5 min
Wearable technology and fitness trackers soared to success during the pandemic when a hybrid blending of both virtual and physical world fitness became the consumer’s go-to workout mode.
The pandemic supercharged the pace of the wearable roll-out, but even before that, wearable tech was a trend that was setting itself up to shape the future of the fitness industry.
Between 2016 and 2019, the number of connected wearable devices worldwide more than doubled, rising to a phenomenal 722 million in that three-year period. Commentators predicted that by the end of 2022, that number would be set to reach over one billion.
Put simply, more of your clients than ever want to track their health and fitness metrics — that’s data such as heart rate, step counts, calories burned, and even sleep — than ever before. It is a trend that shows no sign of abating and marks a crucial opportunity for fitness businesses like yours.
Here, we outline the top reasons why wearable technology and fitness trackers could be the superpower that is set to transform your business strategy this year, and well into the future.
1. Wearable Technology Creates a Holistic Approach to Health and Fitness
Encouraging your clients to use a wearable device while working out with you, especially when done through your own branded club app, helps you to ensure that you are their go-to source for all of their fitness needs.
This is one great way to respond to another core trend in the fitness world right now: advocating for a holistic approach to health.
Responding holistically to your client’s needs means understanding how you can reach them both in and outside your facility, and how you can help them beyond your classes, PT, and gym sessions.
That means helping them track their calories in and out, steps, and other metrics. In the long run, this helps your clients stay motivated, keeps them on track with their fitness goals, and means that they remain long-term, loyal clients, that rave about your business to others.
2. It’s an Innovative Way to Deliver Fun Fitness Experiences Inside Your Facility
Virtuagym’s upcoming app addition, FitZone, proves how wearable technology and fitness trackers can be used to deliver an unparalleled fitness experience for your clients.
Imagine your clients walking into a class. Entering the room they are faced with a large screen on which they see their profile picture, name, heart rate zone, percentage of output, and heart rate, all displayed alongside the rest of the class’ stats — the game is on!
Used in combination with NEO Health wearable devices such as GO and Pulse, Virtuagym’s in-app FitZone hub operates as the centerpiece of your classes, allowing clients to compete with one another in a gamified fitness class experience.
This is just one example of the innovative ways fitness businesses can use wearable devices in tandem with the services they already provide. Perhaps you are running bootcamps outdoors and want to help clients track their metrics in a park or out on a run?
Or maybe you provide clients with workout challenges to complete outside the gym? Think of ways that you can experiment with the use of wearable technology and fitness trackers to create a unique service that speaks to the specific demands of your own clients.
3. Wearable Devices Will Provide Additional Revenue Streams
When sold inside your facility or on your own branded online shop, fitness businesses like yours can increase profits and introduce new cash flows by adding wearable technology to their business offering.
For example, with FitZone, you could sell affordable NEO Health wearables to your clients to devise a high-value offering for your clients who can then use them to track their metrics wherever they are.
Encouraging your clients to use the wearable technology that you sell to them is the best possible outcome. However, working with clients and supporting them in the use of any wearable devices they already have is also an effective way to reduce churn and maintain a loyal client base.
4. Fitness Trackers Keep Clients on Track When Your Facility Is Closed
It might be a pandemic lockdown, or it might just be the holidays, whatever is causing you to be separated from your clients doesn’t mean you can’t keep them on track with their training from afar.
A strong fitness business knows that incorporating wearable technology into the services you provide means that your business then extends beyond the four walls of your facility. This is crucial in maintaining the success of your business long-term.
5. Wearable Technology Will Help You Master Motivation
As any fitness professional will know, ensuring your clients stay motivated is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when delivering fitness services and products.
If fitness consumers are motivated, they keep coming back to your business, investing their time and money into it, and telling their friends and loved ones to invest in it too.
Wearable technology and fitness trackers are proven to be master motivators. They give your clients daily, trackable information which they can keep in their pocket at all times and access via your company’s personalized, branded app.
