(Online Dating Industry Journal) In this week's "Inside the Industry" column on Online Dating Magazine, some of the unique positive steps online dating services have taken to get and keep customers were discussed. One of the more interesting positive moves discussed in the column was that of Chemistry.com "First-meeting" date planning option. From the article:
"Chemistry.com was launched by Match.com to compete with eHarmony in one of the five types of online dating services - relationship services. One cool feature Chemistry.com introduced was First-Meeting(tm). This feature helps you plan your first date (mostly aimed at local coffee house suggestions) along with agreeing on the date and time. After your first date, First-Meeting allows you to input feedback (for your own viewing) about that date, the chemistry, and your experience. Then it allows you to send a message on whether you'd like to continue dating. It's a great new tool in the online dating process."
Other positive moves by Internet dating sites mentioned in the column include the ability to search by new photos, offering a money back guarantee, providing a duel interest option for couples, allowing users to use credits per online communication rather than a flat monthly fee, the ability to respond to emails for free, and services releasing positive details that promote online dating as a more common option.
Kim's Comments:
These are all great features that several major dating services have implemented into their sites. Online dating as an industry continues to evolve and, in most cases, improve - allowing a more streamlined and useful user experience. While it is helpful to point out where dating services have fallen off the mark, it is also a good idea to make note of any positive changes in online dating so that those positive changes become more frequent and improve the industry as a whole.
We're always adding new features (almost on a daily basis) that our users request. Most of these features have been social networking related, allowing users to connect in new ways. We have received a lot of positive feedback on changes and continue to refine them. Our plan is to keep listening to our users' needs and evolving the site (Matchdoctor.com) based on their feedback.
Posted by: Luke | April 18, 2006 at 12:24 PM