In the middle of the lockdown, while the majority of the companies across sectors are firing their employees or asking them to take a pay cut, things look much brighter for the online matrimonial brands. One may wonder, that how is it possible because coronavirus has made it impossible to meet people and has restricted everyone to their homes. So how are matrimonial brands fighting against these odds and arranging marriages and online meetings?

According to several reports, brands like Bharat matrimony, Shaadi.com, Jeevansathi and dating apps like Bumble and Tinder have jumped on to the lockdown bandwagon and are luring people amid the lockdown. Infact, as per ED Times report, Bharat Matrimony has seen a 30 percent increase in registration and Shaadi.com has also witnessed a 20 percent rise in new registrations. Jeevansathi.com, on the other hand, has witnessed a 60 percent hike in the number of voice and video calls in this lockdown period. April 2020 collection for the online portal has been up 11 percent YoY.

The increase in the interest of the customers has encouraged brands to come up with new offerings. For example, Shaadi.com has introduced wedding from homes. Where the entire wedding takes place online, from arranging a purohit to a make-up artist, everything is done online. Then at the time of the wedding, the entire friends and family come together to celebrate the wedding of the couple via online platforms like Zoom or other popular apps.

Online Wedding:

But, marriages in India have always been a grand event, from lavish wedding locations to elaborate arrangements and great food, it is more about 'status' symbol in most families. So will families adopt to the online wedding way? Shaadi.com has successfully arranged some online weddings amid the lockdown.

Here's how a Bengali couple got married online amid the lockdown:

 

Jeevansathi luring customers to join the platform: 

Home Weddings by Matrimony.com: 

BharatMatrimony has launched a platform “HomeWeddings”, on MatrimonyBazaar. The platform will provide the entire range of COVID-Safe wedding services from catering to makeup including purohits at the doorstep, to help couples happily tie the knot. The best part is that they have kept the service open to the public, not just BharatMatrimony members. The micro small and medium enterprises connected to the wedding services are expected to benefit from it when their businesses have taken a huge hit amid the lockdown.

Premium Membership Free Till Lockdown:

Both Bharat Matrimony and Shaadi.com have made their premium membership free till the lockdown. It is great to see how these brands are fighting the challenges posed by COVID-19 lockdown and are innovating this space. To those who postponed their wedding plans this year, maybe would like to give it a thought once again and opt for this new matrimony method which is turning popular these days.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 04, 2020 05:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).