Bearers of change

Calcutta/Mumbai, April 17: Marriages are made in heaven, but they are increasingly being arranged online.

The online matrimony market in India is expected to grow four fold in the next couple of years and is likely to touch Rs 80 crore by March 2007.

A study by the Internet & Online Association (IOA) shows that matrimonial sites were the highest paid-content generators on the Internet with estimated earnings of Rs 20 crore in 2004-05. In 2003-04, the size of the cake was much smaller at Rs 6 crore.

?The wedding industry is worth between Rs 50,000-70,000 crore now,? says Omprakash Hassanandani, business head, shaadi.com, the biggest online matchmaker in the country and next only to rediff, indiatimes and yahoo in terms of traffic.

Shaadi.com, which has 5 million members and over 5 lakh successful matches to its credit, generates Rs 1,000 crore from matrimonial services ? online and off-line, classifieds and marriage bureaux.

?About 15 per cent of the industry cash comes from event management, while 60 per cent to 70 per cent is accounted for by trousseau and jewellery. Everyone wants a bigger, brighter and louder wedding,? says Hassanandani, who sees growth rates at 20 per cent over the next couple of years.

S. Suresh, business head of Bharatmatrimony.com, which has over 4 million registered users, says his portal has a database of prospective brides and grooms based on 14 languages. His growth estimates are brighter. ?We are looking at a 100 per cent growth in the next two years.?

The IOA study says just why the Net is the hottest hunting address. It is because the medium is cheaper than advertising in print. The study says the age of the fastest-growing user group is 25 to 34 years. It also concludes that subscribers spend 34 minutes on an average looking for partners.

However, for most people, online matrimony remains a supplementary match-making medium. Also, 59 per cent of the members who sign up are male compared with the 32 per cent tally for females.

The IOA study says the two main reasons for those who do not use online services is a perceived lack of trust (84 per cent) and embarrassment (16 per cent). Others found these a much better bet for another convenience ? it was easier to walk away from a prospective partner online.

To keep their revenues flowing, some portals are reinventing themselves. Encouraged by its virtual success, shaadi.com has started its off-line services and is marketing itself as ?a complete marriage-solution provider?.

It provides visitors with complete budgets for weddings. In a small brochure, it says it will take care of the ?full range of wedding services?, which will lead to ?0 per cent worry and 100 per cent wedding?.