So in the case of India, ARPU could hover around $6, pegging the dating market today at around $1
For apps – where users have higher engagement – it would be higher. 5 billion (at a user base of 25 million).
To understand the shift, Helion Ventures undertook a randomised online survey among 250 single women to understand their views and attitudes around dating and marriage
Young Indian women, who have traditionally played second fiddle in a patriarchal society, are perhaps the biggest change agent. Close to 85% of the surveyed single women (over 25 years) wanted to date. The figure was 60% for respondents from tier II and tier III cities. Further, three of every four women wanted to find their partners by themselves. Three fourths of the women looking to get married in the next two years said they want to first date the person before deciding on the marriage.
Young single women corroborate what the survey reveals. At 34, Shally Gupta, a corporate banker with an MNC, can look after herself well. She lives in a three-bedroom apartment with a few friends in South Delhi and spends the weekends with her parents (who also live in Delhi). The decision to move out was not easy. But her long work commute as well as an independent Mumbai stint made it a little easier. Her parents, particularly her mother, worry about her marriage. Not that they did not try. From the traditional arranged marriage route to matrimony portals, they pulled out all stops but nothing worked. “We both are looking at similar things but from two very different ends,” Gupta says. Her parents have a top-down view, she says – first look at the boy’s family, his caste, his job, his salary and then him. Continue reading Globally, average revenue per user (ARPU) for major dating websites is estimated to be around $4