Commentary

Fitness Equipment Brands Capitalize On Data Through Membership Services

Lockdowns have driven a marked rise in demand for at-home exercise equipment, as well as a gold mine of data for equipment manufacturers like Mirror and Peloton, athletic clothing designers like Lululemon Athletica and app makers like Apple and Google.

When the fitness-apparel giant Lululemon acquired Mirror, an at-home fitness tech company for about $500 million, the deal signaled a way to capitalize on a pandemic-fueled disruption in fitness, especially those with membership services.

Peloton Interactive on Friday reported that revenue for the first quarter in fiscal-year 2021 reached revenue of $758 million, representing 232% year-over-year growth.

Connected fitness subscription editions in the quarter totaled approximately 243,000 -- bringing the end of the quarter to more than 1.33 million, up 137% year-on-year.

As of September 30, the company had more than 3.6 million global members inclusive of its 510,000 digital subscribers.

The company benefited from continued strong organic demand for its at-home bike and the introduction of Bike+, as well as the at-home fitness craze as a result of gym closures or restrictions across the United States due to COVID-19.

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Taking advantage of home workouts, Peloton launched its first brand campaign featuring Peloton members — We All Have Our Reasons — that has been running on multiple advertising platforms.

Sales and marketing expense represented 15.1% of total revenue versus the prior-year period of 34%. For the launch of Bike+, the company incurred modest advertising spend. There is a plan to increase marketing through the next few quarters.

With demand high, Raymond James Analyst Aaron Kessler in a research note points to delayed delivery times due to port delays, warehousing issues, and forest fires as the company’s biggest obstacle. “The company expects to reduce wait times on Bike by the end of the year; Bike+ waits may remain elevated for a couple quarters as capacity ramps,” Kessler wrote.

When asked about the best way for brands to reach consumers during this time, Rachel Conforti, vice president of marketing at LoopMe, pointed to mobile and CTV as the “logical areas of inventory where consumers are spending most of their time during the pandemic.”

“By using smart targeting and AI to create predictive models in-flight toward consumer attributes, brands can reach consumers in apps to offer brand and performance messages about workouts and healthy living. In-flight optimization and in-flight surveys allow brands to target those interested in health and fitness and avoid those that aren’t in the market,” she said. “This allows for the campaign to perform better by eliminating the wasted impressions on consumers that aren’t going to convert.”

As LoopMe’s recent research shows, 80% of consumers intend to buy a fitness device or at-home gym equipment this holiday season. She said this opens the door to strong integrations and relevant contextual targeting for those in the market for fitness devices. If brands can tie together the demographics and psychographics of fitness intenders, at the household level, they have a much better chance of making an impact with their ad campaigns driving toward business outcomes.

LoopMe, which optimizes media based on artificial intelligence, released data on fitness equipment, and new gym and health club memberships. LoopMe surveyed 1,500 U.S. consumers in October 2020 to understand health and fitness intent during COVID-19, and analyzed what matters most to consumers when deciding to either buy the equipment or join a new gym or health club.

With the holidays upon us, the data also looks at whether consumers are planning a new diet or nutrition plan in the next 90 days.

More than 1 in 5 consumers (21%) intend to or may purchase a fitness device as a gift or for themselves this holiday season. Some 20% of consumers intend to or may purchase at-home gym equipment as a gift or for themselves this holiday season, and 27% said they plan to try a new diet or nutrition plan in the next 90 days.

When it comes to considering joining a gym, 40% of consumers said value price and discounts are the most important factor when deciding to join a new gym or health club.

Some 30% of consumers consider the distance from home the most when deciding to join a new gym or health club, and only 22% would consider joining a gym that does not offer online classes.

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