Virtual dating a must before taking the leap of faith

52 per cent of the respondents confirmed they will continue to meet prospects over video calls even in a post lockdown world

'Knowing someone virtually' never got its fair share of love in India; but these unprecedented times has singles choosing the online mode as an attractive option.

Recently, in a survey by Jeevansathi.com, 46 per cent of respondents said they would like to meet their prospective partners for the first time over a video call. Out of these, 39 per cent acknowledged that virtual is the only option available at the moment, while 32 per cent feel that it is more convenient in general.

Interestingly, 52 per cent of the respondents confirmed that they will continue to meet prospects over video calls even in a post lockdown world, indicating a new-normal for online matrimony portals.

In times like these when more people are confined to their homes and lounges, as shopping centers, movie theatres still continue to be closed, the trend is big. It has has emerged as a winner on matrimony sites as prospective candidates opting for Video and Voice calls features to connect with their future soul-mates. Companies are hosting events like Virtual-Meet Ups to fast-track the selection and meeting processes.

Online events like 'Milan Samarohs' are becoming popular where people can connect with like-minded individuals over audio/video calls free of cost. Such events have facilitated a large number of meet ups in this period to help accelerate the meeting and shortlisting process. Experts believe the trend is here to stay and will be the new normal.

Rohan Mathur, Business Head, Jeevansathi said, "We have seen a surge in engagement in the last few months on our apps. We have not noticed any major change in behaviour of our audiences during the early stages like searching and shortlisting. The transformation comes when people finally decide to meet the prospective match, which is now difficult. Hence, at this stage, people are opting for virtual ways to connect. On our platforms, we have witnessed that users are engaging 3 times more with our voice & video calling feature than before. Our Milan Samaroh events have also facilitated large numbers of meetups in this period to help accelerate the meeting and shortlisting process. We believe that this change is here to stay and will be the new normal. As a result, the platform witnessed a 60 per cent hike in the number of voice and video calls. Interestingly, the total time spent by users on voice &a video calls has increased 3X while the average duration per-call has also increased to 2X."

The Video and Voice calling feature was launched on the platform in January this year for better matchmaking experience. The in-built add on voice and video feature not only helps in keeping a log of the conversations at one place but also helps in overcoming the problems of a serious user while extending the promise of perfect matching to the network of rich and genuine profiles.