Case Study: Dunelm achieves 600% increase in communications engagement with Reward Gateway

How "Best Places to Work" retailer Dunelm used world-class technology to drive 600% increase in communications engagement during COVID-19 pandemic

Dunelm, the UK’s leading home furnishing retailer with 10,500 employees across 169+ locations, faced a major communications and engagement challenge: many shop-floor and warehouse colleagues had no email or regular computer access and there was no single hub for company information. In 2017 Dunelm partnered with Reward Gateway to move beyond a simple discounts platform to a central, user-friendly employee hub (branded internally as Home Comforts) that could reach their whole workforce and support wellbeing, recognition and communications—needs that became critical during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

Reward Gateway built a customised Home Comforts platform with tailored discounts, a company news feed, peer-to-peer eCards, wellbeing content and tools like the Colleague Support Fund, enabling regular video updates and two‑way engagement. The results were striking: communications engagement rose 600% since February (peaking in April–May), employees log into Home Comforts an average of 169 times per year, over 8,600 eCards were sent in 12 months and 51% of staff have used the recognition tools—contributing to improved Glassdoor rankings and stronger employee connection.

Dunelm

Ben Waterfield

Reward Manager