Internet Middlemen: Are They Worth It?

Over the past several years a barrage of “daily deal” sites (like Groupon and LivingSocial) and fitness mem- bership companies (like ClassPass) have attracted the attention of consumers and fitness facility managers alike. The idea is that by using these services, consumers get to test out new studios and programs for a mod- est fee, while studios hope to convert the visitors into members or clients. But do these services result
in a better bottom line for fitness studios?

The Association of Fitness Studios aimed to answer that question as part of its AFS 2015 Fitness Studio
Operating & Financial Benchmarking Report. Among many topics, the report included insights from 181 fit- ness studio owners on their experiences with “Internet middlemen” companies Groupon, LivingSocial and ClassPass. Here are some key points from that report:

“While the survey responses represent a small percentage of all studios, [they do] provide an introspective look at the value of using Internet middlemen and digital coupon sites in generating guest traffic and a regular client base,” concluded the authors of the report.