In a new study, dating app Coffee Meets Bagel has revealed how singles can nab themselves that all important second date.
Asking 1,000 couples who met on the app, and 6,000 singles still using it, Coffee Meets Bagel worked out what the couples did well and what singles aren’t doing right, by comparing answers from each group.
Dawoon Kang, co-founder of Coffee Meets Bagel said: “We were surprised to see certain findings emerge in the data from couples. We were so inspired to hear about what worked from our success stories.
“We felt a responsibility to share this valuable information and help take some of the guesswork and anxiety out of first dates for singles looking to find love.”
For starters, the company asked participants how long they speak to a match before they venture out on a first date.
And interestingly, those in a relationship were willing to take things a tad slower, with 37% of couples saying they waited for a week or longer before their first date, compared to just 20% of singles.
But this wasn’t the only thing that couples chose to take their time on, with just 29% saying that they kissed on their first meeting, compared to a huge 45% of singles who said they often kissed on the first date.
And according to the study, the majority of couples (77%) planned their second date during, or the day after, the first date, and 56% messaged straight after they’d met.
This compared to just 43% of singles who said they spoke to their date immediately after the first date ended.
According to Coffee Meets Bagel, 62% of men in a relationship planned where they took their partner on the first date – gumption that singles seem to be lacking, with 52% saying they usually like to plan it together.
And in terms of where to go, 33% of couples chose to go out to dinner on their first date, compared to 29% who went for drinks and 16% who went for coffee, with a whopping 80% of men in relationships taking care of the bill.
However when asked where their date location of choice would be, more singles said they would rather go for drinks (38%) in comparison to dinner (14%) and coffee (25%), with 67% of single women saying they would prefer to split the cheque.
And according to Coffee Meets Bagel, 84% of users surveyed looked up date locations on sites such as Yelp – a finding that inspired the company to create its own date location finder, First Date Spot.
The site is powered using Yelp’s newest Fusion API and Yelp data and lets singles specify the kind of date they want to go on, before rifling through Yelp’s database to find them their perfect date location.
Chad Richard, SVP Business & Corporate Development at Yelp said: “Coffee Meets Bagel has realised a great opportunity in not only connecting people, but helping them find an ideal location for a first date by using local Yelp content.
“Their integration of the Yelp Fusion API will add a lot of value to the Coffee Meets Bagel community, and hopefully tee up the perfect setting for true love!”
To find out more about Coffee Meets Bagel’s findings click here, and read more about First Date Spot here.