KPMG has its Own Personalized Daily Deals

50,000 employees love the Perks at Work program

Several companies employing some of the largest workforces in our country have access to their own daily dealing web sites. KPMG for example employs over 150,000 worker bees that are able to take advantage of a Perks at Work program initiated by the company.

Cat Candela briefs new hires about the Perks at Work program on their first day. “It’s a cross between eBay and Groupon,” Candela said of the intranet site, which offers discounts for travel, clothing and restaurants. “You have to watch it like a hawk, though, because some of the deals fill up really fast. I use it on an as-needed basis,” Candela said. “Or when I’m like ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to have this because it’s just such a good deal.”

It sounds like Cat has enjoyed her Perks. In the 15 months Cat’s worked at KPMG, she has purchased discounted coupons for Nordstrom, Brooks Brothers, Starbucks, The Home Depot and 1-800-Flowers. Perks at Work makes the perfect gift. In December, Cat used the site to buy a gift from Omaha Steaks for her in-laws.

Candy Duncan, a managing partner at KPMG, says the company tries to provide a range of discounted fare, including electronics and child care. “We have great employees who work very hard, so we try to bring them good things in life when we can,” she said. “It was an opportunity to help our people look their best,” Candy said. “When you look good, you perform well.”

Corporate Perks are handled by Next Jump. Next Jump is based in New York and aggregates 25 million employees across 90,000 companies. That gives them some serious leverage. Next Jump calculates an average savings of $1400 per employee per year. Jim McGann, director of communications at KPMG, added that KPMG does not subsidize or pay for the discounts.

A more traditional approach to daily deals

The reality of daily deals is that they are an extension of a more traditional employee discount program. Daily Deal Media has discussed in numerous posts that daily deals are not new. It’s the web, group buying and social media that has caused the hysteria.

Last year, KPMG added partnerships with Ann Taylor and Men’s Warehouse. Employees even partook in the fashion shows and afterwards were rewarded with discounts as much as 50%. Suzanne McLaughlin, a senior manager at KPMG, bought several items after the fashion show. “Some people bought nothing and some bought a couple of things,” she said. “And a few girls, well, they probably bought their entire fall wardrobe that day.”

Even the larger retailers such as The Home Depot, Lowes, and Target offer similar employee discount programs. The fact still remains that many of the same employees that take advantage of their company’s own ‘daily deals’ are also members of the online daily dealers as well.

Source: The Washington Post