How has the fitness sector managed in the emergence from lockdown?
Strength of a Franchise Network
The franchise sector has shown that there is some strength in numbers when trying to deal with a completely unknown and extremely challenging situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no rule book to rely on but when you have a lot of heads around the table pushing ideas this can only help survival.
At our fitness franchise investment, YourZone45, the individual franchisees have helped each other out with ideas on lots of ways to keep customer engaged.
The delivery of online classes using Zoom and Facebook Live brought the YZ45 gyms into members' living rooms and gardens with much success. With all the franchisees posting about this enthusiasm is kept communication with members open and they remained engaged.
Are Members Keen to Return?
This level of engagement has proved that small operators can survive almost anything that is thrown at them. It became important to members that they support the small business that is their YZ45 gym. This happened to the extent that many kept their direct debits going during lockdown closure.
Early indications from the YourZone45 network indicate that members are coming back and prospects are joining. It has been reported that small operators are actually recovering much better than the big chains, likely due to this level of engagement.
The safe set up that can be achieved in a YZ45 franchise has helped reassure members that they can come and enjoy a workout without putting themselves at risk. The individual work stations suit the YZ45 programming well and equally allow hygiene standards to be maintained.
The Future of Gyms
No one can really predict the future, but some sort of hybrid model looks more like the offering that members will expect.
Big and small franchises can offer this by either creating their own bespoke channel (the big ones) or by using one of the many third parties that have accelerated their development to offer a wide range of product on their platform e.g. MoveGB.
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