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The dating industry in India will reach 28.4 million users by 2027. Are online platforms are trumping traditional and contemporary methods of finding love?

How are Indians use dating apps and services to find companionship?

Projections state that the dating industry in India will reach 28.4m users by 2027, but are online platforms trumping traditional and contemporary methods of set-ups?

Mumbai-based marketing professional Nazneen Merchant has a job with a multinational firm and travels to New Delhi and Bengaluru frequently on work. “In the beginning, the travel, my work, all felt great. But now that I am in my 30s, it’s getting quite lonely for me. I am earning well, have been on the dating circuit and while it’s not like I am looking for marriage, I need more stability and companionship now.”

Merchant, who is 34, is one of several Indians who has rejected the traditional way of looking for a partner. “Bumble, Tinder, Hinge and Match are just some of the dating apps I am on. But my single friends–both men and women–tell me that there is a world out there to tap other singles, so I am just getting started on apps like OkCupid, TrulyMadly and QuackQuack.”

Smartphones are dating apps that have propelled Indians to seek non-traditional ways of making friends Image: Pexels

Smartphones are dating apps that have propelled Indians to seek non-traditional ways of making friends Image: Pexels

The revenue in the online dating segment is projected to reach US$70.64 million in 2022. Image: Bumble

The revenue in the online dating segment is projected to reach US$70.64 million in 2022. Image: Bumble

In the land of arranged marriages, Sima Aunty and more traditional wedding brokers, dating apps–like some of those being tried out by Merchant and her friends–have changed the way young, not-so-young and sometimes older Indians meet potential partners, one-night stands and, in some cases, lifelong companions. There are over a dozen apps that include Woo, TrulyMadly, OkCupid, Happn, Hinge, Tantan, QuackQuack and HiHi–helping Indians to “hook-up or pair-up” with partners of their own choice. 

According to online global data aggregator Statista.com, the revenue in the online dating segment is projected to reach US$70.64 million in 2022, while the industry will show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2022-2027) of -1.29 per cent, resulting in a projected market volume of US$66.19 million by 2027. The number of users is expected to rise to 28.4 million by 2027. 

Tech, surveys and changing mores 

In the dotcom years of the 1990s, matrimonial sites such as Shaadi.com, Bharatmatrimony.com and Jeevansathi.com were taking over the space then occupied by newspaper classifieds and traditional matchmakers. “Of course, not all the conversations that I had on Jeevansaathi were about marriage,” chuckles 47-year-old Deepa Iyer who actually met and dated several potential partners through the website, eventually “settling down” with her partner Pankaj. Before the Internet, when the dating culture existed in elite communities, most young people would meet members of the opposite sex with the intent to marry. Today, the idea of meeting, dating and pre-marital sex that may or may not culminate in marriage is becoming increasingly palatable to a larger audience. 

The dating industry in India will reach 28.4m users by 2027

The dating industry in India will reach 28.4m users by 2027

Dating apps reach 2.2 per cent of India’s total population

Dating apps reach 2.2 per cent of India’s total population

India has one of the world’s largest smartphone penetration rates. According to Statista, in 2020, the penetration rate of smartphones in the country reached 54 per cent and was estimated to reach 96 per cent in 2040, more than doubled from 2016, when only around 23 per cent of the total population was using smartphones. In 2020, the volume of smartphone shipments across India was around 149.7 million. The demographics pushing the smartphone revolution are primarily millennials and Gen-Zers. On these smartphones are dating apps that have propelled Indians to seek non-traditional ways of making friends. 

In March 2020, the world began going into a lockdown owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and India faced one of the strictest variations of it. Bespoke dating services like SirfCoffee and Baat Pakki as well as apps like Aisle, Tinder and so on began to see a marked growth. According to industry surveys, dating apps reach 2.2 per cent of India’s total population, with projections of 3.6 per cent by 2024. Tinder’s Future of Dating report (August 2021) found buzzwords like ‘transparency’ and ‘authenticity’ being touted by Gen Z who make up the app’s largest user base. The report also cites the following: “68 per cent found it easier to make connections online while 67 per cent said meeting new people online was liberating, and 60 per cent felt less judged while interacting.” 

“PEOPLE CARE ABOUT WHO THEY ARE GOING TO SPEND THE REST OF THEIR LIVES WITH. MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE BECOMING CLEAR THAT THEY NEED TO GET THIS RIGHT.”

Radhika Mohta

During the lockdown, QuackQuack saw 70 per cent of new users logging in from smaller cities across India, while 30 per cent were from larger cities. TrulyMadly states that more than 54 per cent of its new users and 42 per cent of its revenue comes from tier-two and tier-three towns and cities. 

A fairly new entrant into the market are the apps that target the LGBTQIA+ community, the most recent of which is RainbowLuv from the Matrimony.com group, targeting a membership of 1.3 crore from the community in three years. “When it comes to serious matchmaking, the LGBTQIA+ community has been largely underserved and we wanted to provide a safe and trusted platform for them. After members of the community reached out to us over a year ago, we conceived and developed the service after multiple discussions and workshops with the community,” said Matrimony.com’s chief marketing officer Arjun Bhatia at the launch of the app in Mumbai. The app has over 45 gender identities, more than  122 orientation tags and over 48 pronouns.

Singles, loneliness and the pandemic push 

In May this year QuackQuack’s users increased by a massive two million and moved to 17 million registered users in India. In 2020, the same app had 12 million users with nearly 15 million chat exchanges per month, while Aisle claimed three million downloads globally. In the last three years, TrulyMadly has clocked 11 million registered users and claims to be growing at a CAGR of 90 per cent and is targeting $US100 million in revenue by 2026. The dating app OkCupid, which launched in 2018, registered a 26 per cent increase in matches in the lockdown-ridden year that was 2020. 

Tinder’s Future of Dating report (August 2021) found buzzwords like ‘transparency’ and ‘authenticity’ being touted by Gen Z who make up the app’s largest user base.  Image: Tinder

Tinder’s Future of Dating report (August 2021) found buzzwords like ‘transparency’ and ‘authenticity’ being touted by Gen Z who make up the app’s largest user base.  Image: Tinder

The report also cites the following: “68 per cent found it easier to make connections online while 67 per cent said meeting new people online was liberating, and 60 per cent felt less judged while interacting.” Image: Tinder

The report also cites the following: “68 per cent found it easier to make connections online while 67 per cent said meeting new people online was liberating, and 60 per cent felt less judged while interacting.” Image: Tinder

Naina Hiranandani, co-founder of the 12-year-old bespoke matchmaking service SirfCoffee, acknowledges that the ongoing pandemic and the initial lockdowns led to a change in the most ambitious and work-oriented Indians. “I remember when the Maharashtra Government announced the lockdown, on the very first day of working from home I got a call in the morning from a number I could not identify. It turned out to be this 30-31-year-old lawyer from an Ivy League school who had been married before. He confessed to feeling relieved at being asked to work from home because as a lawyer, he was constantly on the job. He actually wanted to give some time and attention to his personal life.” Hiranandani is delighted to note that this particular client actually did eventually make a match through someone she introduced him to. Their website proudly states: “31 weddings celebrated over a 18-month lockdown!” 

Director of India Communications at Bumble, Samarpita Samaddar, says: “If the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that people are being more mindful of what they are looking for in a partner and more intentional about dating at their own time and pace.”

Bespoke services occupy a niche 

Radhika Mohta, a Bengaluru-based relationship coach and matchmaker who ran a singles’ community during the lockdowns says companionship is a big deal. “People care about who they are going to spend the rest of their lives with. More and more people are becoming clear about the fact that they need to get this right. They are taking more time in our 20s to work on themselves, their education,  international studies and getting their careers in place. Therefore there’s a delayed marriage syndrome. So in their late 20s, most people want to focus on meeting someone. 

Mohta charges a modest ₹10,000 for four Zoom sessions, peer discussions, dating profile refresh, a one-on-one follow-up session and access to the Discord community server. Meanwhile, SirfCoffee’s “global” matchmaking services range from ₹40,000 (for four months) to well over ₹1 lakh (for 18 months) and has a database of individuals across the world.

The most famous matchmaker in the world right now probably is Sima Taparia, around whom the Netflix series Indian Matchmaking pivots. Taparia’s charges reportedly begin at ₹1,00,000, climbing upwards. Another fairly recent entrant in the customised matchmaking space is Baat Pakki, founded by Shivani Sanghavi, whose charges range between ₹10,000-₹25,000. “We have a disruptor element in the form of ‘pay-per-match’ which is pegged at ₹6,000,” shares Sanghavi, who also organises what she calls “nudge evenings” which are curated events for singles at local venues, involving activities like speed-dating, personality tests and so on. Hiranandani’s SirfCoffee also organises events at upmarket locations like the private club Quorum, which are “carefully curated” evenings.  

Desi rankings

With over 6.5 million monthly downloads in May 2021, Tinder is the most downloaded dating application in the world, according to a report by Statisa. Badoo and Bumble come in at second and third, with over 3.9 million and close to 1.7 million monthly downloads respectively. Tinder also tops dating apps in terms of revenue, with their May 2021 figures stating that the company generated a monthly in-app purchase revenue of more than $US65 million. 

According to Bumble, Indian women have made the first move on the app more than 15 million times and send twice as many messages on the service as opposed to the average for women in the rest of the world. Image: Bumble

According to Bumble, Indian women have made the first move on the app more than 15 million times and send twice as many messages on the service as opposed to the average for women in the rest of the world. Image: Bumble

With over 6.5 million monthly downloads in May 2021, Tinder is the most downloaded dating application in the world, according to a report by Statisa. Badoo and Bumble come in at second and third. Image: Pexels

With over 6.5 million monthly downloads in May 2021, Tinder is the most downloaded dating application in the world, according to a report by Statisa. Badoo and Bumble come in at second and third. Image: Pexels

According to Bumble, Indian women have made the first move on the app more than 15 million times and send twice as many messages on the service as opposed to the average for women in the rest of the world. The app has over four million users, and according to Apptweak, in February this year, QuackQuack, Tinder and Bumble competed for the position of the most downloaded app in the dating category during the run-up to Valentine’s Day. The website says that QuackQuack is the most popular dating app on the Google Play store for Android users while on Apple’s App Store, the top three dating apps are  Tinder, Bumble and Aisle. 

Merchant’s mother, Zeenat, who is in her 50s, thoroughly approves of her daughter’s decision to use apps, especially Bumble. “It’s great that this younger generation has the options that we never have had. This kind of change is much needed as this empowers a younger generation with more freedom to make choices and decisions and not have them imposed on them.”

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