DesiDime.com

Background

DesiDime was co-founded by cousins Jimish Jobanputra and Mehul Jobanputra in July 2010. While studying and working in the United States, Jimish Jobanputra was inspired by Slickdeals.net and recognized the need for a similar online shopping community in India as well. He oversees the technological aspect of the website, whereas Mehul Jobanputra handles its executive responsibilities.

Jimish Jobanputra holds a Masters in Computer Science from University of Illinois and Chicago, and Mehul Jobanputra has studied Business Management from University of Strathclyde.

In September 2015, DesiDime joined hands with Pepper.com, a global platform for deals and discounts. Founded in 2014 by Paul Nikkel and Fabian Spielberger, Pepper.com is claimed to be the world’s largest deals community, which receives more than 400 million page-views every month.

Business

All partner merchants share a commission of sales with DesiDime when a user clicks through a deal link on the latter’s website and makes a purchase. A good percentage of the revenue is also generated through banner advertising. DesiDime also works with a number of affiliate networks in India.

Site design

The highlights of the front page of the website are the Featured Deals and Featured Coupons sections which host deals and coupons exclusively chosen by the DesiDime team based on the attractiveness and the beneficent value of the offers. The Best Online Deals section features deals solely based onhigh community votes, these deals are also called the Front Page Deals. The DesiDime team vows never to promote any deals in this section through paid advertising. There is also the Recent Trending Deals section which displays deals generating a high level of activity among users.

To encourage user participation and discussions, the front page also hosts the Leader Board section which shows the top six active users based on the number of Front Page Deals they posted, the number of Karmas they earned and the number of fans they have won.

Desidime has also launched its mobile applications for handsets running on iOS and Android OS.

Terminology used on the website

Dimers- The registered, active community members of the site are called Dimers. They find and post deals and coupons, and share other related information. They are also welcome to give shopping advice to others, post product and store reviews, and even start any other kind of constructive discussions in the forums.

Dimes-A dime is a token of appreciation given to the user for contributing to the community, which can be redeemed to buy goodies from the DesiDime Gift Shop.This contribution can be in form of registering as a user, posting a new deal, a front page deal or a product review, following DesiDime on Facebook or Twitter, and other such things. The conversion rates for these dimes vary on a daily basis.

Karmas-Karma is a measurement on how much a member is trusted by the others, and how helpful s/he has been to the community.Based on the karma points a user receives, s/he is categorized as a Deal Newbie, Deal Cadet, Deal Subedar, Deal Lieutenant, Deal Captain, Deal Major, Deal Colonel, Deal Brigadier, Deal Major General, Deal General or Deal President.

Special Badges- There are 9 Special Badges namely, Analyst, ShoppingFriend, Perfectionist, Blogger, Critic, DealBaba, Entertainer, CouponBaba and DealHunter. These are given from time to time to deserving community members by the DesiDime administration and moderator teamafter thorough observation, analysis and discussions.

Corporate social responsibility

DesiDime allows its dimers or community members to donate their dimes (minimum 500) to two foundations - CRY and UNICEF, if they want to, and DesiDime adds 10% additional funds to that amount. Apart from this, the founders and employees of DesiDime also indulge in CSR activities during the Joy of Giving Week.