After the outbreak of the epidemic, most physical fitness industries have become places for people to keep away from due to environmental problems such as dense personnel and poor ventilation, such as traditional gyms of 24 Hour Fitness, Gold's Gym in United States. It was also forced to file for bankruptcy and became a victim of the epidemic. However, at the same time, people discovered that staying at home and exercising at home not only saves money and convenience, but also saves the transportation time to the gym, which unexpectedly spawned a wave of home fitness, and together with the sales of fitness equipment online, such as Kettlebells and dumbbells were all sold out of stock, and "Home Workout" instantly became a hot search keyword.
According to Reuters, the fitness equipment market, which includes equipment such as bouncing beds, exercise bikes and rowing machines, reached $11.5 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow to $15.2 billion in 2027. When the demand for home fitness equipment is on the rise, the living room and idle space in the home have gradually replaced the gym. This trend may be the fitness-related somatosensory game "Ring Fit Adventure" released by Nintendo during the epidemic. It is sold out of stock, which is evidenced by the vigorous development of online fitness teaching.
Fitness Mirror Popular in Taiwan, America and Japan
"Ring Fitness Adventure" allows players to play games while exercising. Since it was released on October 18, 2019, the cumulative sales volume in the Japanese market has exceeded 1 million sets in just 8 months, and the global sales exceeded 4 million sets, Bloomberg pointed out that Nintendo expects to raise the annual production target of the Switch to 30 million units. Under the spread of the epidemic, the game continues to be out of stock, and major channels around the world still need to draw lots to grab the goods.
Why is this game so popular all over the world? Why even the elders who didn't like sports accidentally ignited the soul of fitness? It turned out that, in addition to the fun of the game, players only need to hold the circular "Ring-Con" with both hands and fasten the "leg straps". With the difficulty level of the game and the plot to jump and run, all kinds of mechanical sensors will be activated. It can detect the user's movement pattern, and judge whether the player's movement is standard through the height of leg lift, stretching force, body movement angle, etc. At the same time, it can instantly display the heart rate, calorie consumption and exercise time after exercise, which is full of entertainment The nature of sports games allows players to have fun and a sense of achievement without knowing it.
Not only the game market has benefited, but also fitness mirrors, smart watches, helmets, etc., business opportunities related to the health and fitness industries have exploded with the spread of the epidemic. Many manufacturers have also seen the business opportunities of home fitness, and are gearing up to cut into the market layout. Take JOHNSON, a Taiwanese fitness equipment factory, for example, it has launched a "new concept fitness mirror". It only needs to install a full-length mirror-sized home digital electronic display equipped with a lens and speakers, and a yoga mat at home. You can enjoy live and online coaching courses such as aerobics, heavy training, yoga, boxing, stretching exercises, etc. With the assistance of AI coaches and home exercise, you can also adjust your posture in real time, display heartbeats per minute and calorie consumption, no need to drive. Go to the gym and you can do it right at home.
The concept of this type of smart AI fitness mirror has also set off a craze in the United States, Japan and other places. The Incubation Center affiliated to Waseda University in Japan has incubated the new sports brand MIRROR FIT. Although the company's services will not be officially launched until this spring, it has reached a cooperation with the housing rental company and factory Co., Ltd. equipped in the property.
For MIRROR, a new start-up company in New York, they have determined that fitness mirrors will have bright spots in the global market as early as two years ago, and are committed to the development of fitness mirrors. With the help of this wave of epidemic, many investors and enterprises are optimistic about the advantages of digital interaction in the future, and they have attracted the favor of Lululemon, a well-known sportswear brand in Canada. They did not hesitate to announce the acquisition of MIRROR for US$500 million in June 2020.
Online + Ai Coaching Boom, Apple is Also Excited
Not only are home sports equipment such as mirrors popular, but Peloton, a fitness start-up company that focuses on moving the gym home and taking classes at any time, relies on selling flywheels, treadmills and online courses. The fitness coach has created a fan marketing strategy for Internet celebrities, allowing students to move along with live or video lessons at home, and with gorgeous music and lighting to create an atmosphere like watching a show, successfully attracting hundreds of students to go online at the same time.
Due to the combination of innovative needs such as "technology, content, and convenience", coupled with the "90-day free trial plan" launched by Peloton to target the epidemic, Peloton's ranking in the APP Store has risen rapidly. Chief Executive John. Foley said that the number of people who tried it during the epidemic was as high as 1.2 million, a full 12 times higher than originally expected. In addition, in order to stabilize the supply chain, Peloton also announced the acquisition of Taiwan bicycle manufacturer Qimei Technology for US$47.4 million. It is not difficult to infer the strong market demand in the future.
But in order to ride this wave of demand smoothly, The Economist reminded that the public has learned that many things can be done by staying at home, such as physical activities such as fitness, classes and even concerts Can be done at home. Therefore, after the epidemic is over, these activities will need to be upgraded to satisfy consumers again. In addition, many consumers turn their attention to digital fitness application services because they cannot afford expensive fitness equipment, so the development of "content subscription" has also become a popular fried chicken in the industry. And this industry observation, which is close to digital life, is a business opportunity in the eyes of traditional sports brands and technology giants.
Take Nike, a major sports brand, as an example. In 2020, with a brand value growth of 7%, it was named "the world's strongest clothing brand" by the British brand value company Brand Finance. When the performance of its opponents fell sharply, Nike grew against the trend. In the early years, the Nike team developed two APPs: Nike Training Club (NTC) for personalized fitness and Nike Running Club (NRC) for runners’ practice records. For personalized fitness plans, it also provides online appointments with real coaches to arrange exercise plans. Drawing, APP pacer and other courses are convenient for self-training at home.
Apple also announced the launch of the "Apple Fitness+" health value-added plan at its September 2020 press conference. As long as the fitness APP is opened, there are 10 real-life coaching courses including running, yoga, rowing, muscle strength, dance, etc. In addition to the diverse courses, it also connects its own device ecosystems such as Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, etc., so that users can exercise at any time according to their own needs and convenient equipment, and AI will also synchronously collect sportsmen's data. Physical fitness data, and then suggest how to adjust exercise intensity, which is equivalent to a tailor-made AI coach.
Chinese companies are also not far behind. The sports and fitness platform Keep has 300 million APP users and 10 million members around the world. In January 2021, it announced the completion of a $360 million Series F financing. In addition to continuing to launch online fitness training such as recorded and live broadcasts, it also expands business opportunities for installations, launching products such as sports bracelets, smart spinning bikes, and walking machines, as well as pop-up stores, collecting a large amount of online and offline user data, and maximizing the value-added of home fitness services.
4.2 Trillion Dollars of Business Opportunities
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) also highlighted the strong fact that online and virtual training is on the rise in the Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2021. There is a rigid need for upgrading in the fitness industry.
From Google Play and App Store "Nuli-Home and Retraining Schedule", "Wakeout!" and other home exercise teaching apps, due to the impact of the epidemic, won the best app of the year, and more and more fitness coaches choose YouTube, Facebook Waiting for the platform to open fitness live broadcast courses to attract attention, and then to the layout of major companies entering the field at the same time, home exercise seems to have become a clear learning.
This wave of epidemic is a crisis for the sports and health industry, but also a turning point. According to the estimation of the research institute Global Wellness Economy, the current global health and weight loss market size is about 4.2 trillion US dollars. It will exceed 5 trillion US dollars; while the digital fitness market grows faster, reaching as much as 33%, it will be promoted to the forefront of the healthy and slimming economy, and lay a good foundation for the future development of the sports industry. As for how to seize industrial business opportunities, it depends on how the company breaks through the predicament and adjusts its physique.
