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Why young Indians are flocking to matrimonial sites

The lockdown has played havoc on businesses across the board, but matrimony websites appear to be the exception

Representational image.
Representational image. (Photo by Jayesh Jalodara on Unsplash)

New Delhi [India], October 20 (ANI/ATK): To this day, the majority of weddings in India are arranged marriages. For centuries, matchmaking has been a feature of the Indian marital system. Earlier, priests, family, word-of-mouth referrals, marriage offices, newspaper ads in marital columns, and mediators were employed to find the perfect girl or boy. When the tide of internet nuptials came into existence, the conventional matchmaking methods were transformed, and many of them were pushed aside. 

In India, the internet matrimonial industry began approximately two decades ago. People initially chose it because none of the other options had succeeded for them. Now, though, the situation is quite different. Here are some of the reasons and data that show that the online matrimonial business is still an untapped industry in India.

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Matrimonial websites in a Covid world

The lockdown has caused havoc on businesses across the board, but matrimony websites appear to be the exception, as they have registered an uptick in new consumers. Confined to home during the lockdown, they probably spent some time online looking for potential mates.

Several young people have postponed their marriage plans, according to Murugavel Janakiraman of matrimony.com, due to rigorous shift lengths at work and limited time. According to Aremanda Rattaiah, CEO and founder of Matchfinder Matrimony, following the lockdown, the number of registrants on their site has increased by 30%.

According to Adhish Zaveri, director of marketing of shaadi.com, during the lockdown phase, the site had seen a rise of over 20% in new client registrations. Matrimonial websites are doing everything they can to entice users, from providing special deals to assisting couples in virtually tying the knot during a lockdown.

Growth Rate of Online Matchmaking in India

According to a 2013 survey report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), independent online matrimonial sites in India would grow by over 65% in a time span of two years, reaching a market size of 15 billion (about €204 million) by 2017.

According to the Assocham research, "the key factors linked to the surge in demand for virtual matrimony are simplicity, time-saving, and effectiveness." "During the 2012-13 fiscal year, 50-55 million online users created their accounts, while 2.5 million updated their profile information per month to make use of this feature, mostly because it is cost-effective and time-consuming," it stated.

Future of Online Matchmaking

Matrimonial services have grown by 130% year on year while dating sites have grown by 88%. In a country where premarital relations are often frowned upon, the Internet allows India's urban youth to connect and communicate without apprehension. It's also empowering for women because it eliminates the need to wait for somebody else to organize their wedding or meet numerous candidates before deciding. The golden age of internet matrimony is clearly upon us.

This story has been lightly edited for clarity by Team Lounge.

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