Fitness apps experienced enormous growth throughout the 2010s, but during the pandemic, their popularity and generated revenue reached new heights. With gyms closing, millions relied on these apps for their health and fitness needs. And it doesn’t appear to be halting anytime soon, with projections indicating that this may be a trend for a while to come.
The digital and online fitness world has grown immensely over the past two to three years, with the growth most evident in 2020 and 2021. In ACSM’s survey of worldwide fitness trends for 2021, online training was #1 for the first time ever. Even with the reopening of gyms and studios post pandemic, there is still an appetite among fitness consumers for at-home and online fitness solutions. The upwards trend and popularity of fitness apps continues to rise, with revenue in the segment projected to reach US $19.33 billion in 2023 and US $33.04 billion by 2027.
From digital wallets and online banking solutions to sports betting and online casinos, people all over the world are relying on their mobile devices more and more. With the common slogan “anytime, anywhere” being the ultimate pull for people, our mobile devices allow us 24/7 access to the digital world. The fitness industry is no different, with the pandemic triggering a digital revolution that promised to reinvent the way that people exercised, offering people the opportunity to work out from anywhere at a time that suits them.
Fitness apps are excellent tools for tracking, managing and staying on top of fitness goals. Downloadable on any mobile device, from phones to tablets and iPads, they provide access to a vast library of on-demand workout videos, often allowing you to sign in and log your workouts. They help customers to maintain workout routines no matter where they are, while providing guidance, motivation and accountability.
While there are obvious benefits to working out at a gym or studio, including the hands-on dedicated approach clients receive if working directly with a personal trainer or a teacher in a class, apps are evolving to meet these needs too. While people enjoy the benefits and comforts or working out at home, they still want the accountability that comes with having a trainer or program to follow. Many fitness apps now market themselves to both serve as a resource to use for on-demand and live fitness content, as well as provide a personalised service to tailor plans to individuals.
Fitness apps can also come with a wealth of other resources, like recipes for healthy eating, so you can match your nutrition to your training, or wellbeing tools like meditation. This all-round holistic approach is hugely appealing to people, who feel they can get everything they need from one place.
It isn’t just fitness apps that are on the upwards trajectory. Wearable fitness devices like the Apple smart watch are also growing in popularity, measuring the way people move and offering health insights. These smart watches can be paired together with the fitness apps, providing people with instant statistics and figures about their health. Instant results drive motivation, so the trend of wearable fitness devices is certainly doing wonders for the fitness app industry.
With there being no end in sight to the upwards trend of fitness apps, and constantly evolving technology making them more accessible and ticking more fitness boxes, the only difficult thing that these apps face is competition. There are now thousands to choose from, all with varying subscription fees and offerings, so in order to stay at the top of the list, these apps need to make sure they are delivering all the goods.