Gympass: Online Research Review

Gympass: Online Research Review

In addition to sharing health and fitness advice, I enjoy researching different businesses in the wellness sector that closely resonate with my personal values and interests. Based on my research into the corporate wellness sector, Gympass stood out as one of the most exciting opportunities in the market for the following 3 reasons.

Holistic & Flexible Wellness Solutions

Where many companies offer “one size fits all” employee wellbeing benefits, Gympass stands out with its holistic approach to health and wellness. All the companies I’ve worked for to date have provided discounted gym memberships, that don’t cater to individual needs. Whilst these are still beneficial to gym enthusiasts, they don’t cater to the needs of someone who needs sleep advice or therapy etc. Furthermore, many employees I’ve worked with have also been unable to afford these expensive gym memberships, even with corporate discounts. At my last company for example, I still ended up paying around $75 for a Nuffield membership even with the applied corporate discount. With Gympass, employees can subscribe to monthly payment plans that fit within their personal budget. They can also access a broad range of health and wellness support including gyms, studios, PT sessions, nutritional advice, sleep guidance, meditation sessions, financial assistance and mental health support. So whilst many companies continue to focus solely on physical health, Gympass address multiple dimensions of wellness with a holistic solution that offers something for everyone.

Multi-Faceted Business Model

Gympass has a multi-faceted business model that benefits all parties involved. Corporate clients can reduce churn by offering better wellbeing benefits that improve employee wellbeing engagement through using Gympass. Moreover, organisations are realising that investing in preventive health measures can lead to substantial cost savings in the long run, and Gympass is uniquely positioned to help corporate businesses address this growing issue. A study reported by Gympass suggests that physically active employees can reduce company healthcare costs by 35% after a 12-month period and that 78% of wellness programs save companies on healthcare expenses (Gympass). Therefore, proactive, holistic and flexible solutions will be adopted more and more by businesses seeking cost-conscious strategies. Partnering with Gympass, studios and gyms can also open up incremental revenue streams to help support them during this tough economic climate. Through Gympass, these partners (e.g., F45, Barry’s Bootcamp and SoulCycle) can reach thousands of corporate members who aren’t currently paying for fitness memberships. Lastly (and most importantly), employees benefit from the flexible pricing options offered by Gympass (e.g., Starter, Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold tiers) and the broad range of health and wellness solutions.

Growth Trajectory

With the corporate wellness market forecasted to grow from $56.63 Billion in 2022, to $100.8 Billion in 2032 (Market.us), Gympass is in an excellent position to capitalise on this rapid industry growth over the next 10 years. In recent years (and accelerated by the pandemic) “the corporate wellness industry has gained significant traction as organisations recognise the importance of employee wellbeing and its impact on productivity, engagement, and overall business success” (Corporate Wellness Magazine). Having recently received $85 million in incremental funding, Gympass has a fantastic opportunity to hire more talent and expand its partnerships, product and global footprint.

Opportunities For Gympass To Improve

If there’s one person who isn’t afraid to tell you where a company can improve its their customer! Whilst I believe customer reviews in isolation should be taken with a pinch of salt, reoccurring comments and themes suggest that there may be opportunities to further improve the consumer experience. Based on user experience feedback online (within the last 6 months) I’ve identified four areas Gympass can still improve as a business. As a disclaimer, it’s worth clarifying that I do not work for Gympass or have extensive knowledge of ongoing internal developments within the business. Therefore, it’s a possibility that some of these recommendations below have recently been addressed. You also cannot enrol in a Gympass subscription to access the Gympass services as a primary account holder unless you are provided access through your participating organisation. Therefore, my research is based on online feedback, rather than my own personal experiences using the Gympass app/services (which I don’t currently have access to).

The App Design and Functionality

A common theme amongst users was that they felt the navigation and search process on the app was non-intuitive and challenging. The online comments suggest that whilst Gympass has an excellent product, the execution of the app leaves a lot to be desired. Whilst I’m not an app developer, I’ve listed five solutions below that will help improve the user experience based on consumer feedback:

1. Clean up push notifications which are sometimes delayed and/or sending duplicates.
2. Revamp the map feature within the app to improve the user navigation experience.
3. Make cancelling bookings easier by allowing users to do this from the main page, rather than via the individual gym/studio pages.
4. Allow users to initiate customer support requests via the app.
5. Make the search functionality more intuitive, and allow users to search classes by time/schedule as opposed to location.

Customer Service

Additionally, another common theme amongst users was that they felt the ability to connect and communicate with the Gympass Customer Service team was lacking. Therefore, if they want to reduce churn and improve consumer satisfaction, the below recommendations may help to address this:

1. Have a clear number to call for customer support enquiries.
2. Ensure users can readily access an agent via the chat support feature.
3. Implement clear SLAs in automatic responses so that customers know how long they will need to wait for their requests to be answered.
4. Analyse chat support transcriptions to monitor trends in customer enquiries. Use this data to improve Gympass services.
5. Make the cancellation process more intuitive, reducing the number of enquiries directed to the Customer Service team.

Transparency & Communication

Gympass could also increase customer satisfaction by improving their communication and transparency. Sudden price jumps and changes in plans are some of the most popular grievances users are experiencing. Based on user feedback, if Gympass wants to foster greater trust they need to make changes to how they communicate to consumers. See my recommendations below:

1. Give users 5 working days notice, in advance of any changes to their plan. This includes informing users of any upcoming price changes and gym/studio changes (e.g., F45 being moved out of their plan to the next tier).
2. When notifying users about upcoming price changes, ensure clear rationale behind the changes are communicated via email.
3. Have designated Gympass employees who conduct monthly maintenance checks of gyms (e.g., checking if the pool/sauna is currently in service).
4. Send out newsletters to Gympass users citing important updates, including new partnerships and upcoming plan/tier changes.
5. Build a 2024 events roadmap, based on input from Gympass users. Think about capitalising on seasonal/topical moments e.g., Building Sustainable Workout Plans in January, Cooking on a Budget in 2024, How to Create a Conscious Spending Plan in 2024 etc.

Location Bias

Lastly, looking at online feedback, it’s evident that the benefits of Gympass can vary depending on where you are geographically based. Some users reported that there were a lack of studios and gyms in their preferred locations. For example, it was mentioned that the benefits of Gympass are more likely to favour people in areas like zone 1 London. Implementing the below solutions, will help ensure a greater experience for these specific customers:

1. During the onboarding process, get employees to fill in questionnaires that ask about their interests and preferred locations for using gyms and classes.
2. Using this info, Gympass can send out tailored content to employees, including recommendations for apps, gyms and studios they can access within different tiers depending on their interests and preferred locations.
3. Keep the CRM system updated with this information above, so direct marketing emails can be sent out that notify relevant individuals to changes that will affect them based on their regular bookings.

Final Note

All things considered, Gympass is in an excellent position to capitalise on the forecasted growth in the corporate wellness industry over the next ten years. Its holistic and flexible solutions guarantee that every employee can benefit from its variety of partners and services at a price point that suits their lifestyle. Gympass’s business model puts them in a fantastic position to capitalise on emerging market trends within the corporate wellness industry, including the growing focus on mental health as a crucial component of corporate wellness programs. They can expand their partnerships to capitalise on these trends to keep up with consumer demand. They also have a sustainable, multi-faceted business model that simultaneously serves corporate clients, partners and employees. As Gympass continues to expand its global footprint, I will be keeping a close eye on this exciting business that continues to revolutionise corporate wellness!