Last year, it seemed like the whole world was going crazy. The COVID-inflicted club shutdowns were everywhere. Fitness business owners couldn’t predict what would happen to their businesses or if their businesses would continue to stay afloat. Those concerns also inspired many fitness business owners to consider pulling back on investments or even closing their shops completely.
Amid this chaos, technology was crucial for their survival. It created a way for fitness businesses to provide services and accommodate members without having face-to-face contact. Fitness business owners moved their businesses online, added touchless technology to their facilities, started collecting data on club usage and membership freezes, made online payments possible, and much more. Technology’s role in the industry had been growing for years; the pandemic simply accelerated it.
With lockdowns lifted across most parts of the world, fitness businesses have now reopened. The owners have a new and relatively better understanding of their businesses. They know their strengths that make them unique in an already crowded marketplace, their weaknesses, ability to pivot and be nimble, and ways to engage members differently in this hybrid economy.
So, Where do the Health Clubs, Fitness Studios, and Gyms Go from Here?
The future of health and fitness technology is bright. Leaders in this industry are already at the forefront of implementing new digital technologies and solutions, which have helped them create successful brands that offer great experiences for members across many platforms with better services than ever before. The benefits? More members, reduced churn, and lower acquisition rates for continued growth and revenue. The need for digital transformation has become an absolute necessity if you want your business to survive in this increasingly competitive and fast-changing business landscape.
What does Digital Transformation for Fitness Businesses Look Like?
Digital transformation will look different for each and every fitness or health business. It can be hard to create a definition that applies to every type of business. But generally speaking, we’re talking about integrating digital technology into all areas of your club operations to offer a personalized experience to your members online and offline, which would help you drive your engagement, retention, and growth.
Technology Investment: Key to Growth
On average, fitness business owners use around 6-8 disparate platforms to manage their business. They need to invest around 1.5 hours daily to analyze vast data sets to optimize their business performance.
With fitness businesses reopened after the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, club operators are focused on investing in technology to expand in-club and virtual services, engage members, and optimize operational efficiency.
Undoubtedly, smart investments in technology powers the growth engine of your fitness business. Such investments help you improve time and cost efficiency, offer timely data insights, build a more collaborative environment, and optimize the user experience to improve sales.
How’s the Integration of Digital Technologies Continuing to Raise the Bar for Fitness Businesses?
The pandemic pushed fitness enthusiasts to look for DIY fitness solutions. Some fitness studios succeeded in addressing those through virtual fitness classes or online personal training but most fitness business owners were left scratching their heads for whom now pulling back members from their at-home fitness routines would be a big challenge.
On the other hand with lockdown restrictions being lifted across most parts of the world, technology continues to play a key role in the reopening of fitness clubs. A mobile-optimized website or an application can help them to display capacity numbers in real life and enable members to book appointments, classes, and services in advance.
Unlike earlier times when marketing used to precede sales and the member journey was linear, the integration of digital technologies can now overcome several natural barriers to marketing and selling gym memberships online. It solves all their pre-joining questions and allows them to confirm their memberships or appointments from the comforts of their home, and drop into straightaway to start working out, without having to talk to the sales folks. This trend is most likely to continue in the post-pandemic era too.
Chatbots, mobile applications, and wearable devices are some of the AI-powered applications that many health studios use today. Automation delegates mundane tasks and enables data collection to help marketing and sales teams stay completely abreast of leads and their status while paying the most attention to the most revenue-minting tasks.
However, it needs to be understood that most fitness clubs can’t invest a deal of resources and time to optimize returns amid the challenging economic scenario. However, such fitness businesses must look for innovative ways to bundle and create their hybrid offerings.
BOT Model: Minimized Risks, Best Talent Pool, Diversified Global Footprint
Today’s digital innovation is transforming the health and fitness industry, including connected fitness, fitness on-demand, wearable technology, AR/VR apps and more. And that’s just the beginning. We believe digital products and services can revolutionize your health and fitness business.
DX Factor’s BOT model helps fitness businesses build their development center from the ground up and offers the tools, technology, and resources you need to embrace digital technology so you can transform your health and fitness business into an experience that engages, excites, and moves your audience.
Interested in transforming your business with guaranteed outcomes? Let’s talk!
