The primary basis of any business’s success is its pricing strategy. No matter what business you are running, determining the right strategy is to unlock the door of progression. Mainly, people consider it merely a financial decision for their company. However, the niche owners choose to help achieve long-term business goals and design their market reputation. The industry plays a main role in shaping your pricing strategy, as each market has various trends that help you stay competitive and constantly evolve. Nowhere is this more evident than in the dynamic landscape of the gym industry.
The gym industry is one of the most revolving industries at present. The expansion rate in 2028 is expected to grow by 4%. Undoubtedly, the growth is mesmerizing, but there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration, mainly the pricing strategies. Pricing strategies are not all about providing the services at the lowest prices; they are actually how your gym is proven to benefit your gym members.
Multiple aspects must be assessed when developing the best gym pricing strategy. This article is a compact guide to help you understand how to create a pricing strategy for your gym.
Gym pricing strategies & tactics
Usually, people ignore the importance of implementing the right gym pricing strategy. They are totally oblivious when planning the pricing and designing packages, which may cost them their whole business. The pricing strategy is essential to the gym’s income stream. If you incorporate the right strategy, the income will automatically rise higher. If you choose a strategy that is very economical compared to the market, you are more likely to miss the profits you are supposed to earn from the gym. You need to keep a few factors in mind whenever you are preparing the pricing strategy for your business. Some of them are the following:
Understand the gym pricing
Designing a gym pricing strategy isn’t easy; it requires a thorough understanding of the field, the market you are launching in, and, most importantly, the demographics. It is important to have complete experience with gym pricing to create a good strategy that will help boost sales. This includes analyzing the revenue generation per single membership and assessing the ongoing competition in the market.
Assess your competition
If you want to hold a good position in the market, you need to understand what your target audience requires. Research has come to a joint conclusion, which indicates that most gym members keep pricing as their top priority when choosing one. Usually, it’s very difficult for newcomers in the market to identify the market they are actually targeting. The location of the gym plays an important role in designing the pricing strategy. It is advised to start within a radius of 5.1 miles as it’s the maximum preferred distance to drive for the gym.
Analyze why the pricing varies
There are multiple factors that can really affect the pricing of each gym in the market. However, to find out how their gym pricing strategy varies, you can assess them with the following:
- Enlist the services they are offering.
- How they have priced their membership packages. Including the package level and the day passes.
- Analyze their target audience, as it is very challenging to understand whom they are targeting. You need to dig out about their members by asking around your colleagues and friends living nearby. There must be some people who have joined the gym and can provide insightful feedback.
- Assess their specialty as they are economical and their gym environment, or if they offer very good pilates classes. Additionally, it is important to determine the weaknesses of the competitors as well as to fill the gap by implementing the best pricing strategy. Go through the online reviews and get a clear picture of their reputation.
All the information you will gather will not only help you design a good gym membership pricing strategy but also how to attract new members from such a competitive market without offering the lowest membership packaging.
Understand your pricing levels
Once you have a clear picture of the market, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of the pricing levels you can propose.
It is not necessary to keep the price consistent for all; you can simply use different levels for people belonging to different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Level of memberships
- Basic
- Standard
- Premium
Understand the cost and capacity
It is important to consider the capacity of your business. You should determine the highest number of members your business can reasonably accommodate. To calculate your membership capacity, follow these steps:
- All you have to do is divide the visiting time by the open hours per day. If you are opening a gym, assume a one-hour visit unless your business model is duration-specific. This calculation will provide the number of members signing up every day.
- Multiply the number of membership cycles per day by the total number of members the gym can accommodate simultaneously.
- The final number is your gym’s maximum capacity. Please note that this number is approximate, as some members will visit more often than others, and there may be seasonal variations. To manage capacity, you may want to consider offering peak and off-peak memberships.
Determining the pricing strategies for the gym
In this business, everything depends on the interest of the targeted audiences. This makes it more important to keep the target audiences attracted to the gym, which offers more services. The whole game totally depends on the pricing strategy and how well you are capable of executing. The following are a few tactics and strategies that are highly used by gym owners to keep memberships going for a long period of time.
Cost-plus
Cost plus pricing sets service prices based on costs, ensuring a 20% profit margin. For personal training, this means $60/session, with flexibility for semi-private and group sessions. While it guarantees profit, it overlooks market competition and may require price adjustments for new expenses.
Penetration
Penetration pricing involves undercutting competitors to attract clients quickly, though initial profitability may be sacrificed. It’s effective for gaining market share and testing demand. However, sustaining profitability may require upselling or cost management due to potential losses and client disloyalty.
Economy
Like Planet Fitness’s model, economy pricing relies on low margins and high volume, offering essential services with minimal benefits. While it can attract a broad market and simplify operations, constant cost management is critical, and competition and low margins may hinder profitability and customer loyalty.
Value-based
Value-based gym pricing sets prices based on perceived client value rather than costs or market prices, often resulting in higher prices and profits. It’s effective for specialists or niche markets. Still, it may require skilled staff and can limit market size, with potential competition undercutting prices.
Premium pricing
Premium gym pricing involves setting higher prices with the expectation that clients will perceive higher quality. Effective marketing is crucial, portraying the service as a luxury option. While it yields high margins and limits competition, acquiring and retaining clients can be costly, and market size is often smaller.
Monthly gym membership pricing model
The monthly gym membership pricing model is a prevalent strategy employed by fitness businesses. This approach involves members paying a fixed monthly fee for access to the gym. The model has several advantages, including its simplicity, which is easily comprehensible for both owners and members and the possibility of more apparent revenue projections for owners.
Given the seasonal nature of the fitness industry, this pricing model can ensure consistent revenue streams. Members can opt for a monthly fee as part of an annual or shorter contract, with the latter typically being more expensive. This pricing strategy incentivizes members to commit to a year-long contract.
Overall, the monthly gym membership pricing model is quite effective in the fitness industry, generating steady revenue streams while providing members with an affordable and flexible payment option.
Pay-as-you-go pricing model
Pay-as-you-go pricing can be a powerful tool to attract new members to your fitness gym without requiring a long-term commitment. This model can appeal to members who want to try your studio for the first time or those who want the flexibility of accessing various gyms at their convenience. To make the most of this pricing strategy, providing these members with an exceptional experience is crucial. However, relying solely on pay-as-you-go pricing may not be advisable as it doesn’t guarantee a regular cash flow.
Bundling pricing model
Offering bundle pricing is a great way to upgrade your members from a basic membership to your high-end service. By paying a monthly fee, they can enjoy extra privileges such as unlimited access to the gym, additional classes, free towels, pool usage, and discounted parking rates.
This pricing strategy can also help you determine which aspects of your gym are most important to specific groups of members. For instance, you could create a membership bundle that offers a lower off-peak rate, which allows access during non-peak hours instead of the introductory rate.
Bundle pricing is based on the assumption that most of the benefits included in the bundle are not readily available to other members, which will help subsidize the cost of those who take up the service.
Dynamic pricing
Dynamic pricing has emerged as the latest and most popular model in the health and fitness industry. This model allows members to enjoy the gym experience at a fraction of the cost.
Unlike traditional pricing models, where the rates are fixed, dynamic pricing is a flexible approach based on market demand. It allows fitness businesses to set variable prices, meaning they can charge more for classes when the demand is high and less when the demand is low. This incentivizes members to fill up less popular classes or time slots.
Dynamic pricing is a complex model, and fitness business owners must use software to set it up. Manually managing it can be time-consuming.
Value-based pricing model
Value-based pricing refers to setting prices based on the perceived value to the client rather than considering your expenses, margins, and market prices. This pricing method usually leads to big margins for the members and the owners as well. The goal is to make clients understand the value and be willing to pay for it. Value-based pricing is commonly used by specialists and businesses targeting niche markets, especially those specialized in delivering specific results. Operate a training business that focuses on a minor niche market or specializes in providing a precise or narrow result. It can be a pricing method that you can apply.
Implementing the pricing strategy
Make sure the pricing strategy you are implementing is designed to cater to the following;
Attract and retain members
Attracting new members and retaining old ones are equally important. Hereby, you can use various techniques to attract and retain members, including;
- Offer multiple promotions to your existing clients.
- Start a campaign based on discounts.
- Offer flexible payment options.
Analyze the revenue generation and profitability.
- It is very important to continuously monitor fitness market trends and keep your package prices according to a relatable range.
- Utilize the data analysis features of the tool you have implemented so you can easily identify the most reliable pricing strategy for your gym.
Providing exceptional value
- Usually, gym owners don’t bother to align the services they provide with the money they charge. For example, if a gym charges $40 per month for just equipment training, whereas there’s a competitor in the market with the same equipment training and yoga classes at $42, who do you think people will prefer? It is important to charge for what you serve.
- Similarly, it’s crucial to add value to additional features you offer to your members, such as lockers or spa services.
How does gym management software help with pricing strategies?
You must be wondering what role gym management software can play in developing a pricing strategy for the gym. Technically, the main thing is incorporating and implementing the strategy you have designed for your gym. The prices, packages, and all the aligned services are integrated into the gym software, which makes it easy for the members to access almost everything. The package, online payment options, and all the services offered are available on a single platform. This ease really helps to attract new members and retain existing ones.
Additionally, you can easily make changes to the packages at any time or add new offers or discounts without any inconvenience. It not only updates all the changes within the blink of an eye but also works super smoothly for the clients.
The main role of gym management software is to make a pricing strategy successful. The integrated automatic marketing feature of the gym software allows us to maintain good communication by sending new offers and updating with discounts to the members and targeted audiences.
Moreover, it even helps to measure and analyze whether the designed gym pricing strategy is even working up to the mark or not. It helps to track revenue generation and keeps you updated with the members’ changing preferences.
Conclusion
By the end of the day, everything depends on the long-term goal you want to achieve by implementing the gym pricing strategy. Usually, people ignore the importance of designing a pricing strategy that successfully serves the membership at the best prices with unique services.
Undoubtedly, pricing strategies can be very challenging and confusing, yet it is the main thing that simply allows your gym to grow and increase the number of members. Research shows that the very first thing noticed by almost half of the potential gym members is the membership packages. It shows the importance of a good pricing strategy and the dependence of profit and success on it.
