6 reasons why your gym needs an online booking system for classes

Digitization has many forms, particularly in the fitness sector. From mobile apps to online workouts and live fitness classes, the services your fitness club can offer are more varied than simple access to gym equipment.

At the same time, members’ expectations have changed significantly in the past few years. Now, most clients are used to solving as many tasks as possible online, when they want to, from the comfort of their home or any other place.

For fitness gyms, members can also manage their activity independently with various digital tools.

In this case, the most relevant example is group fitness class bookings. This happens to be one of the most beloved services for gym members anywhere. In fact, a study conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic says the risk of dropping out is 56% higher for members that use only the gym equipment compared to members that attend group classes.

Therefore, as many members as possible must attend your group X classes. And one of the easiest ways o increase your class attendance is by implementing an online booking system that is fast and easy to use.

As I said at the start of this article, members, just like any other clients, are used to doing everything online. Therefore, why not let your members also book their spots at their favorite classes online?

If you are not convinced that investing in such a system is worth it, here are a few reasons you should.

State-of-the-art services

Allowing members to book their spots online is a modern service that will certainly place you ahead of your competition and pleasantly surprise your members.

No matter how they can book classes – from your gym’s website, mobile app, or online portal, they will be more inclined to book classes and attend.

Surely you want your gym to be seen as a customer-friendly business, and the fact that you simplify these tasks will be seen as a big plus.

Suppose members can book classes whenever they want and instantly receive confirmation. In that case, it will be an excellent experience without your staff having to break a sweat since the system is fully automated.

Available 24/7

If members can only book classes at your club’s front desk, they must visit your gym or call your receptionists to book the class. Unfortunately, that also means bookings can be made only during your club’s working hours.

However, an online system means that members can make bookings whenever they want, wherever they are, without relying on the front desk. Class bookings are available 24/7, and members can book their spots whenever they want.

If you are lucky and your classes are highly popular, they surely fill up quickly. With an online system, you can eliminate call frenzies when bookings open for those classes. Members can book online, and the fastest ones are the winners.

Reduced work volume at the front desk

Because the entire class booking process is moved online and accessible for members, your team at the front desk will have less work. That means fewer employees and, of course, lower costs.

Online bookings will eliminate dozens, if not hundreds, of daily calls at the front desk interrupting your staff’s work. It also eliminates queues at the reception desk because members don’t need to visit the gym just to book a class.

Furthermore, if you don’t use an online system, that probably means you are processing all bookings by hand. Which I assume takes a lot of time. So think what other more productive things you could do instead of managing booking lists.

Organize classes in a structured and predictable way

Using a booking system that includes both online reservations and those taken by phone or in person means you have a detailed history of all your bookings in one place. Therefore, you’ll immediately know which classes are the most popular and which could be cut. This way, you can update your schedule to cater to your members’ preferences and increase class attendance.

On the other hand, you’ll have valuable data on your client’s preferences, which will be a handy tool for your sales and marketing team.

Detailed history

If the entire booking system is part of your gym management platform, you have a detailed history of your members and instructors. With the help of this data, you get a handy bird’s eye view of your instructor’s activity and the preferences of each member.

You can change the class schedule from the platform and keep track of bookings for upcoming classes and attendances for past classes.

This way, you won’t have to guess the number of participants in your next class. Instead, you’ll know for sure. And your instructor will have the necessary accessories for everyone, and the class will not be overcrowded.

Moreover, if the member is confident they have their spot reserved, they will be more likely to attend.

Promote memberships sold online

If you sell memberships online, you can easily promote your offers with the help of online class bookings.

Let me give you two examples.

A potential new member is curious about yoga classes. They go to your website and see an upcoming yoga class at your gym. At the same time, they see they can purchase a membership online and book their spot immediately. Without having to go to the club just for this.

What do you think are your chances of conversion?

Here is the second example. An existing member that always attends your yoga classes wants to go the next day. But their membership expires today, so they can’t book the class if they don’t go to the gym to renew the membership. They might change their mind or postpone it until they get around to doing this. However, if they can renew their membership online and then book their favorite class, they will remain loyal.

These are just a few of the many reasons it’s a good idea to use an online class booking system. I’m sure you have invested a lot of time and resources to organize and improve these services, to pick the right classes and the best instructors. So then, why not make sure your members have easy access to these services?

Ultimately, we all want to do things as quickly and efficiently as possible, so why not give your members this opportunity?