Off-line shutdown, on-line transition-the "on-the-cloud" gym is coming.
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With the increasing awareness of residents’ exercise and fitness, many people have developed the habit of staying at home. Especially after the popularity of live fitness broadcast by artist Liu Genghong, more and more fitness enterprises began to try to transform online, and "cloud fitness" began to become a new trend.
"Finally!" On May 22nd, Fan Peipei, who worked as a fitness coach in Shanghai, stared at the TV news conference and could not help but let out a sigh of emotion.
On the same day, the Shanghai Municipal Sports Bureau issued the "Implementation Plan for Shanghai Sports Industry to Restore Normal Production and Life Order in an Orderly Way". The plan requires that the opening of sports venues and sports events be resumed in an orderly manner, following the principle of outdoor first, indoor first, and individual events first.
Affected by the epidemic, some fitness facilities in Beijing, Shanghai and other places have been operating poorly for some time.
Although it ushered in the dawn of returning to work, in Fan Peipei’s view, the domestic epidemic has fluctuated repeatedly, and fitness companies must find a "more reasonable business model under the epidemic".
With the increasing awareness of residents’ exercise and fitness, many people have developed the habit of staying at home for fitness, and the download volume of some fitness apps has been increasing. Especially after the live broadcast of Liu Genghong, an artist, became popular, more and more fitness companies began to try to transform online, and "cloud fitness" began to become a new trend.
"The most important thing is to survive first."
"In the past, spring was the peak season for business, but this year the situation is really not optimistic." Yang Lan, manager of Beijing Superman Fitness shaoyaoju Branch, said frankly.
During the May Day holiday this year, Beijing announced that it would suspend the business activities of indoor sports venues such as gymnasiums throughout the city.
"Our main source of revenue is private lessons, especially one-on-one membership services. Suspension of offline operations is equivalent to cutting off cash flow, but the rent and labor costs have not decreased." Yang Lan said.
Generally speaking, the fitness industry belongs to the offline entity industry with heavy assets, and its operating characteristics are large initial investment and high operating costs. However, after the epidemic, the number of people dropped sharply, which also led many fitness enterprises to face debt or even bankruptcy.
"The passenger flow has been greatly reduced, the store rent is still high, and the higher the operating cost, the greater the impact." Yang Dahao, a partner of Leke Fitness and Hepingli Store, told reporters that compared with small fitness studios with lower operating costs, those fitness institutions located in prosperous business districts often face greater survival tests.
In desperation, many operators began to strive to reduce operating costs. For example, many businesses in Beijing recently applied for rent reduction. According to the relevant notice issued by Beijing in April, all small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households renting state-owned houses in Beijing can reduce the rent for three months, while the rent for state-owned houses in areas classified as high-risk areas in the epidemic can be reduced for six months.
In addition, many fitness companies have also launched trendy sports such as frisbee and flag football, which are mostly carried out outdoors, which can effectively reduce the risk of epidemic spread.
"Take frisbee as an example. People can buy a frisbee for tens of yuan." Yang Haohao introduced that the entry threshold of Frisbee is not high, and the basic rules are simple and easy to understand, so you can learn it easily with or without experience. Frequent and close communication in Frisbee sports also makes Frisbee sports have strong social attributes.
Of course, many fitness institutions are selling fitness products at reduced prices to survive.
"The longer the epidemic lasts, the more conservative people’s consumption concept becomes. Although many fitness companies are operating at a loss, it is most important to survive first." Yang Lan said.
On the test line, there are joys and sorrows.
A tripod, an iPad and a small microphone … … This is a "three-piece set" taught online by Zhou Qian, the coach of a private fitness studio in Shanghai.
"Every day, there are two one-on-one private classes and a small class group exercise class, all of which are conducted online." Zhou Qian told reporters.
It is reported that the online business of testing water during the epidemic has become an important measure for the transformation and development of fitness enterprises. Take Super Orangutan, a sports and fitness brand, as an example. After the current epidemic, the company quickly set up a "online class" topic, including fat burning, shaping and other options. Some companies tried to pre-sell course packages on platforms such as Tik Tok, and launched online one-to-one and one-to-many course teaching.
Zhou Qian believes that online teaching can help fitness enthusiasts keep fit, and at the same time, it can strengthen the brand effect and lay a good foundation for returning customers after returning to work.
However, not all members can adapt to the rhythm and atmosphere of online teaching. During the interview, many consumers told reporters that the efficiency of online teaching needs to be improved, and the sense of experience is not as good as offline. "Online teaching can’t be demonstrated in close proximity, which greatly reduces the teaching effect." Xu Weiwei, a fitness enthusiast, said that some fitness enthusiasts around him are not very receptive to online teaching, and many people are unable to carry out online learning because of the limitations of venues, equipment and other factors.
A good opportunity for coaches to build personal IP
"Swing your arms and legs up, and the fat around your waist will snap off" and "thin and thin together" … … Artist Liu Genghong’s recent live fitness broadcast on the short video platform quickly became popular.
After Liu Genghong’s fire spread all over the network, Qin Ye, the coach of Super Orangutan Group’s aerobics class, quickly made a circle in Tik Tok for adapting Liu Genghong’s shuttlecock gymnastics. This attempt made him realize that with the continuous improvement of national health awareness, the online fitness market in China is showing great growth potential.
The reporter learned that in the online live broadcast of the super gorilla, in addition to the live broadcast of the official platform, many coaches also opened their own live accounts, and they gradually became accustomed to the online live broadcast teaching method, paying more attention to online and offline linkage.
According to relevant data, in 2021, the market size of fitness industry in China will reach 377.1 billion yuan, including 638 million webcast users in China, and the utilization rate of online live broadcast is as high as 63%. It is generally believed in the industry that fitness coaches have ushered in a good opportunity to build personal IP.
Qin also told reporters that since the audience of online live broadcast is mostly zero-based "fitness white", the content of the course he arranged should first consider safety and scientificity, and the intensity should not be too great.
"For the fitness instructor himself, excellent professional ability is only the foundation. The most important thing to get out of the circle is to strengthen your personal style and identify the user base in combination with your own strengths." Tang Huan, founder of a fitness media, said.
Tang Yuejun, an associate professor at Fudan University School of Management, believes that this is precisely the prerequisite for achieving a win-win situation between fitness coaches and fitness platforms.
"The coach can’t build personal IP without the promotion and operation of fitness platform. The two are complementary. The coach is responsible for providing high-quality fitness resources, while the enterprise provides platform construction, technology integration and business model construction." Tang Yuejun said, "The key to the sustainability of this model lies in whether fitness enterprises can break through the traditional logic of employment and service between enterprises, employees and customers and evolve into a new type of partner logic."