Evolution at a glance: Incarnations of an employee benefits site

You don’t get to be market leader by standing still. Over the last 4 years, Asperity has re-invented its Reward Gateway employee benefits platform no less than 6 times – making it clear that an employee benefits site with genuine discounts and savings for the employee was in demand. With three total re-builds from the ground up, customers are buying a highly refined product and one that includes a great deal of knowledge and experience. With Reward Gateway 4, announced last month, Asperity has done it again.

AUGUST 2006
PILOT: BBC CLUB CASHBACK
Four years ago, a new breed of employee discount schemes was born. The first employer-funded (rather than retailer-funded) employee discounts website was an instant hit with the BBC employees, making it clear that an employee benefits with genuine discounts and savings for the employee was in demand.

JANUARY 2007
REWARD GATEWAY 1.0
The first multi-site version of Reward Gateway launched as a clean, easy-to-use site with the benchmark retailer offers brought to the fore. Employer branding could be enabled for the first time. Retailer offers were in the form of Cashback and discounts only – but even so, the site was head and shoulders above the rest of the market with higher Cashback rates thanks to the retailer-funded model.

AUGUST 2007
REWARD GATEWAY 2
Half a year later, and the site is relaunched with bigger, better and more offers and more engaging graphics and promotions (based on the best offers, rather than retailer-paid promotions).

Discounted gift vouchers were added as a product – allowing savings on high street shopping. This enabled less internet-savvy employees – and those with limited internet access – to reap the benefits of their discount site, boosting engagement across all client schemes.

SEPTEMBER 2008
REWARD GATEWAY 3
A full rebuild of the site was completed a year later. This was the first version of Reward Gateway that enabled the integration of other voluntary benefits (e.g. childcare vouchers, cycle to work) into the scheme website which would result in higher employee engagement, the ability to create a ‘benefits brand’ and a one-stop-shop for employees to access their benefits.

This was another industry first, and Reward Gateway remains the only fully integrated voluntary benefits platform with integrated Cashback and integrated reloadable cards on the market today.

SEPTEMBER 2009
REWARD GATEWAY 3.8
An upgrade – rather than a rebuild – a year later gave employees the ability to fully customise their homepage so they could see the categories and offers most relevant to them as soon as they logged in.

Google Maps was introduced to help users find in-store offers easily and therefore further engage the offline audience.

These two innovations caused employee engagement to jump by 30% across client schemes.

NOVEMBER 2010
REWARD GATEWAY 4
The biggest development project Asperity has ever undertaken – Reward Gateway 4 redefines flexible benefits for everyone. The team started with the discount product and added all of the features people had asked for. From price comparison to product search, iPhone apps and super-fast Cashback, it’s exactly what you should expect from the leader in employer benefits. A lot of hard work enabled the team to leverage £150 million of retail spend – more than any other provider in the market – to make a system that revolves around the employee rather than the retailer. With fully integrated salary sacrifice, total reward statements, holiday trading and even a fully integrated reward and recognition platform, Reward Gateway 4 really is flexible benefits for everyone.