But only in his six months as the company’s new CEO has an important lesson become clear: Love conquers all – except when other dating apps are much easier to use.
“Whatever the onboarding time is for us,” Langston recently told Business Insider, raising a flattened hand to about eye-level, “Tinder is here,” he said, lowering his hand about two feet. “We’ve got to get in the universe of ease of use, so that the person who wants a relationship can see a way to use us.”
Historically, eHarmony has not thought of swipe-based apps as competitors, since they tend to cater to more casual daters. But there are plenty of people who now use those apps to look for long-term partners – on Tinder it’s 80% of users. Langston sees that shift as his best chance to entice marriage-seekers and, in the process, revive a dying brand.
‘That’s our failure’
Langston is the first to admit eHarmony needs help. Though the company essentially pioneered online dating a decade and a half ago, it has since fallen far behind the pack.
Dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and many others offer addicting swipe-based interfaces and seamless design that keep younger customers coming back. eHarmony users, on the other hand, fill out detailed questionnaires in the hopes of finding secure, long-term partners – a far cry from mindless thumb swipes.
Langston blames eHarmony’s continued focus on marketing over user experience for its current challenges. While other apps are free and simple to use, eHarmony’s users complain about high costs and poor functionality. The app has a one-star rating in the App Store.
By last count, eHarmony has about 750,000 paid subscribers and 10 million active users, which is about the same number it’s had since 2012, Langston says. Tinder, meanwhile, has roughly 1.8 million premium users and 50 million people using the app. Two-year-old Bumble is also quickly gaining steam, having already accrued 3.5 million active users. Fortsett å lese EHarmony is gearing up for a battle to win back millennials from Tinder and Bumble