Case Study: Designer Brands achieves a seamless benefits experience and 70% passive open-enrollment participation with Benefitfocus Benefitplace

Finding a trusted partner for a seamless benefits experience

Designer Brands, a leading North American footwear and accessories retailer with more than 13,000 employees (about 2,800 eligible for benefits), faced a rapid expansion and a lean benefits team using a limited point solution. That system lacked education and decision-support tools, leaving many associates unaware or confused about their benefits, creating onboarding headaches and inconsistent communication across a multigenerational, geographically dispersed workforce.

Designer Brands implemented the cloud-based Benefitfocus Benefitplace platform to centralize benefits administration, personalize communications (email, text, custom videos), and offer a branded, mobile-friendly enrollment portal. The result: stronger engagement and clearer understanding of benefits — 70% of associates logged in during a passive 2019 enrollment — and higher voluntary benefit adoption in year one (accident 33%, critical illness 20%, hospital indemnity 17%), plus improved onboarding, targeted audits, and better overall benefits awareness.

Designer Brands

Erin Penland

Benefits Specialist