The economy of online dating

Edit: Swipe Night has been postponed due to COVID-19 outbreak in several cities in Europe.

On 14 March 2020, Tinder will introduce “Swipe Night”, an original in-app interactive series that gives users the power to ‘swipe’ their own storyline. The choices will not only determine their story, but also their matches. It is a new way to connect that caters to the needs and expectations of Tinder’s main audience of Gen Z.

Tinder CEO Elie Seidman stated that while starting a conversation with new people can be daunting, “Swipe Night” offers a fun alternative for people to establish connections. This is only the latest of various innovations Tinder has come up with over the years to become the highest grossing non-game app in the world.

Beyond Tinder, the online dating industry has also grown exponentially, aided by a surge in global internet penetration and the normalization of online dating that has led to diminishing stigma associated with it. The global online dating services market was valued at $6,400.0 million in 2017 and is projected to reach $9,202 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 4.7% from 2018 to 2025.

To understand how the industry became what it is today, we need to take a look at its history. It dates back to when kiss.com was launched in 1994. The following year, match.com (now known as Match) debuted and has remained active ever since. In the years that followed, other online dating sites entered the market, including eHarmony and OKCupid. However, they were largely website based, until the first mobile dating app was introduced in March 2009: Grindr.

Grindr initially aimed for gay, bi and trans males, and has remained popular even over a decade since its inception. In its first year, the app already amassed over 500,000 users. In 2012, Hinge, Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) and Tinder mobile apps were launched, followed by Bumble in 2014. Even tech giant Facebook decided to join this saturated market in 2018 with Facebook Dating, an in-app dating feature on the latest version of Facebook App in select countries.

In Asia, there are roughly 119.8 million online dating users, with millennials aged 18-34 making up 45% of the consumer pie. Asia is such an enticing market that Match Group – which owns Tinder and Hinge – announced its plan to tap into the growing online dating market in the region and expand headcount by 40% in 2019. The company plans to invest money on a hiring spree and additional marketing efforts within the region.

By 2017, it was reported that a third of Indonesians have used online dating platforms, and 49% knew at least one couple who met online. Indonesia is such an important market that it is the sole Southeast Asian country that will get to enjoy “Swipe Night” by Tinder this March. According to Tinder Indonesia, Indonesia is very attractive “due to its large and youthful population, seeing as 89% of Tinder users in Indonesia are Gen Z-ers or Millennials”.

In Indonesia, while Tinder remains the most popular app, there is no shortage of choices for users. CMB, Bumble, Tantan, Beetalk and MeetMe are only a few of the international dating apps available in the country. There are also local options, such as Setipe and TaarufID that cater to more niche markets.

But how exactly do dating apps make money? Generally, the four sources of income for dating apps are subscriptions, advertising, ‘freemium’ plans and in-app purchases.

Some dating apps, such as Match.com and eHarmony, require users to pay a subscription fee to enjoy the services for a set period of time. With advertising, apps use their platform as a medium for other brands’ marketing purposes. Freemium plans allow users to sign up and use the basic functionalities for free, but they are required to pay for additional features. Examples include Bumble Boost, Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold that offer features such as being able to see people who ‘right swiped’ them, additional super likes and extending matching periods. In-app purchases are options available for users to buy currency, icons or other items within the app.

The subscription and freemium models are growing in popularity as the industry matures. Match Group recently reported that their revenues come largely from subscriptions rather than advertising. Users are beginning to see the value of paid services despite competition from free dating apps.

A dating app user since 2015, R believes that free dating apps in Indonesia are now more about quantity than quality in comparison to their early days. Therefore, she sees no problem with dating app monetisation as a means of quality control, saying that “love is a business. It’s an industry, and it is reasonable to pay if you get to have all these dating insights and intelligence.”

Another user, E, states that the enticing additional features are what drew her to try paid services. “It started out of curiosity of being able to see who swiped right on me, as well as screening for matches in other cities as the paid plan allows it,” she said.

In any case, Tinder offers a pro tip for app users looking for quality matches: “Provide clear and concise bio, one or two things as ice breakers such as trending topics, hot issues, or hobbies”.

So what is the good news for dating app companies? The market is ready and opportunities are ample. New players in this industry do not necessarily mean less market share for existing apps either, as most users are not exclusive to one platform. The same goes to monetisation; just because users enjoy free apps, it does not mean they are unwilling to try paid services if they see the value in them.

On the flip side, the market is also in danger of falling into the mundanity trap. That is why new innovations such as “Swipe Night” by Tinder are always on demand.

The growing acceptance of these dating apps, combined with continuous developments, indicates that the future is brighter than ever for the existing and upcoming dating apps. The market is growing and projected to remain so for years to come. Most importantly, love is an eternal currency that will never go out of style.