White paper identifies role of technology in driving post COVID fitness operations

Member retention experts Keepme have released a thought-provoking white paper designed to stimulate discussion and help fitness facility operators thrive in a post-pandemic marketplace.

The Fitness Future: Rules of Engagement raises questions around the pivotal role technology can - and must - play in the future of fitness and the true power of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and automation in shaping the fitness industry’s evolution and ultimate success.

As a former club operator, Keepme Chief Executive, AI expert and white paper lead author, Ian Mullane (pictured) highlights the very real opportunities available to operators who accept the new, post-COVID reality and reposition themselves for the inevitable, and questions how the relationship customers seek with a fitness business is changing and evolving.

After 18 years working with some of the biggest names in financial services technology, Mullane - is well placed to debate the role that technology can play in opening up a whole new set of solutions and opportunities for the industry.

He explains “our industry is forever changed. Digital transformation has accelerated and so the sector must adapt, and fast. My concern is that, to do so effectively, genuine enthusiasm for technological innovation will be required. Now is the time to march forward with deliberate action and establish our position within the new reality.”

The white paper explains in detail how the sector must begin what Mullane describes as ‘business-critical repositioning’, considering every aspect of this journey, from understanding the pivotal role mobile will play and striking the right balance between physical and digital offerings, to embracing AI, AR and Machine Learning as a way to re-imagine the customer journey.

Speaking in the foreword, Humphrey Cobbold, Chief Executive of PureGym, notes “this paper includes ideas that should challenge us all. As such, it makes a valuable contribution to the debate around our sector’s evolution and will, I hope, stimulate progressive discussion.

“Ian’s observations on the growing importance of digital are undeniably correct. Let’s remember that most businesses don’t fail because they don’t trade well in any given month, quarter or year. They fail because they do not spot nor deal with the big problems, which roll out over many years. A reluctance to embrace technology would unquestionably be one such cause for failure.

“I am utterly convinced of the pivotal role technology will play in the future of fitness, and I see this white paper as a vital call both to action and much deeper thought.”

The Fitness Future: Rules of Engagement will be available as a free download from 1st February 2021.

Click here to access The Fitness Future: Rules of Engagement document.