Two ‘Joes’ go shopping for customers
How do you find out where the best deals are when there are more than 200 million websites to browse? Two Rockland natives hope more people will tune in to their website to find out.
Andrew Kardon and Jeff Grossman struck gold back in the 1990s when they created a coupon website for shoppers.
“The market was relatively new,” Kardon said. “There was a lot of anxiety about shopping online back then, but times have changed.”
As a result, they”™ve developed what they hope will bring them shoppers and sharers who can use coupons, leave comments about products and get bonus points for using their website.
Joeshopping.com is the online child of the two high school chums, now married men with growing families of their own. They started their first website at home, but have gone brick and mortar with their new company, opening an office in New City and adding three staff members.
Both are ardent video fans and grew up with Atari, quickly moving up the technophile ladder.
“The shopping coupon site was very successful,” said Kardon, “and when we had an offer to sell it, we really had to think long and hard about it. …but we decided to go for it and came up with a strategy that brings shoppers the best of both worlds on the ”™net ”“ shopping and socializing ”“ an opportunity to blog, post comments on products and get bonus points for using our website.”
Both excel in their chosen fields: Kardon went to college and majored in English, while Grossman studied business management. “This really meshed well for us,” Kardon said. “I write the content and Jeff handles the finances. We”™re excited about having our own office and adding staff to it, so we are helping to grow the local economy.”
Grossman is also happy to see the MTA tax go away for their growing company. “We don”™t use public transportation; there really is none available here, so most people in Rockland commute by car. The tax and the forms were just another burden. I believe it”™s helped us because it”™s given us extra capital for our business and means we can grow our staff without the added tax burden.”
Joeshoppping.com offers a variety of coupons, but the two hope to lure local businesses into signing up for the website.
“We have a solid, long-standing relationship with the national stores,” said Grossman, “but we”™d also like to see our local merchants get the traffic and attention they need to succeed. We are working on a merchant directory so shoppers can go online and see what”™s near them and what is offered. I think it will be a tremendous boost for local business.”
Kardon and Grossman say their website offers something for everyone, especially people who like to socialize. “We think of it as ”˜Facebook/Amazon”™ for shoppers, where they can shop and exchange information, leave opinions on products and also have the opportunity to earn ”˜Joe”™ points,” said Grossman. “One of the items people can redeem ”˜Joe”™ points for is a Kindle Fire. We”™re serious about bringing customers to our site and building loyalty while delivering a great product to our customers. They don”™t have to register or pay to become a member if they want to. … just enjoy shopping, sharing and getting amazing bargains in the process.”
The last piece of the Joeshopping.com puzzle is printable coupons, something the website founders hope will be rolled out as you read this. “At the very least, we hope to have this phase up and running by the end of the month,” Kardon said.
Deals, steals and a touch of whimsy ”“ “Buy your last Christmas Gifts” ”“ are part of Joeshopping.com. Since Dec. 20, 2012 is supposed to be the end of the world, the partners decided to create a special shopping corner for those who are waiting to see if the prediction is true. “If so, why wait? Get your Christmas 2012 shopping done now, so if the world ends, you don”™t have to go out feeling like you didn”™t get your shopping done,” laughed Kardon.
One last question: Since neither is named Joe, where did the website founders come up with the name?
“It”™s simple,” said Kardon. “I”™m a regular ”˜Joe”™ and those are the people we want to reach. The name fit, and we do hope regular Joes (and Janes) look us up.”