Leisure industry analyst David Minton has warned that fitness businesses must take heed of technological advances and future-proof their business, or risk being wiped out entirely.
In a blog post published ahead of the ongoing SIBEC conference in Spain, the Leisure Database Company director highlighted how most major businesses have set up ‘disruption’ teams looking at how new technology can change the face of delivery. Failure to do so, he says, means businesses risk seeing their value washed away by technological sea changes.
Minton cited the example of Weight Watchers, which this year saw its stock drop 92 per cent from its all-time, as weight loss apps and Youtube videos have eaten away at the company’s core offering.
Highlighting the rise of third-party booking platforms such as Uber, Airbnb and the fitness-focused ClassPass, Minton points out that these companies have succeeded by “developing a business plan which bypasses the industry and its providers and goes direct to the consumer.”
Minton calls for fitness businesses to open up their data platforms and give access to application program interfaces (APIs), so that developers can create new ways to bring fitness experiences to the consumer while involving the industry. He concedes this will require firms to to become more transparent with their business models, but says “that’s no bad thing” when it comes to working together for the sake of the industry.
“In 2016 we need a new organisation fighting for and concentrating on the fitness industry,” writes Minton. “If we don’t, then aggregators, bloggers, unboxing channels, trackers, wearables and an app for everything will win over the consumer.”
Minton’s words echo the thoughts of Les Mills UK chief executive Martin Franklin and global markets COO Keith Burnet, who recently told Health Club Management that a reluctance to ‘get digital’ and re-engineer a business towards innovation and experiences can prove fatal.
“It’s scary to think that a business can fall away so quickly, but these are the dangers if you fail to embrace digital,” said Burnet.
