LES MILLS & MOVE 2021 DATA ANalysis 

Is digital enduring?

Comparing and contrasting insights and data from Move and Les Mills in 2021.


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Now almost six months after the full reopening of gyms and fitness clubs, meaningful data regarding new blended or hybrid fitness routines and the stickiness of digital fitness in general, is starting to emerge.


The pandemic caused the clubs who could, to surge forward their plans for complementary digital channels and more efficient systems for acquisition and retention. That much we know.

But the jury was still out as to whether digital fitness classes and content would be discarded by consumers once clubs and classes were fully open again.

At Move, we’ve been working with ukactive to be able to share some internal insight as to patterns and trends regarding blended routines and digital fitness as our Move members have belatedly returned to the in person classes they love around the country.

Our partners Les Mills have also recently published their Global Fitness Report which of course this year carries special significance.

Things have changed. But by how much? And what can operators do with the insight pulled from this global study and Move’s UK member data? Here are some constructive takeaways.

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Digital Drives Recovery And Live Growth

The Les Mills report eloquently points out that “in markets that made quick recoveries, tapping into digital solutions to engage consumers and boomerang them back to live workouts has proven to be the blueprint for a strong club recovery."

At Move we found that customers who livestream are 27% more likely to be paying for their full club membership after three months than those who didn’t.

A virtual offering, when branded and experience-designed properly, offers new customers a portal into the in-club experience. After being engaged in an environment they prefer at first (the comfort of their own home) they gravitate to trying the in-club experience (which they expect will be of similar quality) and all the extra social benefits that entails.

Existing members who might be reluctant to return to the club, can be re-activated by digital means first where the channels of communication are open and flowing. Once re-activated it becomes far more straight-forward to motivate their return to the club environments.

The Les Mills report states that digital fitness users exercise 22% more frequently than the live-only exercisers (ie 4.4 times a week vs 3.6).

Fitness On Demand also previously noted that overall group exercise increased by 40% year-on-year when virtual products and services were introduced.

So, on top of that, fitness customers become more active overall when they blend their routines between in-person and at-home, driving overall growth.

Digital is now an established and sizeable part of the market

In the Move member data as of September 2021, digital is not only enduring but proving to be a sizeable proportion of all the market. As the Les Mills report points out again “far from being a simple stop-gap to tide the industry over during the covid pandemic, live stream and on-demand have become vital additions to club’s long term digital offerings.” This absolutely rings true in the Move data.

In London, digital-only routines are still substantially more popular than in-person routines, even now almost six months into reopening.

50%

Of Move Members are now doing blended or at-home only routines

1/3

Of people are continuing with digital-only routines

Even after summer taking in the usual increase in time spent out of the home.

50%

Of all activities in the south west of England are digital-only

Blended options are now considered the norm

As customer expectations change, so must brand offerings and apart from the commercial effects seeping through noted above, the attitudinal shift should also be appreciated.

It’s not just that the data is showing a serious sea change in fitness behaviours, it’s that some of the research shows that perceptions have shifted dramatically - and have shifted on a global scale.

The Les Mills report points out that consumers feel 60:40 is an ideal mix of gym and home workouts (which is obviously very close to being 50:50) and a very large proportion of gym members (84%) now workout at home too.

This data is borne out from research across 15 countries where actually the adoption of similar technology across different languages, cultures and countries has led to a great convergence. Digital is not just enduring, it is bringing fitness behaviours - and customers and operators - right across the globe, closer and closer together.

Sources:
Les Mills Global Fitness Report 12157 global consumers across 15 countries in May-June 2021
Move data shared with ukactive, September 2021

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