Applications
Digital Commerce Market to spike by 33% in 2013
MUMBAI: The total digital commerce market in India was valued at Rs 473.49 billion in December 2012 and is expected to grow by 33 per cent to achieve Rs 629.67 billion by the end of 2013. This is according to the latest Digital Commerce Report, by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, released today.
Source: IAMAI-IMRB International
The report claims that while Online Travel, which includes booking rail, air, bus tickets, hotel accommodations and tour packages comprised a majority 71 per cent of the whole Digital-Commerce pie in 2012, E-Tailing, which includes purchases of various consumer products or services such as electronics, apparels, footwear, jewellery, home & kitchen appliances, consumer durables, furnishings, constituted 16 per cent of the overall share.
Financial Services, which include services such as paying insurance premiums and renewals, paying utility and mobile bills, trading shares and securities amounted to 6 per cent of the overall share. B2B and B2C Classifieds (jobs, matrimony, car, real estate etc.) contributed 5 per cent, whereas other online services such as online entertainment ticketing, online food delivery, buying discounts/deals/vouchers etc. constituted 2 per cent of the overall digital commerce market in 2012.
Source: IAMAI-IMRB International
According to the report, online travel industry has on an average grown by 32 per cent from Rs 149.53 billion in 2009 to Rs 345.44 billion in 2012 and is estimated to grow by another 30 per cent and be valued at Rs 449.07 billion by the end of December. The E-Tailing category has grown from Rs 15.5 billion in the year 2009 to INR 64.54 billion in year 2012. This category is estimated to grow by 55 per cent and cross 100 billion by the end of this year.
Financial services market was valued at Rs 28.86 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow by 25 per cent and reach to Rs 36.07 billion by the end of the year. According to the report, Classifieds market has seen a significant growth and has reached Rs 23.54 billion in 2012. Classifieds as a category has grown with a CAGR of 45 per cent growth from 2009 and is expected to grow by another 30 per cent to Rs 30.61 billion by end of the year.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
