As we cross the threshold of 2019 young boys and girls would be looking, among other things, for a lasting, unique relationship with that special someone, with whom they could spend a life time.
But Cupid over the years has evolved, if only to keep pace with the changing times. From an assortment of family elders who brought love at first sight, to matrimonial ads which brought love at first sight to internet chat rooms and smart phone messages which brought love at first byte, youngsters today have many platforms from which to shoot Cupid’s arrow! They could even meet on the cloud during one of those cloud computing sessions in their offices. But then we cannot write off the tenacious matchmaker! We still have quite a few friendly neighborhood aunts and uncles who keep meticulous track of eligible brides and grooms, putting a word here, giving a nudge there, all to get the marriage wheels moving and ensuring the continuity of the species. Their prodigious memories store countless giga bytes of crucial data and they even tell you which boy can’t wash his clothes or which girl can’t get her rotis round.
And the market is huge, but the online dating services are carving out an increasing share of this market. Here are some highlights.
- As per Ken Research Report 2016, US$ 318 million is the amount that the online dating industry may earn by 2020.
- As per report put out by KPMG, 30% of the population aged between 15-30 years will be eligible for marriage in the next 3 years.
- As per Woo Survey, male:female ratio on dating apps usage is 74:26
- Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Pune top in dating apps usage.
As per article appearing on 30.12.2018 in the Bangalore edition of the Economic Times, the online matchmaking industry in India is now almost two decades old and it has provided exponentially increasing choices to those seeking partners besides much greater control over the final choice and outcome.
Bharatmatrimony.com was the first to enter the game in 2001. Matrimony.com, which manages bharatmatrimony.com is a listed company whose share price has been around Rs 480 in the recent past and has a market capitalization in excess of Rs 1100 crores. Today the matchmaking platform boasts several regional language based domains and apps. The app is more of a private messenger for those listed on the website. Portals like shaadi.com, jeevansathi.com, simplymarry.com, among others, have followed suit and have taken online matchmaking to a different level.
Jeevansathi.com, one of the biggest players in the segment, believes that growing internet penetration in tier II and tier III cities is good news for the sector. Education and financial independence of women are playing a big role in driving youngsters to find a partner on their own. Mobile phone, especially the smart phone, has brought the next stage in this evolution, which has made the searches handier and transformed the practice of dating. Dating apps such as Tinder and others have boosted dating by making it more convenient and private. The dating app market is now heated up with players like TrueMadly and Woo entering the fray, although Tinder still remains the world’s leading social app. The spurt in the smart phone usage – estimated to touch 450 million users by 2020, has further fueled the segment’s growth. While most 18-21 year old get on an app just to make friends, those belonging to the 26+ age group are on the lookout for more serious relationships.
However, the biggest challenge for online dating has been security and safety, with many women being harassed on online dating sites/apps. Not surprisingly, the gender ratio, as already highlighted, is highly skewed in favor of males when it comes to online dating. But companies in the segment are working towards solutions. Woo for instance, says it keeps users’ personal details confidential, analyses user’s digital footprint to verify relationship status and professional information. It also uses algorithms to identify and weed out suspicious profiles and enables women to call matched profiles without revealing their phone numbers. TrueMadly, another player in the space, uses a trust score for authenticity and gets the user Facebook verified. Bumble, the latest entrant in the dating app space in India will introduce a feature that will allow women to set up their profiles to only show their first initial – not the first or last name – and also report bad behavior.
However, possibly the safest method of matchmaking or dating still remains the referrals route. So dating apps looking to bring in the referrals mechanism in a scientific way, is the new trend. For instance, Ponder (not Points to Ponder!), a dating app, uses referrals from family members and close friends to help its users find that special person. The internet and social media have given everyone a megaphone, creating ever more noise. For people and companies seeking quality connections, referrals from trusted sources can help them cut through that noise to find the right partners.
So for youngsters, with friendly neighborhood aunts, smart phones, and the cloud, 2019 is certain to provide many opportunities for happy mate hunting. Those of us, who have already taken the plunge, can look out for the IPOs from some of the more profitable players in the space.
To all those readers of Mangalore, here’s wishing happy new year, or whatever remains of it now.
