How did you conceive of this idea of overweightshaadi.com?
It was at a cousins wedding in January 2008 that I hit upon the idea of
this website where people like my cousin, inspite of being overweight, managed
to find a suitable match for herself. That made us think that success of a
marriage depends on finding your soulmate, whom you connect with and can accept
the way he/she is.
In the online matrimonial world, what makes overweightshaadi.com stand out
from the rest?
Our focus is to help our members find actual connection rather than just
attraction because of physical beauty. In order to help members achieve that, we
provide two services. First, we promote the core concept that one does not need
to be physically perfect to find a perfect match. Secondly, based on members
feedback, we have now introduced features that help replicate a real-life
meeting experience, and hence, help members gauge their compatibility factor.
The newly installed features includecompatibility calculator, and biorhythm.
For better communication with other members, there are new features namely VoIP
phone, video chat, messenger, flash chat, YouTube like video sharing facility,
etc.
What is the revenue generation model of the website?
Basic registration is free after which a member can browse other members
profiles and express his/her interest. But one has to be paid member in order to
contact other members. The three types of paid membership aresilver, gold, and
platinumwherein silver is valid for three months, gold for six months, while
platinum is valid for a year. Since its launch in Diwali in 2008, we now have
more than 1,000 members. We have about 500-2,000 hits a day.
How do you plan to take forward overweightshaadi.com?
In the initial stage we are focusing majorly on our online presence. Once
the brand is established, we intend to launch franchise branches in different
cities across India and abroad, which will have value based offerings of
counselling to grooming. In future we are also keen to explore partnerships with
plus size clothing brands as well as renowned counsellors. The long-term goal is
to evolve the brand into a solutions offering for plus size men and women. This
would include wedding planning services, counselling, wellness programs and much
more.
Stuti Das
stutid@cybermedia.co.in
