Health and fitness club membership enjoyed a 3 percent growth in the 12 months ending 31st March 2020.
While this growth has been very much welcomed given the economic climate, membership numbers are the first to suffer when cutbacks need to be made. Seasonality also affects the sector as people tend to peak membership in the New Year and in the summer leading up to holidays.
Online sports equipment sales – get set to compete
Sports and fitness equipment sellers should take heart from the above trends.
In this current climate, club memberships are down but people still want to exercise and are increasingly buying equipment for domestic use. Sports equipment sales also tend to peak in the New Year so now is the key time to optimise your website and develop your online presence.
Beating the high street
Research shows that online consumers increasingly use the internet to thoroughly research a product before committing to a purchase. Searchers are getting wiser in search queries, better at searching for bargains and enjoy shopping online. Increasingly men are using the internet as a shopping channel. Shopping from the comfort of your own home is key, summer high street sales were down due to the barbecue summer.
Get yourself well-positioned to compete
Now is the time to get your online presence and visibility optimised.
Take some of the key points from above:-
- Jump on seasonality
- Provide sales to consumers moving away from membership
- Use long tail SEO, adapt your website to use less competitive and longer keywords
- Make sure your website provides a wealth of information, leave no question unanswered and engage visitors who will be loyal to your compelling content writing
- Transfer “brick and mortar” cost savings to your customers
- Ensure clear calls to action on your website
- Try subtle design tweaks to see which pages convert more visitors into customers. Try multivariate analysis M-VAP
- Make delivery terms prominent
- Allow user generated content, let your customers feedback information. People like to see comments made by likeminded people
- Look to limit or waiver delivery costs over a certain transaction limit. Tease visitors to spend that little more to drop delivery options
Overwhelmed? Too much and too late?
Here at The Slightly Different SEO we are your perfect partners to develop your online presence. We can conduct a free website review and break down logical steps to build your online success.
