2.0 Will commercial gyms dry out as people are forced invest in at-home gyms amidst the lockdowns?
WGSN Report titled “Remote Workouts: Product Priorities” Identifies an emerging segment in the fitness market in response the Covid 19 related environment as “at home elites”.
It is the segment of consumers who have invested in building mini gyms and home studios at their residences as the gyms were shut down amidst the pandemic. According to Business Insider, there has been an increase in the purchases of Gym Equipment by 419% despite the fact that the prices increased from 55% compared to previous year on the period from 24th March 2020 to 17th April 2020.
It can be argued that it is highly improbable that these at home elite would return to commercial gyms as these consumers have invested a substantial amount of money on gym equipment. Savanthi Perera, one of the interviewees testified that she too has invested in building a home gym as she lost access to her commercial gym when lockdowns started. She further mentioned that she has no intention of returning back to her old gym even when the covid 19 crisis situation is over.
Moreover, a recent study done by The New Consumer has shown that 66% of the population has shown interest in home-based workouts. Furthermore, it has shown that out of 82% of millennials who have tried home based workouts at least once, 81% has shown long term Interest in working out at home.
Hence, it is safe to conclude that a significant proportion of the population, who once worked out in gyms would permanently adopt at home workout routines considering factors such the financial investment. the convenience, comfort, privacy freedom they would enjoy at home.
2.1 “Exercising Snacking” as a novel strategy to conveniently integrate fitness into the already existing daily routines
It is observable that there is an emerging segment of population who are accustomed to exercise in multiple busts of quick workouts spaced throughout the day. These consumers have a flexible lifestyle to integrate wellness activities amidst their daily chores. According to a study done by ClassPass , it is shown that 15–30-minute workouts on apps are the most popular workouts. Moreover, according to Google Trends, a 50% increase has been observed in the google searches with keywords such as 8 min ab workouts, 15 min ab workouts, etc. According to WGSN report the lifestyle of these consumers tend to be “work-to-workout.” Further elaborating this concept through an example. they would seamlessly switch from a 15 min ab workout to a zoom board meeting. Moreover, 35% of the participants of a primary research survey indicated that they would prefer working out in several short busts throughout the day rather than cramming a full-length workout into an hour or more.
Addias has identified this newly emerged segment in the market and has introduced GamePlan A encouraging people to balance their work and life by promoting the Adidas Runtastic 15 minute home workout plan.
Hence, it is safe to conclude that there is an emerging segment of the population would demand clothes that enables them to seamlessly transition between working out and doing other chores and activities throughout the day. Therefore, cross functionality would be a primary requirement when designing clothes targeted at this segment of the population.
2.2 Prioritising mental Health when approaching personal holistic wellness
According to Ypluse, 41% millennials and Genzers claim that their mental has been negatively impacted due to the pandemic. The use of the hashtag #selfcare has been raising up on social media, depicting content portraying exercise and practices of mindfulness. As a response the pandemic situation many consumers have turned toward fitness to boost their moods. Hence, a new community of holistic wellness conscious millennials and Genzers has emerged. Furthermore, it is important to note that these consumers demand for soft performance wear that would enable them to be active and be mindful empowering the mind and body balance. Moreover, this particular segment of the population gives colour psychology a substantial priority when selecting clothes. 60% of the participants who took part in survey conducted as part of the primary research indicated that they have begun to consider the colour psychology when selecting activewear.
Ghost Flower is an example for an e brand that cater to this newly emerged market. Additionally, millennial and Genzers would consider alternative wellness activities such as mid workout recovery, acupuncture, eastern medical therapy to supplement with conventional physical exercise. Ghost Flower places their logo pointing at the key acupuncture points. This helps the consumer to get acupuncture therapy while getting a workout, thus helping to increase performance and vitality. While it is questionable how effective alternative and supplemental wellness procedures such as acupuncture, integration of mental wellness along with physical wellness is definitely a progressive step towards adopting a holistic approach towards fitness.
2.3 Rise of Wellness Tourism means of socializing and revitalising mental and physical health in post covid era
According to the global wellness institute there are two types of wellness travellers, and they are categorized as primary and secondary. Primary travellers are travellers who travel primarily to a des.na.on with wellness facili.es, their sole purpose of the tour is visiting wellness centres such as des.na.on spas and secondary travellers are those who would prioritize personal wellness while on a business or a leisure trip. They would attempt to stay active, eat healthy food and meditate while on a trip even though such ac.vi.es are not the primary goals of the trip.
The pandemic has made people rethink their lifestyle. Health and
wellness have never been important as it is today. Covid 19 lockdowns forced people to remain indoors for a prolonged period of .me while shutting off interaction with friends and family. Hence, people are yearning to travel once the restrictions are lessened. A survey conducted by Medical Tourism Association on 48 countries found that over 78% people have wellness tourism as travel plans once covid 19 restrictions are eased out.
Given this context international tourism service providers such as Hyatt Hotels, Rosewood Hotels, etc have started to restructure their infrastructure to offer in house wellness experiences such as yoga classes, spa treatments, fitness studios Etc. Travelling is a prime opportunity to be
physically active, mentally relaxed and socially connect with friends and family. Hence, it is safe to conclude that there would be a surge in
travellers who would take wellness focused holidays once the covid 19 diminishes in severity.
2.4. Contrasting climates within a small geographic as a challenge faced by Wellness Tourists in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka too is a prime des.na.on for wellness conscious travellers. Sri Lanka offers a diverse array of wellness experiences from Ayurvedic retreats to upcountry hiking to surfing in the down-south. Youtuber, Blogger and Digital Nomad Johnny FD in his Vlog about Sri Lanka, men.ons how Sri Lanka is a country comprised of locations with contrasting and diverse climates and how each location is hours within each other. Nuwara Eliya and Galle being two different ci.es situated just apart from each other is a fine example for the above statement. Nuwara Eliya is composed primarily of a cold climate, o:en referred to as Little England, while Galle being the opposite and quite comparable to the Caribbean. While this contrasting diversity in climate is tempting for an adventurous traveller, it poses a challenge to them to pack and wear clothes to suit different climatic conditions. For example, one would simply wear a skinny while in Kandy but would need multiple layers of Clothing to face the cold climate in Nuwara Eliya which is just 2 and hours apart. Therefore, wellness travellers, specially within Sri Lanka, would demand for cross climate apparel to combat the contrasting differences in climate within a small geographic area.
Continue to Read Chapter Three