Tinders New App Finds You A Marriage Partner In A Year
Observation: Japan's $0.5 billion arranged-marriage industry revolves around physical stores that employ lots of salespeople and service staff, meaning they're expensive to run and pricey for consumers
Match Group wants to disrupt Japan's "omiai" or arranged-marriage industry with Pairs Engage, a "more efficient and less expensive service geared to those who are highly motivated and want to get married within a year.
The app suggests 30 potential husbands or wives a month, and includes a 24/7 concierge service
Match pitched Pairs Engage as a tool to help lift Japan's slumping marriage and birth rates. Those declines are the result of more women entering the workforce and shunning marriage and its domestic burdens, and fewer men feeling financially stable enough to support a family,
Nearly half of Japanese people who want to get married can't find a suitable partner
Why: Technology provides a new solution to an old problem, providing scale and automation to enhance the opportunity for success.
It’s a natural evolution from dating site to marriage site.
The Future: More apps and services will become more direct in finding marriage solutions for people. Helps provide clarity on dating sites for peoples expectatinos (the difference in intention of dating, sex, long term relationship and marriage).
As the industry service of connecting people has reached ubiquity and mainstram status, it is now becoming more personalised and niched.
Expect the generalised platforms like Tinder and Bumble to struggle for relevance as other platforms provide more specific answers to more specific needs.
- JS