What is an employee reward catalog?

An employee reward catalog is the collection of rewards that employees can choose from when they redeem points or credits earned through recognition, achievements, or incentive programs.

A catalog typically lists each reward with a name, short description, image or icon, category, and price in points. It may include gift cards, experiences, company merchandise, extra time off, learning opportunities, and charity donations.

For example, a company's catalog might include a $25 coffee shop gift card for 25 points, a branded hoodie for 40 points, a donation to an environmental charity for 50 points, and an extra day off for 150 points.

The reward catalog is the "storefront" of a rewards program. Its variety, pricing, and relevance largely determine whether employees find the program valuable.

Why is the reward catalog important?

Gives points real meaning

Points are only motivating if employees can see what they can exchange them for.

Offers personal choice

A varied catalog lets each employee choose a reward that matches their interests and needs.

Reflects company culture

Custom rewards, branded merchandise, and charity options show what the organization values.

Supports budget control

Point prices determine how much each reward costs the organization and how quickly employees can reach it.

Reveals employee preferences

Redemption data shows which rewards are most popular and which can be removed.

What to include in a reward catalog

Category	Examples	Why include it
Gift cards	Retail, food delivery, streaming, travel	Maximum flexibility for employees
Experiences	Event tickets, cooking class, spa day	Memorable, personal rewards
Time off	Extra day off, half day, late start	Highly valued by many employees
Learning	Courses, books, conference tickets	Supports growth and development
Company merchandise	Hoodies, mugs, stickers, notebooks	Builds team identity
Charity	Donations to selected causes	Lets employees support what matters to them
Team rewards	Team dinner, offsite, game night	Celebrates collective achievements
Unique company perks	Lunch with the CEO, choosing the team playlist	Low cost, high personality

How to structure a reward catalog

Organize rewards into categories

Categories help employees navigate the catalog and find relevant rewards quickly.

Offer several price levels

Price level	Purpose	Examples
Entry-level	Encourage first redemptions and quick wins	Coffee voucher, sticker pack, small donation
Mid-level	Cover most regular redemptions	Gift cards, books, branded merchandise
Premium	Give employees something to save for	Extra day off, conference ticket, experience
Collective	Encourage teams to pool points	Team dinner, offsite activity

Write clear descriptions

Explain what the reward includes, any limitations, and what information the employee needs to provide.

Use visuals

Emojis, icons, or images make the catalog easier to browse and more engaging.

See a reward catalog in action

Browse company rewards

A catalog should make it easy to see what is available and how many points each reward requires.

With Karma, employees can browse rewards in chat or the web app, see their balance, and redeem with a click.

Try "Explore company rewards" to see how a reward catalog looks to employees.

How to build an employee reward catalog

1. Ask employees what they value

Run a short survey or collect suggestions before launch. Preferences vary by team, age, location, and lifestyle.

2. Start small

Launch with 8–15 well-chosen rewards. A smaller catalog is easier to manage and evaluate.

3. Balance monetary and non-monetary rewards

Combine gift cards with non-monetary rewards and custom employee rewards that reflect your culture.

4. Set point prices

Align point prices with real costs. If 1 point equals $1, a $25 gift card should cost around 25 points. For non-monetary rewards, estimate the value to the employee and the cost to the organization.

5. Check availability by location

Make sure every employee has access to relevant rewards, regardless of country.

6. Decide on fulfillment

Choose which rewards are delivered automatically and which require manual fulfillment, and assign owners.

7. Launch and promote

Share the catalog when introducing the program and highlight new or popular rewards regularly.

8. Review and refresh

Remove rewards that are rarely redeemed and add new ideas based on feedback and seasonal opportunities.

Common reward catalog mistakes

Too few options

A catalog with only one or two rewards quickly becomes uninteresting.

What helps: Offer variety across categories and price levels.

Too many options

Hundreds of similar items can overwhelm employees.

What helps: Curate the catalog and use categories.

Unrealistic prices

If every reward requires months of saving, employees lose motivation.

What helps: Include entry-level rewards that can be reached quickly.

Rewards that are not available locally

International teams may see rewards they cannot use.

What helps: Offer gift cards and digital rewards with broad country coverage.

A static catalog

The same rewards for years can make the program feel stale.

What helps: Refresh the catalog at least a few times per year.

How to measure catalog performance

Metric	What it shows
Most popular rewards	Which rewards employees value most
Unredeemed rewards	Items that may need to be replaced
Redemptions by category	Balance between gift cards, experiences, and other rewards
Average points per redemption	Whether employees prefer small or large rewards
Redemptions by location	Whether rewards are equally accessible

How Karma supports an employee reward catalog

Karma lets organizations build a reward catalog that reflects their culture rather than relying on a generic vendor list.

Ready-made reward ideas

When creating rewards, admins see ideas such as "Dinner for two," "Mystery gift," "Charity donation," "Steam gift card," "Day off," and "Movie time," and can shuffle more ideas with the Randomize button.

Four clear categories

Rewards are organized into Goods and experiences, Money and gift cards, Company merchandise, and Charity.

Automated gift cards

Admins can add gift cards from 300+ brands available in more than 30 countries. Employees see options relevant to the country set for each reward.

Fully custom rewards

Each reward can have a title, description, emoji, image, category, and price in karma points. Admins can also require a comment, for example to collect a size or preferred date.

Group rewards

Some rewards can be set up as collective goals, so team members contribute points and track progress together.

Easy browsing for employees

Employees can open the catalog with /k rewards in Slack or on the Rewards page in the web app, where their points balance is always visible.

Catalog insights

The dashboard shows the most popular rewards and how many times each has been redeemed, helping admins refine the catalog.