In fact, the most successful deals on jdeal have been for charities, although a deal for $100 worth of merchandise for $50 at Park East, a kosher supermarket on the Lower East Side, sold six hundred deals in a single day, before it finally maxed out after selling $5,400 worth of coupons.
Aside from their featured weekly seriously surprising deal, jdeal’s staff of sixteen contractors, most of whom are based in Israel, is planning a Buy Israel Week at the end of November in conjunction with print media outlets which, Ms. Samuels promises, will promote Israeli products in a very big way.
“A deal a day the kosher way,” is the motto at Jewpon, which has over 25,000 subscribers and over 20,000 Facebook fans enjoying the deals, both local and national, which have been offered by over four hundred merchants on the site. Since opening for business last November, Jewpon has been providing discounts to customers in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Toronto and plans to expand its market overseas by targeting London as well.
Chaim Chernoff, Chief Operating Officer at Jewpon says part of the company’s success is due to the diversity of their staff.
“We all come from different backgrounds,” said Chernoff. “We have employees who are more modern, others who come from chareidi backgrounds and we all pool our thoughts and try to find deals that will appeal to all segments of the Jewish community.”
Featuring both local and national deals, Jewpon’s most popular deal to date offering home delivery of three gourmet Fresh Diet meals plus two snacks, for only $10, providing a $49.99 saving, was snatched up by close to 1000 members. Deals typically run for approximately three days before they are removed from the site.
Jewpon places special emphasis on customer service and offers live chat on its site daily from 9:00 a.m. until 12 noon and then again from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.
“If anyone has any issues of any sort, we want to be able to help them,” said Chernoff. “Our goal is to try to help Jews save money. We work hard to not only do that but provide pleasant service as well.”