As mobile apps take on a bigger role in the member experience, health club operators are looking at what’s working, what isn’t and where the technology still needs to catch up.
A few taps can get you just about anything these days. Dinner, a grocery order or a package can all be handled from the same device sitting in your hand. Consumers have gotten so used to technology making everyday tasks feel almost invisible. These expectations have translated into every part of life, including gyms.
A health club’s mobile app can be the front door to a member’s experience, or it could just be another icon on their phone. The difference often has little to do with how many features are included.
Members are more likely to open an app when it helps them do something they already want to do, whether that means checking into the club, booking a training session or reserving a recovery service. The bigger opportunity is turning those routine interactions into a more connected digital experience without allowing technology to get in the way of the human relationships members still value.
Mobile apps have evolved from a convenience to an important part of how members interact with their clubs. At the same time, operators are still working through what features matter, how to get members to use the app consistently and how much technology is enough.
“The health and fitness industry is making progress, but we’re still catching up to the digital experiences consumers encounter elsewhere,” said Mary Frank, the VP of sales and marketing at Cincinnati Sports Club. “The expectation is no longer simply that a club has an app. It’s that the app makes the membership easier.”
Meeting those expectations means understanding where technology can remove friction from the member journey and where the physical club still needs to do the work.
The Features That Actually Get Used
The most-used app features across clubs tend to be based in practicality. Cincinnati Sports Club sees the strongest engagement around check-in, group exercise registration, court and swim-lane reservations, and account access.
“The common denominator is utility,” said Frank. “Members have a reason to use these features because they help them accomplish something they already intended to do.”
Chuze Fitness has also found class and recovery bookings among its most heavily used features. Retail purchases, meanwhile, have struggled to generate the same level of engagement because members tend to make those purchases while they’re already at the club.
The distinction there is important for operators considering what comes next. A feature doesn’t become valuable just because it’s available. It needs to solve a problem or make an existing behavior easier.
Chuze has approached the app as a central hub rather than a scheduling tool. Members can use it throughout their relationship with the club, from joining and accessing the facility to managing membership information.
“Our mobile app serves as a frictionless central hub for the member experience throughout their journey,” said Nichole Buchholz, the VP of marketing at Chuze.
The Lag in Measuring What’s Working
Operators can point to the operational value of an app, such as fewer phone calls and faster check-ins, but connecting that value to outcomes like retention or revenue remains difficult, regardless of club size or software provider.
Chuze tracks adoption, active users and feature utilization, among other measures, but Buchholz said the company is still evaluating the broader relationship between app activity and outcomes in the club.
Others are earlier in the process. Cincinnati Sports Club doesn’t have enough app behavioral data yet to link engagement to retention or revenue. At Courthouse Club Fitness, limited analytics under its current platform have made personalization difficult, according to Jessica Edmiston, the VP of marketing and communications at Courthouse.
Frank sees better analytics as a necessary next step, but she also thinks the definition of success needs to widen.
“I believe the industry needs to broaden the definition of ROI in this area,” said Frank. “It isn’t only direct revenue generated through an app. Reduced staff transactions, fewer barriers to participation, increased self-service, program registrations, member communication and overall ease of doing business with the club all have value.”
Better data could help operators move from assuming an app is valuable to understanding where it’s creating value.
Getting Members to Use the App
Even the best app won’t accomplish much if members never download it. Getting members onto the app and keeping them there starts well before their first login. Some clubs are seeing the strongest adoption when they treat that process as part of onboarding rather than an optional follow-up.
Chuze builds app setup into the preopening tour at new clubs — a step that has helped the company reach adoption rates of 80 to 90 percent or higher before the doors open.
Cincinnati Sports Club follows the same idea, introducing the digital experience during the joining process and sending an automated email once the account is created, so the app is part of the membership from the start rather than something members discover later.
But introduction is only half of it. At existing Chuze locations, staff bring up the app at the moment a member needs to book a class or make a reservation, so they can see the usefulness of the app right away.
Onboarding is important in showing new members why they’ll want and need the app. Once members associate the app with something useful, the technology has a better chance of becoming part of the routine.
Where the App Ends and Staff Begin
More digital interaction doesn’t necessarily mean less human interaction. Technology should work hand-in-hand with staff to allow more time for what matters most: the member.
At Cincinnati Sports Club, that shows up in retention. The app helps identify members who may be slipping out of their routines, since drops in visits or registrations can signal a chance to reconnect. But Frank doesn’t see automation as the last step.
“Technology can help identify the opportunity and reduce friction, but in a relationship-driven club environment, the most effective intervention may still be a personal interaction with a staff member,” said Frank.
Courthouse, on the other hand, is putting its effort into community. Rather than expecting the app to create it, the club has built physical spaces and programming where relationships develop naturally.
Technology can spot the member who is drifting and keep a message from becoming noise. The relationship itself is still built by people, whether in a conversation with staff or in the spaces a club creates for members.
Simplicity as a Strategy
The push toward more integration can make an app sound more valuable on paper while making it more complicated in practice.Courthouse has deliberately moved in the other direction, reducing the number of integrations staff and members have to manage.
“We want the member experience to be simple and fun, and that often means putting less in front of them,” said Edmiston.
That doesn’t make integration the problem. Cincinnati Sports Club has found value in Apple Wallet and calendar syncing because they eliminate steps rather than add new ones. The difference is whether an integration removes work for the member or gives them something else to manage.
Simplicity also has to leave room for choice. Chuze has been reminded that some members prefer physical keycards, while others intentionally try to disconnect from their phones while working out.
For operators, the challenge is finding the point where technology improves the experience without becoming the whole experience. Frank’s test for future app development is straightforward: Can members accomplish what they came to the club to do without needing staff assistance?
“The essentials are straightforward — speed, simplicity, personalization and integration,” said Frank. “Members should be able to check in, register, reserve, purchase, manage their account and find timely club information with very few taps.”
The future of club apps is more likely to be defined by how little effort members need to put into them rather than how much they can do. The opportunity is to make the app useful enough to become part of the membership routine while keeping the club itself at the center of the relationship. When technology removes friction, provides useful information and gives staff more time to interact with members, the app becomes infrastructure that supports the experience happening on the other side of the screen.
