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The fitness industry is an ever-growing market but also an incredibly competitive one, and, to get the edge over competitors, gym owners need to listen to their customers and their needs.
According to Starcount as the industry 'digitises', chunks of big data are being made available to fitness clubs on a daily basis via their members’ performance data, from connected equipment, their usage time, attendance rate and wearable devices. Personally, when I swipe my key fob at 7.15am to enter my local gym big data doesn't immediately pop into my mind, realistically what's on my mind is something like - "Why am I here" and "I want my bed".
However, since taking a deep-dive into the world of big data I realise just how important that little swipe mechanism is for the running of a gym.
It is full of key information that informs the gym of everything from, what time I prefer to go - in the morning before work (I'll make excuses otherwise), how long I workout for (45 mins, I get bored after that), and what days I attend.
In turn, these pieces of information, or data, can inform the running and management of the gym - are most people eager beavers at 7am, does the gym require more morning staff as a result, are people attending more classes or choosing their own fitness routine?
By having a deep understanding of not only your clients’ behaviour but their health as well, you can help them meet their fitness goals more easily, and the chances of greater customer retention increases.
The fitness industry naturally suffers from customer churn, we've all been there, a gym membership that gathers dust, the consideration to cancel, so how, as a gym owner do you know there is a risk of losing a customer?
Predictive analytics is capable of identifying which members have a higher churn risk. This might involve looking at class attendance, duration, and frequency data.
If a gym owner has a regular member that always goes to the gym four times a week they haven’t seen or heard from them in the last two weeks, the right analytics solution would draw this to their attention. It would then be possible to contact them before they quit. This gives the opportunity to check in with the client, identify any problems, and convince them to say with an offer they can’t so no to.
It's clear that big data if analysed can offer a world of opportunity for gyms in increasing their offering. By knowing how often individual members attend the gym, owners can segment their customer base and create different advertising campaigns that are more targeted, along with tailoring experiences depending on the customers' needs.
Big data is here to stay, and if you're not using it you will be left behind.
Reading this does make me wonder - how many people are actually aware that all this information is being collected from them and stored. Granted we all...or at least I would hope majority of us, understand that wearable tech will mean that our information is collected somewhere for further use - but would many people know that using your fob to gain access into the gym would also be useful information? I agree when you say that gyms have a huge turn over rate - maybe the right information gathered would eventually make the gym more enticing to people and have them stay but since the turn over rate is still high, they have yet to solve the problem or maybe they're just not understanding their analytics ;)
ReplyDeleteThese are great insights into how data can be used to improve business efficiency and ultimately the customer's experience. When connecting all the data together for a gym such as attendance, fitness tracker and food log they will literally know what you had for breakfast. When you mentioned the opportunities, this is where the great competitive advantage comes. As a business if you can contact someone when there is a break in habit you can really make a huge impact on the customer experience. Regularly in the fitness industry if someone doesn't go to a gym often it's due to injury and in reaching out you can get them signed up with a personal trainer for injury specific rehab instead of losing them. Dervlal wrote an article on tailoring experiences that you might find interesting.
ReplyDeletehttps://rhockcreative.blogspot.com/2022/01/how-big-data-benefits-fitness-industry.html
Lots of great insights here, Ciara! You're not wrong, the fitness industry has become a very competitive one and businesses need to start listening to their customers more to understand what they need and to be successful. I hear you on the swiping the fob in the gym in the morning, LOL! I do not want to be there! But it's so interesting to know that us swiping that little fob gives the business so much information. Very interesting point on predictive analytics, which was also brought up on the GA blog posts - not only can this data be used to understand customers past behaviour, but it can also be used to predictive their future behaviour. Using big data to get ahead of the curve is definitely something small businesses need to utilise more!
ReplyDeleteLots of food for thought here Ciara! As gym owners it is important that you keep up and try stay ahead of the curve with an ever changing competitive market. Big Data helps gym owners stay relevant and look after a customer base, while watching out for any changes in behaviours and new trends. We all struggle to get out of bed early to hit the gym, but maybe there is something about being in the gym in the morning and getting your workout done before your 9.00am that makes people want to go.... who knows ? maybe Big Data does!
ReplyDeleteIt’s something not many of us would take note of when entering the gym that the little fob we’re scanning holds so much information about us. Wearable technology has definitely transformed the fitness industry, each gym can tailor their client’s goals based on their fitness stats and goals. Interesting point about customer churn and finding ways to recover these customers. In the digital age we now live with Big Data, it has proven easier to reconnect with customers, whether it’s an email encouraging you to attend or targeting you through social media. Great blog, thanks for sharing.
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