GiftCard Partners Blog

The use of incentives in wellness programs continues to increase, rising to 87% this year, up from 77% two years ago. According to Optum's Fifth Annual Wellness in the Workplace Study, 90% of large employers now offer incentives. It comes as no surprise with employers seeing an increased urgency for results in employee engagement. The Workplace Study is based on 545 employers that offer wellness programs of one kind or another. 60% of employers participating in the survey have at least 3,000 employees, 20% having between 100 and 2,999, and 20% have fewer than 100. Here are some of the major highlights of the study:

Running low on shampoo, toothpaste, paper towels or cold medicine? Grab your free bag with purchase and start filling it up. CVS/pharmacy has announced a promotion for their ExtraCare Members giving them 30% off their purchase at all of their 7,800 store locations. All members have to do is go into their local CVS/pharmacy and scan their ExtraCare card at the ExtraCare Coupon Center and from now until May 26 they will receive a 30% coupon each week to use on more than 3,000 CVS/pharmacy exclusive items. In an article from Retailing Today, Cia Tucci, VP of store brands for CVS/pharmacy, said;

While we at GiftCard Partners are familiar with scrip fundraising, it occurred to us that many still don't know about this popular fundraising program. Scrip fundraising allows shoppers to purchase gift cards to hundreds of different retailers, not to mention many GiftCard Partners g
ift card brands, at full price and a portion of that payment will go towards their own organizations. The fundraising program works great for any school, church, team, club or non-profit.
So how does it work? Great Lakes Scrip lays out the process for you.
The Basics of a Scrip Program*

CVS Caremark, the parent company to CVS/pharmacy, recently
announced its acquisition of Navarro Discount Pharmacy. 
"The acquisition of Navarro will strengthen CVS/pharmacy's position in the Hispanic marketplace, the fastest growing demographic in the U.S., and we are excited to be adding the Navarro Discount Pharmacy brand to the CVS/pharmacy family," said Helena Foulkes, President, CVS/pharmacy. CVS/pharmacy continues to expand with this acquisition, adding to its now has 7,600 locations nationwide. Navarro customers will also benefit from the Minute Clinic services, bringing urgent health care services into new communities. CVS/pharmacy gift cards are now an even stronger brand to make available to your employees as part of a health and wellness initiative, or rewards through an employee recognition program. Gift cards are useful to employees in any denomination, large or small, which helps fit into an employer's budget for the remaining part of 2014, or as we all begin to look ahead to 2015 planning. With
four options to choose from, CVS/pharmacy corporate gift cards offer a card to fit your program.

Employers are spending more on health and wellness benefits while decreasing the amount of spending on other types of benefits.  According to the Society of Human Resource Management's (SHRM) 2014 Employee Benefits report, 28% of employers have increased the benefits they have offered to employees in the last year. Employers are finding it crucial to maintain or increase key benefits in areas where costs are rising - which has mainly been healthcare and wellness. And decrease benefits like undergraduate tuition, personal car use for business purposes reimbursements, and long-term care insurance.