According to Puls Biznesu, there are 2,500 fitness clubs in Poland.
They all had to close in mid-March after the government announced restrictions on the companies’ operations and the free movement. However, the clubs have not quit their clients – like many other businesses; fitness has moved to online.
Holmes Place clubs have training sessions on their fanpage and Facebook ‘s private group. The schedule is arranged weekly; instructors work out from their apartments. The number of broadcast views ranges from 1.5 to 3.5 thousand. Short videos or graphics presenting individual exercises are also available on Facebook. The number of views ranges from 1.5 to 3.5 thousand. Short videos and graphics presenting selected exercises are also available on Facebook.
The MultiSport program operator adopted a slightly different strategy. In addition to several videos available on the fan page, MS offers subscribers online training on its website. Additionally, it allows supporting cooperating clubs. Users can generate a code and exchange it for access to online training on the site of entities participating in the program, including fitness clubs, dance schools, martial arts schools. This is one way to monetize physical activity on the web.
In the United States, fitness has also moved online. Trainings are available on paid platforms, but more often trainers and clubs use social media, including Instagram. In this case, the way to monetize is paying for admission to the close friends group on IG. The popularity of fitness apps is also growing. In Italy, the number of downloads increased by over 100% at the end of March, comparing to the average for January and February.
What will the fitness world look like after lifting restrictions? We will probably come back to training in the gyms, but they will have more stringent hygiene rules. Asian gyms limit the number of people who can participate in classes and introduce mandatory disinfection before and after workouts. Data from Publicis Groupe China show that in the weeks after the most significant crisis, interest in sport is growing. Half of those surveyed declares that fitness is what they will focus on soon, and fitness, sport, and gym are frequent topics of social media conversations (physical activity is more popular than sports fashion).
Source: Puls Biznesu, Holmes Place, MultiSport, analysis of Publicis Groupe
