The document discusses the Dutch and Benelux online dating market. It finds that the market size in the Netherlands is estimated at €30-35 million annually, with around 1-1.5 million regular online daters. The largest dating sites in the Netherlands are Lexa and Relatieplanet. Fast growing players include Twoo, which has seen rapid growth through its mobile apps and social features. The document predicts that future dating sites will focus more on matchmaking through structured behavioral data and unstructured social data, and will leverage new technologies like mobile and augmented reality.

1. The Dutch and Benelux online dating market
iDate Cologne – September 2013
Eric Klaassen
Dating Insider
www.datinginsider.nl

2. What is the size of the market?
What are fast-growing "
and remarkable players?
What are the mobile trends?
What happens to online dating in 2015?
I want to enter the BeNeLux – where should I start?
“

3. Introduction to
Benelux & NL

4. The Benelux

5. The Benelux: online population
The Netherlands (NL)
16.73 m inhabitants
15.53 m online (93%)
Luxemburg
0.50 m inhabitants
(LUX)
0.46 m online (92%)
Belgium (BE)
10.44 m inhabitants
8.49 m online (81%)

6. Introducing the Dutch: fact or myth
C.
Highest
Twi+er
penetra0on
B.
Tallest
people
on
earth
A.
Highest
cannabis
usage
in
Europe
NationaalKompas, Klub Lange Mensen

7. Top social media penetration
#1 The Netherlands
26%
#1
Indonesia
87%
Emarketer (2013), ComScore (2011)
#1 The Netherlands
27%

10. A brief history of online dating in NL
First datingsite:
D-Date
Social media
explosion,
online dating
taboo starts
fading away
World Bank
Broadband
adoption
increase,"
new dating
entrants like
Relatieplanet
Dutch players
start expanding
to other
markets
Internetpenetration
Free internet
providers

11. Size of online
dating market

12. Almost 2.5 million online daters in NL
• Online population: 15.5 million
• About 15% uses dating sites, sometimes or regularly
• “Size of the prize”: 2.3 million occasional online daters
• “Active market”: 1.0-1.5 million regular online daters
Maurice de Hond, CBS

13. Size of the Dutch online dating market is
€30-35 million
• Sources at Relatieplanet in 2011: €20-25 million
• Has grown but now stabilising: €30-35 million
• Rev/cap: €2 NL
• Singles growing at steady rate:"
in 2013: 2.8 million"
in 2025: 3.3 million

14. Payment method preference of consumers
For e-commerce:
1. iDEAL (48%)
2. Paying afterwards (24%)
3. Bank transfer (8%)
4. Creditcard (8%)
5. PayPal (5%)
For dating, pay by phone is an alternative.
Provider takes ±25% (call) or 50-70% (SMS).
Blauw research (2012)

15. Breakdown of Dutch dating sites
6 - 7 "
on TV
35 - 45 usable"
for consumers
100 - 150 (semi-)"
professionally managed
600 - 650 dating sites

16. Different types of dating sites and apps
1. General"
Lexa, Relatieplanet
2. Quasi-scientific matchmaking"
Parship, eDarling
3. Special matchmaking"
Paiq, OkCupid
4. Niche"
eMatching, FunkyFish
5. Flirt SoLoMo"
Badoo, Twoo
6. Casual/adult"
Secondlove, Victoria Milan

17. Online dating
players

18. Significant dating players in BeNeLux
Flirt
Serious
Free
Freemium
Subscription
BE:
EliteDa0ng

20. Most unique visitors in NL: Lexa (Meetic)
1. Lexa.nl
455,000
(3.8%)
2. Relatieplanet
261,000
(2.2%)
3. Twoo
134,000
(1.1%)
4. Zoosk
98,000
(0.8%)
5. Pepper.nl
34,000
(0.3%)
6. Secondlove.nl
32,000
(0.3%) lower in active users
7. Knuz.nl
27,000
(0.2%) largest free datingsite
8. EDarling
24,000
(0.2%)
9. e-matching
13,000
(0.1%) niche: higher education
10. Parship
7,000
(0.1%)
July 2013 – Category: Personals
Top 10 (but different comScore category):

22. Lexa tries to upsell to paid subscription
and matchmaking site Lexamore

23. Lexa is #1 in traffic & brand awareness
• Largest datingsite in The Netherlands
• Top spender on TV advertisements
• Brand recognition: #1 in NL 68% brand awareness

24. Relatieplanet (TMG) is one of the oldest
sites in NL
• Acquired by TMG in 2005 for €21 million
• Original founder still active with Relatie.nl
• Claims 200,000 active members per month
• Only one large redesign in 2011 since the start in
2002

25. Before 2010
2011-now

26. Twoo

27. Twoo app downloaded 1+ million times
Plus: 33% of all users and 44% of NL users access website
through mobile (excluding app)"

28. Twoo offers credits and unlimited
subscription

29. Twoo: one of the fastest growing
datingsites in history
• Initially started in Belgium in April 2011
• Within a year, 10 million unique visits per month
• Twoo was taken over by Meetic for €18.9 million
• 70,000 paying members (March 2013) delivering
€2.1 million euro of revenues for Q1. €30 per
member, €10 per month.
• Meetic as a whole: marketing costs are 59% of
revenues, but marketing of Twoo is cheaper.
DatingInsider

30. One of the reasons for initial quick growth

31. Another reason for quick growth

32. Paiq: meet the most intelligent dating site

33. 8+
years of existence
1000s
active users
€0
spend on marketing

34. The magic inside
• Text chat to unblur photo of your partner
• No profiles, just a questionnaire
• Special features like BattleDate
• Better matching using artificial intelligence
• Photo ratings and actual on-site behaviour are used for
matching

35. Why users like Paiq
• More focus on personality: chat to
deblur photo first
• More anonymous: no profile
search and blurred photos
• Intelligent matching system with
simple scoring system (1.0-10.0)
• Matching takes into account
physical attractiveness
• Large user base (so plenty of fish)
• Features like BattleDate and photo
rating system are fun

36. Paiq: smart freemium with dynamic costs

37. Paiq also offers subscription

38. The Inner Circle

42. The Inner Circle offers very simple
subscription

43. Remarkable player: The Inner Circle
• Invitation only (5 per member)
• All members checked before acceptance
• Started within group young, successful people
• Expansion strategy to start in new city with local expert
when there is some traction.
• Active in Amsterdam (6000+ members), London
(4000 members)

44. Mobile dating
trends

45. 42%
of Dutch households"
owns a tablet

46. The Netherlands is a tablet country, still
mainly iPad (32.4%) and Samsung (18.0%)
IDC: market share Q2 2013

47. Twoo:
2011 Nov to 2013 May
doubled
Mobile an important driver of
revenue for SoLoMo flirt
dating sites.
Mobile: essential revenue driver or
dissatisfier when absent?
Meetic Group (excl. Twoo):
2011 Q1Q2: 3.2%
2012 Q1Q2: 3.3%
Mobile not a driver of
revenue for general dating
sites, but important part of
core proposition.
+2.9%
+100%

48. Strategic choice: free app or paid app

49. Outlook: dating
in 2015

50. Does online dating suffer from
Facebook?
Which of the following BEST describes how you met your current partner online?
Through an online dating / relationship website
53.5%
Through a social networking website (e.g. Facebook)
7.6%
Through an online discussion board / forum / blog
(not linked to online dating)
8.6%
Through a chat room (not linked to online dating)
17.8%
Other
12.6%
Total (married or co-habitation and met partner online, n=837)
100.0%
DatingInsider

51. Facebook’s Graph Search is not yet
available in Benelux

52. Future: the ‘return’ of matchmaking
• Matching based on
‘what people say’ does
not work
• Self-learning algorithms
• Based on:
– Structured data (actual
behaviour)
– Unstructured data (e.g.
social media likes)

53. Future: advanced SoLoMo
• Apple patent to identify
other users that are
nearby
• Highlight, SonarMe
apps

54. Google Glass + FindMyFace + Plus
30 years old
single
lawyer
likes Suits tv-series
Linda

55. Recommen-
dations

56. Five tips for entering Dutch and Benelux
online dating market
1. Bring a lot of money – or a truly inventive concept
2. Provide trust & transparency
3. Lean development: build–measure–learn
4. Leverage mobile presence – including tablet
5. Grow towards the critical mass

57. Contact for more information:
Eric Klaassen
eric@datinginsider.nl
http://www.datinginsider.nl