News

Ezypay, Australia & New Zealand's leading outsourced direct debit service provider has just released the Top 10 Consumer Trends Impacting the Fitness Industry in 2010, with some interesting conclusions and predictions for better service in the fitness industry.

The report, which takes information gathered from the Australian Fitness Industry Survey 2010, consumer trend reports and a deep appreciation for the direction of fitness in Australia & New Zealand, has given over 9,000 recipients in the industry a guide to the attitudes and desires of the post-noughties fitness consumer.

"It was fascinating to look at the results of AFIS 2010 and combine it with other reports from within the industry to get a bigger picture of how fitness centres and health clubs will look in the future," says Celeste Kirby-Brown, Sales & Marketing Director at Ezypay, and co-author of the report.

"We found that the results really seem to reflect the general consumer trends of instant information, connection and personalisation," she adds.

With the focus on creating a healthier public, it's important that businesses within the fitness industry are in tune to what customers and potential customers expect in terms of service, options and connection.

"Just like consumers in many other industries, people who visit health clubs and fitness centres expect to be connected and engaged," says Simon Hall, Ezypay Marketing Manager and co-author of the report. "The latest connection technologies have not evaded the fitness industry and offer club owners many options to add another dimension to their customer service offerings."

Many of the findings in this illuminating report were taken from the AFIS 2010, conducted by Ezypay, offering a significant representation from the industry with 425 clubs and facilities responding to the survey and 7,650 health club members taking part. Their opinions have helped to shape the Trend Report into a document that fitness industry club owners can use to shape their marketing plan for 2010.

With topics such as the shift to the consumer-focussed model rather than a service-centric model, tapping into the ‘golden oldies' age groups, community and charity responsibility and being able to show what's happening in your club right now, ‘nowism' as the report calls it, fitness club owners get a clear picture of what they really need to be doing to retain their customers and offer them more value.

Bryan K O'Rourke, a strategic speaker, author and advisor will be presenting at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) Convention this month in San Diego on how technologies will affect the future of the fitness industry.

"[The] industry survey report is well done...I particularly enjoyed the term "Nowism" and will share the term during my presentation," he says. "A large part of the global fitness industry today is not nearly as consumer focused as other businesses. Delivering interaction, content and service 24/7 which is co-created to provide highly personalized experiences does not exist, although models are appearing which attempt to deliver on this promise," he adds.

Visit http://www.fitnesssurvey.com.au/TrendReport.html to view the findings in the Top 10 Consumer Trends Impacting the Fitness Industry in 2010.

About Ezypay
Ezypay is an outsourced direct debit service provider dedicated to offering a payment collection system that assists businesses in the regulation of their cash flow and revenue without the hassle of managing customers' bills.

With close links to the fitness industry through their large health club and fitness centre database, they offer small business operators of all types easy online payment collection options at www.ezypay.com.au