The O2O model of Chinese matchmaking websites

China's matchmaking industry has a history of more than 23 years, the first began in Guangzhou, a marriage organization affiliated to the Communist Youth League. November 1982, by the Guangzhou Municipal Editorial Office, Bureau of Finance Bureau of the Ministry of Personnel, Guangzhou is also the first domestic Shang-guang-Qing matchmaking established by the Director of Youth Cultural Palace concurrently director, under the Guangzhou Municipal Youth League, by the municipal committee, the municipal government appropriated funds and staffing.

Many people, including some government officials, believe that marriage introductions should be non-profit. But most institutions in Shanghai, and even across the country, operate on corporate behavior. Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau after investigation found that the Shanghai matchmaking industry for the Shanghai marriage number of the contribution of about 7%.

Nonprofit institutions generally have a community background, such as the General Union, the Communist Youth League, but their institutions are not large, market services share is very small, less than 1%. In addition, the country's matchmaking agencies are taking the market-oriented road, many people entered the industry, some people succeed, there are many people mismanagement. According to research, the average life expectancy of the national matchmaking company is only three years. Can do few decades. Income is good, there will not be more than 10 in a city. Most are profitable, but not high, and the profit is about 40,000 to 50,000 per month. The proportion of this group accounts for 50% to 60%. There are also poorly-paid institutions that could face closure or mergers once the crisis strikes, which accounts for 30%.

Traditional matchmaking has a process of transformation. In Shanghai, for example, in the past 12 years, it has been divided into three stages: the first stage is the most original matchmaker introduction; the second stage, the traditional matchmaking and network matchmaking each other development, coexistence, the third stage, is also the last four years, has basically completed the network matchmaking and traditional matchmaking integration.

More than 70% of Shanghai's matchmaking agencies completed this integration, both the network operation means, but also the mode of service workers. For example, Shanghai Yuanyang Marriage Introduction Service Co., Ltd., a company has three websites in support, there are matchmaking sites, dating sites, oriental network of dating channels. Some people refuse matchmaking, can enter from the road of making friends, some have little faith in matchmaking and dating, and can make friends by entering the Oriental network. This consolidation has also begun to change the size of a matchmaking investment. In the past, it took only 100,000 to invest in a matchmaking agency, and now it cannot be less than 3.5 million. And the employees are not the past Laid-off workers, white-collar have been involved in it. "Shanghai Marriage Introduction Management measures" clearly stipulates: As a matchmaking operator, must have a college education.

Today's matchmaking agencies are much bigger than they used to be, with higher technology and more differentiated services. During this period, the customer group has also undergone great changes. At the beginning, mainly for the elderly single, middle-aged and widowed service, and later expanded into the age of youth, white-collar workers even for high-end services.

The combination of matchmaking and other industries is relatively few. If the matchmaking is likened to the upstream of the industrial chain, the wedding is the downstream of the industrial chain. Many matchmaking agencies are starting to offer one-stop service, a new trend in the industry. But now the ratio is less than 5%.

The current market is not mature enough, there are wedding services outrageous, marriage, fraud and other illegal violations. In the future, the disorderly Elephant Wedding Matchmaking Service market needs to strengthen the standardized management. In the current situation of regulatory loopholes, the wedding industry must rely on industry self-discipline, like the Bar Association, the unified price, the establishment of matchmaking associations and other means, through the Matchmaking association to absorb part of the industry more influential wedding matchmaking agencies, through more systematic research, set up a series of industry service standards, such as wedding car decoration is divided into several grades, each level of the price of the number of standards to be refined.

I observe the industry for many years, very optimistic about the current network matchmaking development. The future trend, must be the network and the ground to combine the new marriage introduction mode. Century Jia yuan in this respect set up the industry model, become the industry benchmark. In addition, Lily nets, cherish nets, marry my network and so do better, many of them have venture capital involved.

Century Jiayuan Web site revenue mainly through member contributions, online "bright list" products and ground activities three channels. Another will be the introduction of wireless value-added services, online mating services and other value-added services, and into the wedding, childcare areas.

At the time of creation, compared with other dating sites at that time, the greatest feature of the century Jiayuan was the repeated emphasis on its "seriousness". In order not to let the site's members fooled, century good margin of false information set up four "firewall": Customer service manual audit, technical means shielding, network police 24 hours online inspection and member complaints mechanism.

July 2010, Century Jiayuan to 54.41% market share firmly occupy the industry first position, with the second, the city accounted for 8.15% of the lily net compared to the lead of about 46% (reference to Internet laboratory data), daily average number of independent visitors reached more than 3 million (refer to the IRIS Consulting monitoring data).

According to the Century Jiayuan data, Century Jiayuan current membership total of 30 million people, basically achieved a break-even, and a slight surplus.

Century Jiayuan is not a traditional one-time pay membership fee model, but free registration, pay by effect, that is, only in the view of the first person sent to you "love letter" mail, or to participate in the century good edge of the line activities to pay. Well, it's clear that century's premium fees for young people living in this network age, spending a dollar to see what is written in a love letter from someone else is not an expense that cannot be sustained or considered. If you receive too many love letters, there are monthly packages. For those who do not want to pay, century Jiayuan also retained a channel, that is, they can send a letter, waiting for the other side of the message to see for free. Because the site is only the first letter of the exchange charges, this approach to ensure that the revenue, and will not affect the user's active degree.

Although the online dating model is increasingly accepted by more and more young people, the overall user scale continues to expand, but there is always a predictable growth limit. At the same time, the site itself for these users, and did not form a long-term stickiness-members in the request, although frequent login, but as long as friends succeed will quickly leave. How can you dig out more business value from a single user?

October 2010, that is, after the establishment of the century Jia Yuan seven years, the century Jia Yuan investment 20 million, the formation of a new team, founded by the century Jia Yuan-owned marriage portal-Magpie network. Magpie network located in a vertical portal on marriage information, in the century good friends successful, and immediately after the production of marriage needs of users, will be in the first time to be guided to the Magpies online to obtain information on products and services, and so on.

Despite the original motion, there has been a VC questioned the "front pull too long, will increase the risk of failure", but the century good edge is that, instead of "outside" to go, to open up overseas markets, in the industry chain vertical integration to face the difficulty and risk is obviously much smaller. Nor is it chasing the most fashionable "concepts" of E-commerce or group buying, simply starting with the information portal. The decision was unanimously supported by the Angels. The author boldly speculated that the future of the century Jiayuan is likely to become the first listed marriage dating site.

(The writer is a researcher of Peking University, Beijing Consulting Center)