month last year. However, the company is expecting to break records this month with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. A recent poll of LifeWorks’ customers showed that 73% are planning to spend this Black Friday and Cyber Monday (24th & 27th November). Last year they were the busiest and highest spend days of the whole year up by 113% and 135% respectively on the average. Gift card purchases on the up Says James Cartlidge, UK Partnerships Director, “Black Friday is now the UK’s biggest e-commerce day of the year and it is for us too. Although many have started shopping, we know many too are waiting for the large savings these dates bring. We’re seeing some savvy savings behaviour going on too; gift card purchases have increased by 70% as employees are buying early to double dip on the high street discounts, getting up to an additional 12% off.” Other busy shopping days will be the first three days of December, with another uplift on the 20th and 21st for those buying last minute. Boxing Day will be busy too, as employees take advantage of the holidays and sales. Popular retailers include Amazon, ASOS, Trainline and Boots, but Ebay is expected to take the Christmas number one spot. Household spend over £800 “The average household Christmas spend is over £800 and that’s on top of all other outgoings, so employees really appreciate the savings offered against the cost of festive food, fuel, travel, and gifts. Across shopping online, gift cards, restaurants, cinema and instant voucher codes, staff can save hundreds of pounds at this time of year. Indeed, over the course of a year, the average savings per employee is over £1,900, that’s equivalent to a 10% salary rise.” adds James. The survey revealed that 70.5% of employees believe all businesses should have workplace perks, but 71.8% of professionals are not receiving perks at work. With 62% saying workplace perks are a key factor in looking for a job and a large 12.6% who would turn down a job if the company didn’t offer work place perks; perks could be on the agenda for 2018 for savvy businesses and reward managers. Incentive and Motivation offers the latest news in employee benefits, rewards, incentive programmes and recognition. Discover the best employee engagement platform, learn about communicating your incentives or the latest tech in the HR space. Popular posts: Understanding motivation and incentives in the workplace How to align incentives with your business goals The importance of incentives Using incentives to win new business Creative rewards for employees Rewarding employees without cash How to reward employees for a job well done Rewarding in a global business Employee incentive program examples Post navigation Employers seeing benefits of employee health | Incentive&Motivation Employees ‘prioritise higher quality of life over salary’ | Incentive&Motivation
