ONE PASS
EVERY CLASS
THE RISE OF FLEXIBLE FITNESS ACCESS
The marketplace is suddenly crowded with online ‘fitness passport’ providers. Does this development
spell trouble or opportunity for traditional fitness facility memberships?
ecent years have seen the power
of the internet harnessed to make
better use of existing space and
services. Airbnb connects those looking for
short-term accommodation with those who
have space available; Uber connects those
looking for an alternative to taxis with private
drivers in their area.
It was only a matter of time before similar
technology was used to match up those
looking for commitment-free group fitness
with those offering spare spots in classes.
That time has well and truly come.
In recent times Australia has seen a
number of players enter the market, some
based locally and others originating overseas.
AnyClass,
ClassPass,
Classhopper,
Classium, FillMyClass, FitSessions, FitUsIn
and KFit are some of the names that operators
of clubs and studios will soon be familiar with,
if they aren’t already.
Essentially, most of these function as
‘passport memberships’, giving those who
join unlimited access to a wide range of
classes at all the facilities in their passport
provider’s network.
So, does this spell trouble for traditional
club membership sales, or present
opportunites for new business?
Network spoke to several providers to
get the lowdown on this ‘disruptive’ industry
development.
R
What was the catalyst for the
creation of these services?
Most providers voiced similar reasons for
20 | NETWORK SPRING 2015
creating their services, namely frustrations
on the part of gyms with consistently having
half-empty classes, and frustrations on the
part of individuals whose gyms didn’t provide
them with all the classes they wanted at times
that suited them. The founder of FitSessions,
Natasha Prasad, says ‘I realised I was paying
a monthly rate for a gym membership in the
CBD, buying class packs from a specialised
yoga studio and paying drop-in rates for
tennis and swimming. This was expensive,
clunky and simply not sustainable.’
AnyClass co-founder Elena Torriani points to
the new efficiencies enabled by technology,
saying: ‘There are so many markets that
have historically been inefficient, because it
was very hard for a small business to get the
scale to operate outside its local area. The
internet and smartphones have changed that
forever. We’re trying to bring some of these
new efficiencies to the fitness market, so
consumers have more options and studios
get more business.’
How does the business model
work?
Most providers charge a weekly or monthly
fee for memberships – generally around $100
a month – that gives members unlimited
access with no extra costs for classes. As
Robbie Dunphy, co-founder of Classhopper,
notes, the more often members go to
classes, the more value they get – just like
with a regular gym membership.
Most providers, such as AnyClass,
enable this by effectively ‘bulk buying’
classes from facilities at discounted rates,
or, as in the case of FitUsIn, by providing
partner studios with an agreed upon referral
rate for each visit.
FillMyClass and Classium function
a little differently. Members don’t pay a
membership fee and just pay for the classes
they book online. FillMyClass encourages
venues in its network to offer users the
first class for free, but notes that partners
choose costs and can charge members
whatever they like.
What is the main benefit to
fitness facilities?
There are two main benefits for clubs: the
immediate revenue generated from ‘selling’
otherwise empty spaces in class, and high
quality lead generation.
AnyClass, for example, claims it can
bring in around an extra $1,000 per month
for small studios, and multiple times that for
larger facilities.
Most providers, however, cite lead
generation as the major benefit enabled by
their service, and say that this is the aspect
that facilities value most.
Robbie Dunphy from Classhopper
acknowledges that by working as a
connector the service will inevitably lose
some of its members when they decide to
take out memberships at a club that they
have tried: ‘Naturally this will result in us
losing members and the studios gaining
them, but that’s just a by-product of the
awesome service.’