Can new dating app Coffee Meets Bagel help you find love in an already crowded market?

SINGAPORE — Love is gold — the dating business is a booming one. In the United States, the industry generates approximately US$2 billion (S$2.72 billion) in revenue each year, with dating apps expected to log US$628.8 million this year, up from US$572 million in 2014. And according to Shn Juay, head of operations for homegrown dating app Paktor, the overall market size for the seven countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia) they operate in is worth at least US$1 billion. Paktor is one of the most widely used dating apps in Singapore, with about 700,000 downloads to date. Of course, Tinder continues to rule the scene with more than 50 million users worldwide.

Rivals in love

But there is one dating app that wants to muscle in significantly. San Francisco-based dating app Coffee Meets Bagel is a relatively new player in the market here, having launched in Singapore only in August last year, after it first started stateside in 2012. It is already making waves with its user-centric algorithms. To date, the app has made 2.5 million introductions among singles in Singapore, with 59 percent of users logging in to the app daily. With its new model #LadiesChoice, launched last month, users will have even more of a customised experience, lending the app an edge over its competitors.

Co-founder of Coffee Meets Bagel Dawoon Kang, who was recently in Singapore to launch #LadiesChoice, said: “We’ve learned from our members that men and women have very different styles of dating. Men like more selection, while women are more selective. Having control over their dating experience is also very important for women.”

With this insight, Kang and her co-founders decided to revamp the Coffee Meets Bagel experience. Now, men will receive up to 21 quality matches (known as “Bagels”) each day, which they can either like or pass. Women will receive up to six Bagels, but these matches are men who have already expressed interest. This is a big leap from other dating apps such as Tinder or OkCupid where you get seemingly hundreds of matches, but very few whom you would actually date.

Win-Win Solution

Kang asserts that with Coffee Meets Bagel, you may be getting fewer matches, but the computer algorithm ensures you are matched with people whom you are more likely to take an interest in. By combing through your demographic data, interests, social network and individual Coffee Meets Bagel like/pass history, the computer algorithm will then match you with users whose profiles are most compatible with yours.

Kang added: “We piloted the #LadiesChoice model in Hong Kong in April 2016, and received great feedback from our users. In fact, in the first week we rolled out the changes, the number of matches per user shot up by 87 percent!”

With the launch of the #LadiesFirst model, Kang is looking forward to facilitating even more connections and potential relationships. She says: “Whenever I check out #CMBcouple on Instagram, it’s so heartwarming to see pictures of all these happy couples who’ve met through Coffee Meets Bagel. It’s like, we literally changed their lives.”