An evening with Mr Murugavel Janakiraman
Introduction
On Friday, August 16, we had the 161st session of the WiseViews Leadership Conversation series, featuring Mr. Murugavel Janakiraman, the Founder, CMD, and CEO of Matrimony.com.
The purpose of Matrimony is to enable happy marriages. Mr Murugavel sincerely believes that happy marriages lead to a better society and consequently to a better nation.
In his insightful talk, Mr. Murugavel shared his experiences as a pioneer in the online matchmaking industry. He offered a deep dive into the technological innovations that have shaped and will continue to shape the evolution and growth of Matrimony.com. Mr Murugavel explained how AI, machine learning, and data analytics are transforming user experiences. Mr Murugavel also provided a forward-looking perspective on the trends impacting the future of online matrimonial services. He also articulated the strategic vision for Matrimony.com.
About Mr. Murugavel Janakiraman
Mr Murugavel Janakiraman is the Founder, CMD & CEO of Matrimony.com, whose flagship brand, BharatMatrimony, is India's No.1 & most trusted matrimony service. In 1997, he pioneered the concept of online matchmaking that changed the way Indians marry. With 3000+ employees across 110+ branches in 20 Indian cities and abroad, Matrimony.com is the first pure-play consumer Internet Company in India to go public.
In FY 2024, Matrimony achieved a turnover of Rs 481.4 crores, a net profit of Rs 49.6 crores and 1.07 million paid subscriptions. The total number of employees (excluding subsidiaries and associates) as of 31st March 2024 was 2,713.
Mr Murugavel’s long list of accolades include being named one of the Top 5 Asian Indian Businessmen in the US under 35 by the Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Business Icon of the Year by the India Today Group, and the “Entrepreneur of the Year” twice by The Economic Times. The Exchange4Media’s Impact Magazine featured him among Top Technology Leaders – 2020, while YourStory recognised him as a "Disruptor" in the tech domain. He was also awarded the Digital Entrepreneur of the Year by WAT.
Mr. Murugavel is a frequent speaker at major summits, the Harvard School of Business, IAMAI, CII, Stanford India and FICCI, being a few of them. The Chairman of The Chennai Zone of CII-2022-23, Mr. Murugavel is currently on the CII Tamil Nadu State Council.
Mr. Murugavel has also been the Chairman of The Chennai Zone of CII and is presently an elected member of the CII Tamil Nadu State Council.
Four major challenges
There are four major challenges any business faces:
Changes in customer preferences: As society evolves, customer preferences change. These preferences are also shaped by the media. Consider the setback to Nestle after press reports indicated the presence of lead in Maggie noodles. Matrimony has continued to evolve in response to changing consumer preferences.
Changes in government policies: A good example is the imposition of 28% GST on gaming companies. (In its 50th meeting held in July 2023, the GST council decided to levy 28 per cent tax -- the highest slab -- on the full face value of online gaming, bringing it on par with casinos and horse racing. The council decided against having any distinction between 'games of skill' and 'games of chance.'). It is often not possible to influence government policies. But sometimes lobbying can pay off. Mr Murugavel recalled a policy change which the government was contemplating about 10 years back. It would have been detrimental to the industry. Fortunately, he along with some likeminded people were able to prevent the government from going ahead.
Changes in business model: Business models keep evolving. A new entrant can come and change the rules of the game. Low-cost airlines have challenged the traditional airlines. Quick commerce companies (ecommerce in which delivery is made quickly, typically within an hour) are disrupting the grocery business.
Changes in technology: Consider Nokia. About 15 years back, it was the most trusted brand in the country. It had everything going for it. Nokia had a large retail presence and a wide product range. Yet, it failed to embrace Android and went into oblivion.
How should businesses respond to these changes? There are various approaches.
Be ahead
Companies can be pioneers and be the change. But this is not easy. Take the example of the computer storage industry. As technology changed from one kind of disk drive to another (floppies to CD ROMs to pen drives), existing leaders faded out and new leaders emerged. Sometimes, a company may pioneer a new technology but may fail to capitalize on it. Kodak is a good example. Kodak invented the digital camera but could not capitalize on it. History is replete with once tech leaders fading away over time. Intel has lost much of its edge in the wake of competition from Nvidia.
Adapt
Companies can quickly adapt to the winning technologies. Nokia failed to embrace Android. In contrast, Amazon has adopted to new technologies successfully. Amazon gives its leaders enough freedom to try out new technologies.
Matrimony has successfully adapted to technology changes. It made the transition from desktop to PWA (progressive web apps) to mobile app. It has also leveraged AI well in many areas of the business: drive efficiency, increase automation, better match making algorithm, fraud prevention (by studying the usage pattern) thereby improving credibility and trust, photo validation, profile validation and biodata creation.
Matrimony was probably the first company to insist on the mobile number at the time of registration. This strategy ran the risk of losing some customers but eventually paid off. Thanks to the mobile number, trust and credibility improved. (Otherwise, profiles can be faked.)
In 1997, Matrimony essentially provided basic match making services based on education, income, caste, etc. But over time, it has become more sophisticated with matching based on personalities, hobbies, interests, etc. Today, Matrimony also offers assisted match making services (A relationship manager takes care of the matchmaking.). Horoscope generation and matching, virtual swayamvaras, voice profiles are other examples of innovation.
In September 2023 Matrimony relaunched its apps with a new design. This was the culmination of months of user research, UX and UI improvements, rewriting some of the core functionalities in the app and collecting customer feedback. The aim was to improve the ease of use.
In December 2023, Matrimony launched a new customer service platform to help members find a quick resolution to their queries, complaints and feedback. This omni-channel platform helps users to use phone, chat, mail or in-app methods to contact the customer service team to get the required information.
Many pioneering initiatives
When rolling out his business, Mr Murugavel realized that India is not one country. The diversity is enormous. Marriages happen within the community. Mr Murugavel identified 200+ communities in the country. This resulted in the idea of micro segmentation: Christians, Muslims, Jains, Patels, Agarwals, doctors, divorcees, LGBTs, Indian Americans, rich and affluent, divorcees, bottom of the pyramid, LGBT, etc. The price point ranges from Rs 1000 to Rs 7-8 lakhs.
Elite Matrimony: It is an exclusive match making service for the rich and the affluent. Experience centres set up in the airports have created a buzz in the social media.
Jodii: Jodii is a vernacular matrimony service that targets the lower strata of society: men and women with education like Diploma, 12th or 10th standard and below, working as technicians, salesmen/ salesgirls, drivers, cooks, delivery executives, tele-callers, guards, factory workers, supervisors, clerks and more.
Rainbowluv.com: This is for LGBTs.
Luv.com: to find a partner who truly understands us, leading to deeper compatibility in the romantic relationship. This app aims to address Next Generation (Next-Gen) serious relationships. The offering will focus on the theme of “love” before marriage. Millions want to fall in love but they do not have the opportunity.
MeraLuv.com: This is an exclusive dating app for Indian Americans.
Market share
Competitors are trying to emulate Matrimony. But Matrimony’s competitive position is quite strong.
In the south, east, and to some extent in the west, Matrimony has a stranglehold on the market, with more than 90% market share. This is mainly due to the strong connect with the customers and the network effect. When millions are already on the site, why go elsewhere? There is hardly any competitor. In the North too, the company has a large market share (50%) but is trying to expand its presence further. Even in Bangladesh, Matrimony has a strong presence. The culture in south Asia (Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh) is like that in India and Mr Murugavel sees big opportunities.
Matrimony’s all India branch presence enables services to be provided to the customers in the local language and adds visibility to the brand. Matrimony was the first company to offer door to door payment collection facility at a time when credit card penetration in the country was low.
Future growth from adjacencies
The Matrimony brand has become well known and has become synonymous with its category. So the way forward is to expand the market by driving top of the funnel growth, i.e. by attracting potential customers and leads. There are three key components to the company’s business model: more members, conversion into paying members and offering the service at the right price.
The company’s key strategic focus areas for FY 2024-25 include: accelerate Jodii, retail outlets and personalized services to enhance growth in matchmaking, enhance product differentiation based on customer preferences, behaviour and evolving trends and enter new segments such as MeraLuv.com and Luv.com to address noncustomers.
To attract customers, Matrimony has several initiatives already rolled out or in the pipeline: leverage AI to improve the product and increase conversions, consider adjacencies (integration with astrology services, wedding services (mandap.com and wedding bazaar.com) and counselling services.
Marriage services: Matrimony has forward integrated into providing marriage services across the value chain. It has emerged as a one-stop shop for its customers for venue bookings, catering, decorations, etc. WeddingBazaar offers a range of wedding-related services, encompassing vendors for photography, makeup, mehendi, wedding planning, catering, decorations, etc. Mandap.com is a wedding venue booking platform that offers the convenience of reserving mandaps, banquet halls, and convention halls across the country. The company plan to scale up marriage services through a network of over 200,000 vendors across 40+ cities.
Counselling: Mr Murugavel is particularly serious about providing counselling services. Many people have little idea of what it takes to make a marriage work. If people marry with enough preparation, the marriages are more likely to succeed. Also, when things go wrong, people do not know whom to talk to. If they go to the wrong person, the marriage can be wrecked. Matrimony has set up the website: https://www.happymarriages.com/
Diaspora
Indian values are strong and deep. That is why marriages last. Even among the Indian diaspora, the divorce rate is lower when compared to the west. But a lot more can be done to educate people on how to deal with differences. That is the crux of a great marriage. If people have a better understanding of what marriage is and if they find the right life partner, the marriage will quite likely succeed.Q&A
Mr Murugavel admitted that it was not a deliberate or well thought out strategy. He was working as a software developer in the US. As a hobby, over the weekends, he developed a website for the Tamil community outside India. Matrimony, one of the services offered was in great demand. After providing various services (festival reminders, daily calendars, ticket booking) for about 2.5 years, Mr Murugavel decided to take the plunge and launched an exclusive matrimony service for the Tamil people. He also included the Telugu community as many Telugu people resided in his locality in Chennai. The service soon expanded to other communities. There has been no looking back since then. Looking back, Mr Murugavel feels that entrepreneurs must start somewhere and work with passion and commitment towards their goal. The strategy may not be clear on Day 1.
This is very important. All efforts are made to protect key information. The information is stored in encrypted form and that too for match making for a limited period of typically 9-12 months. Once people find their life partner, most of the information is deleted. (This is unlike say Facebook.) Customers are provided various privacy options: for example, with whom they would like to share their photos.
There is no ongoing communication/engagement with people who have already used the website to find their life partner. Some do stay in touch and share their experiences. For example, there are stories of multiple members of the family finding their life partner through Bharat Matrimony. Mr Murugavel is eagerly waiting for a story on how two generations (parents and children) have used the site to locate their life partner.
Matrimony is quite selective about admitting people into the community. It is only for people serious about getting married. However, it is difficult to gauge the intentions of people always. So, in case of complaints, a thorough investigation is done.
Before launching a business, we should be clear about the target segment. We should also be clear about what we are trying to offer: attacking a pain point, giving some benefit or providing an enriched experience. We should ask why customers will come to us. That means being clear about our value proposition. We should also be clear about what price customers will be prepared to pay and at that price whether we will be able to make profits.
We should identify something we are passionate about. We should have a desire, faith in our desire, keep improving our skills and put in relentless efforts.