PerkSpot

We wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of our clients, merchants, users, etc. a happy holiday season. Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, or another holiday, we hope that you are able to spend quality time with friends and family and enjoy the freedom we have to celebrate these significant holidays.

2007 has been a very good year for PerkSpot and we have a lot to be thankful for as we celebrate the holidays. We had a very busy and fruitful year as we:

- made key additions to our management team;
- substantially enhanced the technology that powers our employee discount programs;
- increased the breadth of discounts offered through our service; and
- launched employee discount programs with a number of Fortune 500 businesses,
   including the world’s fourth largest company

We are looking forward to 2008 and building on the positive momentum we have established over the course of the year.

This holiday season, many merchants and suppliers will offer discounts on goods and services to employees of large corporations through employee discount programs. But the human resources professionals who manage these discount programs are inevitably overburdened with year-end tasks, such as performance reviews, that take priority over less urgent tasks like coordinating merchant discounts. Before long, human resources professionals do not have the time or the resources available to effectively administer the corporation’s employee discount program.

As a result, all parties involved lose out:
- HR professionals are further burdened with an ever-expanding to do list
- Employees fail to save money on holiday purchases being unaware of the discounts
   available to them
- Merchants fail to generate the additional sales that could be made during the holiday
   season

However, outsourcing the management of the corporation’s employee discount program to PerkSpot can address these needs:
- HR professionals handle fewer responsibilities by not having to manage the
   participating and prospective merchants
- Employees save money as they become aware of the discounts available to them
- Merchants generate additional holiday sales through increased exposure to interested
   employees

Online retailers saw a strong start to their holiday shopping season. Black Friday, the Friday following Thanksgiving and one of the busiest shopping days of the year, saw consumers spend $531 million at online retailers, up 22% over last year, according to comScore. comScore is also estimating that sales on Cyber Monday, typically the busiest online shopping day of the year, surpassed $700 million.

At PerkSpot, we have seen a spike in activity as employees are taking advantage of the discounts available to them. Employee discount programs are a great way for employers to help employees save time and money, especially during the holiday season.

Below are a couple of our most popular holiday offers. Please feel free to take advantage of the coupons/discounts and see how your employees can also save money.

Save 10% when you shop online for all of your favorite brands at Target.com. Plus, check Target’s website to see how you can also take advantage of their current free shipping offers.

T-Mobile & PerkSpot have teamed to bring you a number of great deals for the holidays. Take advantage of an offer for T-Mobile’s BlackBerry 8700 for $0 upfront and $50 cash back after mail-in rebate; now with a free Bluetooth headset.

Receive 15% off your purchase from FTD, offering bouquets perfect for the holiday season.

Save 2 to 12% when shopping through Dell’s Employee Purchase Program.

Save $17.50 when you purchase a $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate for only $7.50. Redeem at both local and national restaurants.

November and December are peak activity months for employee discount programs as employees look to take advantage of valuable discounts to save money on their holiday shopping. PerkSpot works with retailers who recognize the value in marketing their product or service through our employee discount programs and are want to ensure they meet their sales goals for the 4th quarter. By offering the PerkSpot service, our clients provide their employees with a valuable benefit that will help stretch employee payroll dollars with money-saving discounts on popular consumer goods and services.

The keys to the success of the PerkSpot employee discount programs are both negotiating valuable discounts and effectively communicating the discounts among employees. We work with our clients to develop communications pieces that raise program awareness among employees and adhere to the communications policies set in place by the employers.

If you are an employer interested in offering PerkSpot to your employees in time for the holidays, time is running out. Please contact Branden Smythe at 312.238.9013 or bsmythe [at] perkspot [dot] com.

Stay tuned for posts in the upcoming days with tips on how you can save this holiday season.

In an effort to better serve our clients and more effectively communicate the value of our employee discount programs, we have decided to enhance the form and functionality of our website.

Among the many changes to our site, we have created a blog to communicate PerkSpot news, provide commentary on industry trends, and address questions from potential clients or merchants that warrant a public posting.

Why will you find our commentary on industry trends valuable?
PerkSpot has developed a domain expertise through the employee discount programs that we manage. We work very closely with human resource departments to administer the programs as well as merchants offering discounts on their goods or services. We maintain an impressive list of clients and merchants including CDW, Chevron, and AirTran on the client side, and Target, Dell, Disney, Barnes & Noble, and HP on the merchant side.

So let me be the first to personally introduce you to the PerkSpot blog! Please check back often for updates and let us know what you think of our new site.