Recognition for Food & Retail Teams

Boost appreciation in the service industry

Cut turnover, increase motivation, and improve satisfaction in the service industry, from food service to retail.

Why Awardco?

Features that fuel the frontlines

 
AwardCodes™
 
External Recognition
 
Customized Incentives
 
Milestone Celebrations

Employee Health & Wellbeing

Reduce stress and burnout with wellness programs

Build custom wellness incentives or introduce wellbeing benefits to empower holisitic employee health.

ROI of Recognition

Tailored solutions to solve unique challenges

Food service and retail face turnover rates as high as 75%. Recognition flips the script.

Productivity
Smiling barista using tablet while preparing coffee in cafe
50
%
increase in productivity
50
%
increase in productivity

Drive greater performance with desirable rewards

One Awardco client in the retail space saw a 50% increase in productivity after implementation.

Productivity
Retention
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20
%
reduction in turnover rate
20
%
reduction in turnover rate

Keep top talent with more appreciation

One Awardco client in the car wash industry saw their turnover drop by 20% after implementing rewards and recognition.

Retention
Satisfaction
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24
%
boost to employee happiness
24
%
boost to employee happiness

Increase happiness with meaningful support

Recognition leads to greater employee happiness no matter the industry.

Satisfaction

only from awardco

A-Pay™ cards for flexible rewards

Load points to a digital or physical card to be used nearly anywhere for dining out, retail shopping, online subscriptions, and much more.

success stories

What our customers say

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PMG
We’ve made myKudos [Awardco] a key part of how we work at all levels—whether you’re a people manager or an individual contributor. MyKudos is just as powerful when peers recognize each other, creating a culture of appreciation across the organization
Mary O’Brien
Head of Programmatic
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Dubai Airports
Within AOCC, we’ve built peer nominations into the process. The more recognitions a team member receives, the more points they earn toward winning a High Flyer award. This has fostered real cohesion, inclusivity, and teamwork across the department.
Kan Ni
Vice President, Airport Operations Control Center, Dubai Airports
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Greenfield Global
Recognition can mean different things to different people, but for everyone, you want to feel seen and valued for the work you do. We were able to launch our first global recognition program, STAR, with the help of Awardco.
Ashley Cato
Vice President People and Culture
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Beckman Coulter
From a reporting standpoint, Awardco excels by allowing users to access desired reports quickly through easily accessible links, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple pages as was the case with previous platforms. The platform has garnered significant positive feedback for its user-friendly nature and seamless navigation.
Kerie Rogers
HR Operations Leader
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Americare Senior Living
There are many ways to define Americare’s culture, but at its foundation it has always been about recognition, recognition for our employees and for each other. We’ve built that into so many of our programs and systems.
Pat Cokingtin
Senior VP of Sales & Marketing
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Alera Group
We do an annual engagement survey, and we do see a lot of comments from people saying they love to work here because of the people they work with. We get a lot of good comments about working with others.
Pam Johnson
VP of Human Resources
Dubai Airports
When I personally received a High Flyer, it was amazing. Knowing that my efforts were appreciated—especially by senior management—meant a lot.
Maha Salem
Senior Manager, Rewards & Recognition, Dubai Airports
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America First Credit Union
Previously, every manager hand-wrote a message to their employees every six months thanking them for their hard work, and it was all tied in with the bonus distribution. It was very high-touch, very labor intensive, and we had the process down to a science. We liked the connections that formed between managers and employees as a result of this program, but after COVID-19 most of our workforce went remote. Our semi-annual tradition wasn't possible any longer, nor was it feasible.
Kent Streuling
SVP of HR
 
 

Integrations & Security

Serving up secure and seamless workflows

Integrations

Connect with HRIS, communication, and other tools to keep recognition and rewards simple and effective.

Security

Enjoy peace of mind with SOC 2 Type II compliance and airtight data security protocols.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What can food and retail organizations use Awardco for?
 

Organizations can configure programs for service anniversaries, onboarding, birthdays, peer recognition, manager recognition, spot awards, nominations, sales contests, performance goals, safety or quality behaviors, training, wellness, and other approved initiatives.

A restaurant or store operator might recognize an employee after a first shift, celebrate a service milestone, reward a team for meeting a sales or customer-service goal, or recognize an employee for living a company value. A food manufacturer, distributor, or grocery organization might also use programs across production, warehouse, delivery, store, and corporate teams.

Programs can be monetary, nonmonetary, automated, peer-led, manager-led, store-based, or combined. The available program types and criteria depend on the enabled products and organization configuration.

What reward options are useful for food and retail employees?
 

Depending on the available marketplace and program, employees may receive or choose from restaurant and grocery gift cards, other digital gift cards, virtual prepaid cards, merchandise, company swag, experiences, travel-related options, charitable giving, or a restricted custom catalog.

Organizations can offer broad employee choice or align rewards to a store, campaign, location, brand, service milestone, onboarding kit, or budget. Local reward options may be especially relevant for employees who shop or dine in their own communities.

Availability, country coverage, currency, provider, catalog, fulfillment, taxes, point value, and employee eligibility vary. Organizations should validate the current reward catalog and avoid promising that every employee will see the same brands, denominations, products, or redemption methods.

Can Awardco support manager, peer, team, and performance recognition?
 

Yes, where the relevant programs are enabled, managers and peers can recognize employees for contributions, values, customer service, teamwork, performance, or other approved behaviors. Organizations can also configure nominations, contests, challenges, or other programs around defined goals.

A company may use nonmonetary recognition for everyday appreciation and points or another reward for selected achievements. Performance programs can be designed around individual, team, store, department, or campaign criteria.

Organizations should define eligibility, measurement, approval, budget ownership, timing, and communication rules before launching a performance or sales-related program. Recognition should complement, not replace, required compensation, commission, incentive, or employment policies.

Can organizations manage recognition across stores, brands, regions, and departments?
 

Organizations can design programs around stores, restaurants, regions, brands, departments, job types, employee groups, or other approved organizational data where supported.

Administrators may use different budgets, eligibility rules, reward values, catalogs, approval paths, or reporting views for store managers, regional teams, corporate employees, or other groups. A central program can provide consistency while allowing local leaders to recognize employees within defined rules.

The available segmentation, permissions, hierarchy, franchise or ownership boundaries, and data mappings depend on the organization’s operating model and connected systems. Organizations should define how employees who transfer locations, work across stores, or change roles are handled.

How can Awardco reach hourly, store, restaurant, and deskless employees?
 

Employees can access recognition through a mobile app, web experience, text or email notifications, collaboration tools, QR codes, award codes, printed cards, or other configured channels.

Award codes can give managers a physical way to recognize an employee at the store, restaurant, warehouse, or worksite. Depending on the setup, an employee can use the code to claim points that are associated with their Awardco account.

The available channels, identity requirements, device access, personal contact information, language options, and account-recovery process vary by program. Organizations should validate access for employees who do not have a company email, work on shared devices, work varied shifts, or do not use the platform every day.

Boost appreciation, one act of service at a time

Celebrate the everyday wins of retail and service employees to improve engagement, increase wellness, and reduce burnout.

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