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Selling More Fitness Sessions by Digitally Presenting Availability
Nov. 02, 2020
Fitness SF

Selling More Fitness Sessions by Digitally Presenting Availability

As a nation, we’re becoming more active year on year, with a steady rise in gym memberships over the last 10 years both nationally and internationally. At the end of 2019, the global health industry was worth $96.7 billion and there were 64.2 million gym memberships in the US alone, almost double the number of figures from 2000.

SGT is a big revenue driver

Research has shown that small group training (SGT) is the perfect balance between getting a personal trainer (which can be too expensive for many people) and going it alone. Additionally, it’s the second-largest profit generator for gyms, accounting for 8.7% of profits (PTs account for 8.8%).

The sweet spot for an SGT class is around 12 people, but how do you get those people through the door? First up, you need to know the demographic of the type of people who attend these classes.

The majority of attendees of SGT are female, but 39% of attendees are male. It attracts people of all ages, ethnicities, and income groups in nearly equal proportions, meaning it really does cater to everyone.

Now that we’ve identified the people you’re trying to attract, it makes creating a new digital booking system much easier. Those who live on their smartphones can just be presented with a QR code which they can scan to book, similar to this example below, which is encouraging people to take part in a challenge:

In a world still affected by COVID, digital classes are becoming common. Gym members can link up and do a live training session without having to leave their homes. Such classes can also be advertised and booked within the gym using digital signage, or booked from home through an integrated online booking system.

Tapping into a trillion-dollar industry

It’s not just SGT that’s been a driving force for increased revenue and popularity. Gyms have become more complex over the years; there’s now a much broader focus on health and wellness and many establishments feature in-house spas, physical therapists, daycare, and more.

The global wellness industry is worth $4.5 trillion, and of course, the fitness industry is a huge contributor towards that. But the leader overall is personal care, beauty, and anti-aging; worth over a trillion and nearly double that of mind and body fitness, so it makes sense to combine the two.

Digital booking systems could allow other in house businesses like spas and physiotherapy centers to promote their services when someone is booking a class or a PT session. For example, when someone books a HIIT class, the booking system could trigger an add on for a sports massage the next day, or use of the spa facilities at a discounted rate.

Closing the deal

Digital tools not only help gyms to capitalize on the SGT trend and ensure all classes are booked, but they also deliver a new-era of booking systems that are accurate and consistently up to date thanks to integrated cloud-based technology.

By displaying a schedule with limited spaces, you create a sense of urgency for that class and create a demand. You can even ensure full capacity by integrating features such as a waiting list too for those classes that are already fully booked.

Visually, digital signage ensures that rates and availability can be beautifully presented with top-quality graphics and even video of the classes you want to promote in action.

It can also allow national gyms, that have multiple locations across the country or world, the opportunity to promote class timetables for all of their venues if members will be traveling, creating an overall better customer experience.

In short, digital signage and cloud-based content management systems have presented the fitness and wellness industries with a great opportunity to leverage technology, help people remain fit in a time of need, and increase revenue in the process.