New game changer in the fitness market
Pennington, Sylvia. Sydney Morning Herald [Sydney, N.S.W] 18 July 2015: 25.
Abstract
This start-up is challenging the expensive fees traditionally charged by gyms, writes Sylvia
Pennington. Pilates Monday, spin class Wednesday and a wind-down end-of-week yoga session
on Friday ... Sydney gal...
Full Text
This start-up is challenging the expensive fees traditionally charged by gyms, writes Sylvia
Pennington.
Pilates Monday, spin class Wednesday and a wind-down end-of-week yoga session on Friday ...
Sydney gal pals Georgia van Tiel and Carla McMillan are the latest entrants in the burgeoning
market for passes offering exercisers access to multiple boutique fitness studios for a steep
discount on casual session prices.
Launched in Sydney this month, their BodyPass venture allows subscribers to attend up to 10
classes of their choice at participating venues, for a monthly subscription fee of $99. By contrast,
a casual visitor to a studio can expect to pay north of $25 a session.
For studios, it's an opportunity to get a few extra dollars for spare spots in classes that would
otherwise go unfilled by members. They receive a portion of the fee for each session booked via
the online platform.
The business is modelled on ClassPass, a US venture that offers subscribers unlimited casual
access to studio classes in its network, with the caveat that they can visit the same studio no
more than three times a month.
Originating in New York in 2013, ClassPass operates in more than 30 cities in the US and
Canada and has leapt the pond to Blighty.
Closer to home, Sydney start-up Fitness Calendar offers a service in the same vein, whereby
consumers can secure casual spots in classes at short notice and heavy discounts via its online
portal.
More than 200 Sydney fitness studios, including Xtend Barre, Physicore and This is Yoga, have
signed up toBodyPass. Melbourne is set to come online next month and Brisbane shortly
afterwards.
The venture has been almost a year in the planning.
But van Tiel says she and McMillan were tossing around business ideas for at least five years
before taking the plunge.
Both have a background in the health and fitness sector. McMillan is a yoga teacher while van
Tiel has spent the 12 years since gaining her human movements degree working as a sports
program designer in Australia and abroad, including a stint developing Fitness First's youth
program.
She packed in a gig in the US last year to return home to pursue the BodyPass venture and both
women worked night shift in the hospitality sector for several months while getting it off the
ground.
Van Tiel says the platform promotes the broader goal of encouraging more Australians to
become fit and healthy, without resorting to fad diets, 12-week challenges and other short-term
fixes.
She declines to reveal sales targets for the business, which has received an undisclosed amount
of private investment.
A "Bro" offering, specialising in classes with masculine appeal, such as Thai boxing, may be
available onceBodyPass is operating outside NSW.
IBISWorld senior industry analyst David Whytcross says the fitness passport concept is an
interesting one that may appeal to customers who are shopping around for a regular studio to
join.
It provides a cost-effective means of doing so, given the price is significantly lower than casual
sessions or typical monthly membership fees of $140 to $200, Whytcross says.
For their part, studios hope that providing cheaper casual access to their classes may lead to the
sale of more memberships.
Attracting new business has become vital for the 3356 businesses IBISWorld says are operating
in Australia's saturated $1.4 billion fitness sector, many of which have had a poor return on their
sweat and toil in recent years.
Large chains such as Fitness First have struggled since the global financial crisis while the influx
of 24-hour gyms has put downward pressure on the prices full service facilities are able to
charge.
Ezypay's 2014 Fitness Industry Trends report indicates the sector continues to face marketing
and pricing challenges, with the bulk of businesses engaged in a race to the bottom with prices.
While price is not the primary reason people leave or stick with clubs, membership discounting is
likely to remain rife nonetheless, the report says.
Passport programs such as BodyPass and ClassPass pander to this trend, fitness industry
consultant Justin Tamsett says.
While "awesome" from a consumer perspective - "you have the choice of yoga, boot camp ..." they devalue the industry, Tamsett says.
As a result, it becomes tougher for gyms and studios to charge the sort of fees that will enable
them to remain viable.
"It teaches the consumer that what you're paying for a gym is too much."
Credit: Sylvia Pennington - Fairfax Media is official media and content partner of BodyPass.
Illustration
Caption: PHOTO: Sydney's Georgia van Tiel and Carla McMillan offer access to a fitness plan.
Word count: 767
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