The Hindu Business Line : Riding the other way

KUMARAN'S parents have been looking for a suitable bride for their son for over two years now. Newspapers and matrimonial magazines have not helped. Their next choice is the Internet. But the aged couple neither have a PC nor do they know how to browse the Web.

Pitching in right at this point are online matrimonial service providers such as Shaadi.com and Bharatmatrimony.com.

Both are spreading their wings offline to help people access matrimonial services — by setting up centres equipped with computers and staff to assist in the search for brides and grooms.

While offline service providers are looking to go online, these two firms are going about it the other way.

Shaadi.com started such offline centres a few months ago under the brand name Shaadi Point. BharatMatrimony recently ventured into the offline mode through its BharatMatrimony Centre.

Both companies are targeting customers who do not have access to the Net, but would like to use the technology to find a partner.

Says Omprakash Hassanandani, Business Head, Shaadi Point, such a centre is part of a national network of one-stop match-making centres across the nation. Every point is connected to the central database. A pool of possible brides and grooms from across the nation is available to Shaadi Point members from any centre in the country, he says.

The Indian matrimony industry is estimated to be about $10 billion, but is fragmented with a number of small players operating in every region.

"Using technology and offline mode, we are trying to make it easy for parents not only to find the right prospects, but also help them with arrangements for the wedding," he says.

Shaadi Point offers free registration for people who want to feed their bio-data into the central database. Once the bio-data is added to the pool, the person becomes a member. He/she is helped to search for a suitable match.

The search can run on 15 parameters that include gender, age, height, complexion, religion, mother tongue, education, occupation and diet. The matches thrown up from the database can be seen by the member along with the photograph of the prospective groom or bride. A printout of the short-listed persons' bio-data, along with the contact details, is then made available to members.

Shaadi Point is part of Shaadi.com (of People Interactive Company), which was launched in 1997. It has over 5 million members and records over 200 million page views per month, says Hassanandani. Shaadi.com in the online space and Shaadi Point in the offline arena will complement, not compete with, each other, he says. Shaadi Point looks to generate revenue of around Rs 30 lakh a year.

Depending on the location, investment in a Shaadi Point centre could vary between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. Shaadi Point offers three packages for premium members - Rs 1,501 for three months, Rs 2,501 for six months and Rs 3,251 for a year. The company has over 30 Shaadi Points across the country, and plans to increase it to 250 within this year.

To become a franchisee of Shaadi Point, one would need to have 300 to 800 sq.ft. of office space, five to seven computers with Internet connection, a nominal investment, strong customer focus and Shaadi.com's support, he says.

The Chennai-based BharatMatrimony.com plans to set up 300 offline centres across the country and in select markets around the world.

The centres will cater to customers who either do not have access to the Internet or those who are tech-savvy but looking for easy and quick service, according to the company's CEO, Murugavel Janakiraman.

Bharatmatrimony centres would offer customers the 3-Cs — credibility, comfort and convenience. Bharatmatrimony.com has around 7.5 million members worldwide, he says. To begin with, offline centres will come up in Hyderabad, Indore, Ahmedabad and Kolkata through a franchisee-run model on a 50:50 revenue-sharing model. Depending on the location, the investment in a centre will vary between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 7 lakh.

BharatMatrimony offers three packages. Under the standard package, a customer pays Rs 1,250 and can shortlist 40 profiles over three months from the company's database. The super package, priced at Rs 2,150, is valid for six months for 90 profiles. In the premium package, a customer can get personalised service and shortlist 200 profiles. Priced at Rs 5,800, it offers membership for nine months.

Picture by K.K. Mustafah

raja@thehindu.co.in

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