Bumble’s dating boom slows as zillennial users cut swipey spend (and choose cheaper dates)

Cuffing szn is here… but investors have mixed feelings about Bumble. It grew sales 16% last quarter, but the pace of its swipe-driven growth is slowing. Bumble’s female-focused dating app also added a record 164K paying users last quarter, but experienced lower renewal rates on key paid subscriptions (especially with younger users). The company issued a weak forecast for this quarter as the strong US dollar hurts sales for its international dating apps like Euro-focused Badoo and Fruitz, which it picked up this year.

Post-work drinks… over Two-Buck Chuck. Since 2017 Bumble has nearly doubled its market share, but the brand is starting to see weaker spend from younger users on perks like unlimited swipes and extended matches. It’s a theme: this year nearly a quarter of millennials and nearly as many Gen Zers say they’ve gone into debt from splurging on dates, a recent survey found. Still:

• Tinder owner Match Group beat expectations last week thanks to its diverse portfolio of 20+ e-romance businesses, including Hinge, which last month saw record downloads.
• But Match also warned that the gloomy economy was weighing on discretionary app spend and hurting Match brands that serve swipers with lower incomes.