competition analysis of matrimony sites: study by fps

Competition Study-Matrimonial sites

Chart by chart analysis of the Matrimonial sites & their parent companies

Top 5 Matrimonial Sites Presently

• Shaadi.com : The world's oldest and most successful matrimonial service. Hundreds of thousands of people have met their life partners through our revolutionary matchmaking

service and countless others have made some very special friends.


• BharatMatrimony.com :

BharatMatrimony.com is celebrated as the

Most Trusted Matrimony Brand combining

tradition and technology. A network of 15

regional portals and over 2 Crore

members, BharatMatrimony has found a

place in the Limca Book of Records for

facilitating a record number of marriages.


• JeevanSathi.com : Jeevansathi.com was

acquired by Info Edge in September 2004.

The site enables brides or grooms or their

families to identify potential marriage

partners by providing suitable matching

tools.


• SimplyMarry.com : SimplyMarry.com is

the fastest growing matrimonial portal in

India, promoted by The Times of India

group, the largest media & entertainment

conglomerate in the country.


• MatrimonialsIndia.com :

MatrimonialsIndia.com one of the most

frequently visited and highly preferred

matrimonial site. Providing an ample

database of profiles, we are immensely

known for the perfect matchmaking, handy

navigation and commendable services.

People

Group

(Shaadi.com

)

Consim

Info Pvt.

Ltd(Bharat

Matrimony.

com

Info Edge

India Ltd.

Times

Business

Solutions ltd.

Weblink .In Pvt.

Ltd

(MatrimonialsIndi

a.com)

The Group

was formally

launched by

Anupam

Mittal in 2004 to explore

opportunities

in the

Internet and

Mobile space.

Main

services job

searches,

buying and

selling of property,

automobiles

&

connecting

people on the internet

with

information.

Premier on-

line

classifieds

company in

recruitment, matrimony,

real estate,

education

and related

services.

“Life

Interactive”

arm of the

Times Group,

provides global internet

users

interactive

media to

provide support,

assistance,

and guidance.

Provides business

solutions for

Business-to-

Business (B2B),

Recruitment, Matrimonial, Real

Estate, Travel &

Hotel and

Ecommerce Web

Development

Analysis Of The Parent Companies

Of The Matrimonial Sites

Analysis Of The Parent Companies

Of The Matrimonial Sites People Group

(Shaadi.com)

Consim Info

Pvt. Ltd

(BharatMatri

mony.com)

Info Edge

India Ltd.

Times

Business

Solutions ltd.

Weblink .In

Pvt. Ltd

(Matrimonials

India.com)

Structured into

two different

companies -

People

Interactive and People

Infocom.

People

Interactive is

the Consumer Internet arm of

the Group and

owns the

parent brand

Shaadi.com

Bharat

Matrimony is

Consim’s

maiden

venture which proved

to be quite

successful to

get

recognized by Limca

Book of

Records

Founded

JeevanSathi.c

om with 14

offline

JeevanSathi match points

SimplyMarry.c

om was

founded on

2006 reaching

much number of traffic &

actual

registrations

proving its

success story

MatrimonialsIn

dia.Com has

become the

interactual

virtual marriage

bureau getting

more than 200

profiles every

day

Shaadi.com

Shaadi.com

•World’s largest matrimonial website

•Founded by Anupam Mittal in 1996

•Ranked as the No.1 matrimonial brand in the ‘Most trusted brands survey’ released by Brand Equity in 2010

•Launched ‘Angry Brides ’ a facebook game to create awareness and

showcase the company’s stand against dowry

•Has offices in UK, USA, Canada, UAE and in all the major cities in India

Shaadi.com

• A feature-rich dating and matrimonial site

that includes a very helpful popup tool

system that guides you through the

process.

• A Shaadi Toolbar is available that makes

accessing the site very easy; the toolbar

alerts you to new messages right away

Shaadi.com

• Reported to be India's number one

matrimonial services provider, as

determined by number of site visitors.

• Unconditional guarantee with 100%

money back.

• New Android mobile app launched by it

enabling people to access it via smart

phones.

Revenue model

• Somebody comes on [to the site], signs up, and puts up a profile

• Then there’s “Person A” & “Person B” who find that they are interested in each other

• “Person A” sends a request to “Person B” by clicking a button

• After accepting, any one of them has to pay to take the conversation further, or else they are stuck

• It’s only when they have found somebody, they have to pay

Membership scheme

Challenges

•Shaadi.com has been wondering how it can bring back customers to its website because once their objective is fulfilled, they has no reason to return

•Until 2005-2006 most people didn’t even understand what they are up to

•“Why should I go online to find a partner? You must be desperate to [if you have to go]

online.” That mentality was a challenge

•Cultural barriers

•Buying advertising was initially very hard

How is it different from other matrimonial sites?

•Shaadi.com took the first step of a movement against dowry through ‘Angry Birds’; Engagement level on Facebook is very high

Reviews

Source: http://www.consumercourt.in/online-shopping/105748-complaint-against-shaadi-com-fraud-scheme.html

Source: http://www.mouthshut.com/websites/Shaadi-com-reviews-925034079

Learning

•It has extended its services to various platforms such as mobile, television and DTH

•In the offline space, shaadi.com has launched Shaadi Centers and now has a network of over 100 centers across 87 Indian cities

•Most of their spending is online but they do campaigns from time to time

Bharatmatrimony.com

Bharatmatrimony.com

•Founded in 1997 by Murugavel Janakiraman

•Has 130 offices in India, with one office in Dubai

•In 2006, the website earned into the Limca book of World Records for having facilitated the highest number of documented marriages online in

India

•Has mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Nokia and android users in India

Revenue model

•Bharat Matrimony has a network of 15 regional portals and over 2 Crore members

•It makes more than 85% of its revenues from user subscription

revenues at Bharatmatrimony

•They also have a huge tele-marketing team to convert the parents of brides/grooms to become a paid member

•Various membership plans that differ according to the length of time a

profile is posted, and features like level of personalization, special highlighting of the profile, access to verified phone no. , etc

BharatMatrimony.com

BharatMatrimony.com

• Standard membership is free and contains

the usual benefits - create a personal

profile as well as your ideal partner profile.

You can send and receive expressions of

interest and send voice messages to

members that you are interested in.

BharatMatrimony.com

• Paid memberships, as usual, offer

considerably more benefits. Bharat

Matrimony restricts free membership to

one regional portal but with a paid

membership you can search in all 15

regions for your ideal partner. You also

receive a number of verified phone

numbers with memberships.

BharatMatrimony.com

• If you feel you need that extra support,

Bharat Matrimony offers individually

tailored extras like the Matrimony Booster

which emails your profile in an attractive

format to up to 250 members who meet

your ideal partner profile.

BharatMatrimony.com

• There is the Astro Match feature which

ensures you know whether a prospective

partner is an auspicious astrological

match.

• Bharat Matrimony also offers an online

matchmaker service who will help you

create your profile and horoscope, and

personalize an email for you to send to all

matching profiles.

Membership scheme

Challenges

•Main competitor “Shaadi.com” has a strong base in the northern part of India

•Other means of finding a partner like social gatherings , family, and other networks

•To build trust on online marriages

•When it comes to attracting new users in the first place, the biggest limitation that matrimonial portals face is that of low internet penetration


•Only portal to provide Verified Profiles, Verification Services, 15 region specific portals, free horoscope generation in 9 languages, real time horoscope matching in 6 languages,

Multi-lingual interface, Matrimony Reference and Mobile Alerts to name a few.

•Number of marriages they have arranged is far more higher than any other site in the world and created a world record

•Agencies like JuxtConsult and Alexa have ranked them as the most visited and the best

recalled brand name in India.

Reviews

Source: http://www.complaintboard.in/complaints-reviews/bharat-matrimony-l61387.html

Source: http://www.consumercomplaints.in/bharat-matrimony-b100120

Source: http://www.mouthshut.com/websites/Bharatmatrimony-com-reviews-925103365

Learning

•Uses a variety of channels for promotion like TV commercials, Newspapers and magazines, as well as the internet

•For television, the company has produced a large number of ads, most of which have been

designed to target the youth of this generation

•Makes use of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube for promotions

•The company has both a Facebook App and a Facebook community

•The companies Twitter feed seems to be the most neglected of all, with the company selecting it to post “thank you, we will resolve your issue soon” messages to complains

JeevanSathi.com

JeevanSathi.com

• There is both free and paid memberships.

Standard Membership is free and it is easy

to register. You can create a profile for

yourself or for a family member and define

the ideal partner profile.

JeevanSathi.com

• With the free membership, you can access

all profiles and express interest, but you

cannot share contact details or send

messages to members that interest you

which limits the possible success of a free

membership.

JeevanSathi.com

• If you are considering paid membership,

then there two main types - the eRishta

(relationship) and the eValue membership.

With both type of memberships, you can

contact members by an inbuilt messaging

system or through the online instant

messaging.

JeevanSathi.com

• There are also special features to enhance

your chances of finding your ideal partner.

If you find writing that perfect profile a pain

and you are not great with words, then

Matri Profile might be the feature for you.

Experts will edit and write your profile to

show off your personality to its best.

Simplymarry.com

Simplymarry.com •Fastest growing matrimonial portal in India, promoted by the Times of

India group

•SimplyMarry.com is the country's first matrimonial portal to attain huge success from the Swyamvars organized every week for the benefit of

different communities across the country

SimplyMarry.com

SimplyMarry.com

• As part of the Times of India Group,

Simplymarry.com has a reputable

company behind it and it shows in the

quality of the site. The website provides an

online matrimonial service which is

accessible to all, for a fair price and with

no unnecessary add-ons.

SimplyMarry.com

• The standard membership is free and

allows you to create a personal profile,

indicate your ideal partner profile and

initiate interest to members who you think

might be a possible match.

• You can upload your pictures and there is

also the option of uploading pictures of

your family

SimplyMarry.com

• In general, the quality of the pictures is

good and you can enlarge them to get a

better look. Even better, Simplymarry.com

enables security to protect your pictures

so they cannot be downloaded from the

website without your knowledge.

SimplyMarry.com

• When searching through profiles, you can

restrict your searches to categories that

you prioritize most, for example, location,

religion, education or profession as well as

using an advanced search to look for

profiles that match your ideal partner

profile.

SimplyMarry.com

• The Speaking Tree Soulmate matrimony is

for those members who want to find a

partner who matches their spiritual

interests as well as physical. The idea is to

find a partner who is willing to develop

their religious or spiritual commitments

with you. Then there is the 'HUM=TUM'

Manifesto for Equality in Marriage.

SimplyMarry.com

• Other features include finding if a profile

matches yours through the 'match-tech'

feature which matches profiles according

to a persons astro-details, socio-economic

situation and physical attributes.

• The 'astro match' feature checks to see if

their astro chart is in line with yours

SimplyMarry.com

• SimplyMarry.com is a VeriSign Secure site

which means that it guarantees the safety

of your details when making payments.

The memberships also allow you to

access a generous number of members'

contact details for each subscription.

Membership scheme

Challenges

•Rising tide of divorces across urban India could threaten their businesses

•The competitors have been pushing their offline presence up in the past few years


•It is Metro based

•Owned by the eminent group of the Times Of India, its got lots of credibility

Reviews

Source: http://www.mouthshut.com/websites/SimplyMarry-com-reviews-925072834

Source: http://decidebuddy.com/matrimonials/wwwsimplymarrycom/review/simplymarrycom

-is-a-good-website

Learning

•Competitors like Shadi.com & Bharatmatrimony.com are dominating the market

•SimplyMarry.com is the country's first matrimonial portal to attain huge success from the Swyamvars organized every week for the benefit of different communities across the country.

Drawbacks

Question of Authenticity- As the registration is free for some matrimonial websites, people create fake profiles online. People generally not able to differentiate between

a genuine and a fake profile and becomes a victim of fraud. Confidentiality- As internet can be accessed universally you never know how far

your private details will travel. People can create fake profiles by using your name and put degrading content in it. This can be fatal for one’s reputation.

Past Life- Many people don’t reveal their true details about there past lives or information about their past actions. They can put incorrect information online and

mislead others. Disparity : In the beginning stages everything is in air, the match expectation and

the interest hits are way apart. Figuring out the best out of the lot of alluring choices create a haphazard situation.

Deceptive Profiles- In some cases, members write down false information about them. Therefore one should be careful enough to have the detailed information

before making any final decisions. Overseas Matches- One need to be extra careful while contacting an alliance out of

India. Every year there are many cases of NRIs who were already married and again got married through these sites.

Abrupt back out- Few people contact others just for the sake of fun. It is easy for such people to back out from their commitment. Therefore never fully trust a

person till you meet him/her.

MatrimonialsIndia.com


• Before registering, you can search

member profiles on MatrimonialsIndia.com

to check whether there are members you

would be interested in. This is a great

tantalizer as you do not get full access to

the profiles.


• MatrimonialsIndia.com is divided into

several sub-categories: profession

matrimonial, religion matrimonial and

caste matrimonial so you can prioritize

your search according to the categories

which matter most to you - or ignore them

if you want to increase your options.


• As with most sites, the paid memberships

bring the most benefits. From silver

membership upwards you can send

personalized messages and see a limited

number of verified contact details. For

those of us who can't think of what to say

to a member with a great profile - there are

personalized message 'templates' to help

us get started.


• Gold Membership offers a few extra

features to increase your odds of finding

your perfect partner including listing your

profile in bold and adding a 'call me free'

icon to your profile. If your budget

stretches to a Premium Membership then

you are guaranteed personal assistance in

your search.


• The website also has a few additional

features which make it stand out - there is

an activities summary on your home page

which helps you monitor the profiles you

have contacted and which profiles you are

waiting for responses, which have

responded - negatively or positively.

Mode Of Operation

Shaadi.com, BharatMatrimony.com, JeevanSathi.com & SimplyMarry.com all function online as well as in offline manner.

MatrimonialsIndia.com is the sole online operational matchmaking website.

Their modes of operating are mentioned in following slides.

Shaadi.com

Operates via offline as well as online mode

• These are known as Shaadi Centres

Offer personalised services & secure database

• A well-trained team of Relationship Advisors assist members in their search for a life partner.

BharatMatrimony.com

Services both online & offline

• BharatMatrimony.com has 2300 affiliates

Services cater the NRI communities also • Setting up operations in USA,

Dubai, Canada and more recently in UK

JeevanSathi.com

Offline points set up for JeevanSathi.com

• Presently 14 offline Jeevansathi Match Points & some franchisee centres

Assisted services

• help prospective brides or grooms or their families understand and interact with site

SimplyMarry.com

SimplyMarry.com is operated in offline mode

• Commendable offline medium for prospective brides and grooms to meet and interact but also, the right address for better profiles.

Targeting Social Media & increased popularity

• Person can share with potential matches their social media info like Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn


MatrimonialsIndia.com operates through online medium

• Online portal for matchmaking

Functions globally

• Aids users to find their perfect match across countries, religion, caste and communities

Analysis Of The Matrimonial Sites

Shaadi.com BharatMatri

mony.com

JeevanSathi.

com

SimplyMarry.

com

Matrimonial

sIndia.com

Types of

memberships:

a) Standard

free

b) Gold c) Diamond

d) Diamond

Plus

e) Platinum

Types of

membership:

a) Standard

free

b) Classic c) Classic

Plus

d) Classic

Super

e) Combo

Types of

membership:

a) Free

standard

b) eRishta c) eValue

Types of

membership:

a) Standard

Free

b) Platinum c) Platimum

Plus

d) Diamond

e) Diamond

Plus f) Gold

g) Gold Plus

Types of

membership:

a) Standard

Free

b) Silver c) Gold

d) Diamond

e) Premium

Analysis Of The Matrimonial Sites Shaadi.com

BharatMatri

mony.com

JeevanSathi.

com

SimplyMarry.

com

Matrimonials

India.com

Features like

SPOTLIGHT

& BOLD

LISTING

increases interest in

one’s profile

Matrimony

Booster will

email one’s

profile in an

attractive format to up

to 250

members who

match his/her

ideal partner profile. A

follow up text

will be sent to

members who

received an email

Apart from

BOLD

LISTING, the

other features

to boost responses

here are-

RESPONSE

BOOSTER &

MATRI Profile

For better

responses the

benefitted

people are

those who go for the Gold

Plus

Memberships

& the

Diamond Plus ones as they

get to give a

free ad in

Times of India

There is an

activities

summary on

home page

which helps you monitor

the profiles

you have

contacted and

which profiles you are

waiting for

responses,

which have

responded - negatively or

positively.


Shaadi.com

BharatMatri

mony.com

JeevanSathi.

com

SimplyMarry.

com

MatrimonialsI

ndia.com

There’s only

the Bold

listing &

Spotlight add

ons for Diamond Plus

& Platinum

Plus members

to increase

visibility for a specific time

limit.

Classic

Super &

Classic Plus

members

have the benefit of

better profile

visibility in

search

results

eValue

Membership

offers feature

in special

searches for members with

contact details

visible

For Diamond &

Platinum

membership

there’s

advantage of Text link &

Picture profile

link

respectively in

the home page

For Diamond

& Platinum

members it

offers the

feature of their own

presentable

web page


Shaadi.com

BharatMatri

mony.com

JeevanSathi.

com

SimplyMarry.

com

MatrimonialsI

ndia.com

Verification of

contact

number is

done which

enhances the response

rates as well

as there’s a

Shaadi Seal

feature which is obtained

after proofing

the personal

intel

People going

for paid

memberships

get the

advantage of protecting

personal

information

including

photos, horoscope,

reference

and

matrimony

stamp

Jeevansathi

offers a

service to

verify

telephone numbers.

Apart from

this theres a

security

measure to safeguard

pictures

uploaded &

also hiding

profiles

Simplymarry.c

om enables

security to

protect your

pictures so they cannot be

downloaded

from the

website

without your knowledge

After being

registered in

the site, the

security team

takes 48 hours to process the

resgistry to

avoid

fraudulent

cases


BharatMatri

mony.com

JeevanSathi.

com

SimplyMarry.

com

Matrimonials

India.com

Dedicated

Relationship

manager

assists with

profile creation,

searching and

screening,

contacting,

follow up and arranging

meetings

Personal

matchmaker

services.

Individual

assistance in searching and

short listing

profiles.

Personalized

horoscope matching

service & e-

mail service

Jeevansathi

connects its

online service

to Matchpoint

Offices in seven cities

across India.

Staff tries to

match the

most suitable profiles and

gives advice

on how to

make the

most of membership

Organizes

regular

Swyamvars

events in

cities around India which

have proved

popular for

prospective

brides/grooms and their

families to

find a match.

For Platinum

members

there is

personalised

services from the site.


Shaadi.com

BharatMatrim

ony.com

JeevanSathi.

com

SimplyMarry.

com

MatrimonialsI

ndia.com

2 notable

features:

a) Speaking

Tree

Soulmate matrimony

(members

who want to

find a partner

who matches their spiritual

interests as

well as

physical)


BharatMatrim

ony.com

JeevanSathi.

com

SimplyMarry.

com

MatrimonialsI

ndia.com

b)

'HUM=TUM'

Manifesto for

Equality in

Marriage. Sets out the

belief in

respect for

each other in

marriage and the need to

share

responsibility

competition analysis of matrimony sites: study by fps

Marketing