Bill Dobbie has recently announced that Cupid, his dating site, has successfully expanded into the American dating website sector, as evidenced by revenues going up sharply.
Now that the figures are in – which indicate that Cupid’s expansion into the ‘new markets’ of the US, Europe, and Canada led to a £22 million hike in turnover in just the first half of 2012 – there are plans to establish a permanent US-based office by the end of this year. Doing so will enable Cupid to manage its costs much better, thus increasing its bottom line even further, experts say.
The dating service, which is based in Edinburgh, has been just as successful at home as well. It’s ‘established’ markets in the UK, New Zealand, Ireland, and Australia, ave been growing at around 5 to 10 per cent, while Cupid also reported that India, Brazil, and other ‘developing territories’ have begun to pick up steam as well. However, the American success of Cupid has been a feather in Cupid’s cap, especially since the major players in the US dating website market hold high percentages of market share.
A small player such as Cupid could have easily found itself lacking both the resources and the brands to thrive in the American dating market, experts said. However, with the success of the website incontrovertible, this ‘proof of concept’ could pave the way for not only more growth across the pond for Cupid but could bring growth opportunities for more UK online-based businesses similar to Cupid.
