Choosing gym software is an important part of expanding your gym or fitness studio. Even if you love what you do for a living, every business owner would like to make more money. Finding the best gym management software for your needs can help your gym expand seamlessly.

Finding the right gym software doesn’t have to be complicated. You’ll want software that has great accessibility, marketing features, automated services, point of sale capabilities, and the ability to schedule clients, classes, and staff. We’ll break down exactly what to look for in your gym management software throughout this article.

There are a lot of options to sort through when choosing gym software. Why wait to see if gym software can help you grow your business? Book a demo with Exercise.com to see what features are available to help you today.

5 Tips to Choosing Gym Software

Every gym has different needs. A traditional fitness center with countless machines, classes, and other resources might face a different outlook than a small studio gym that strictly hosts fitness classes. Even so, both settings have some consistent needs that can ensure you’re making the most out of your time, space, and other resources.

What is gym management software? Gym management software is a tool used to help gym or fitness studio owners manage their day-to-day operations. This includes staff management, merchandise sales, class scheduling, business reports, marketing, and more. Each gym management software platform will offer different features that aim to suit your gym’s needs.

What is the best gym management software? You’ll have to answer that for yourself. We’ll cover some key features your gym or fitness studio should search for while providing resources for you to better learn how to choose gym management software.

#1 – Accessibility

Accessibility should be a key determinant when choosing gym management software. There are multiple aspects to consider when breaking down the accessibility of your software. For starters, you’ll want to know if the gym management software is used online, offline, or both. Why is this important?

If your gym management software is strictly reliant on internet access, an outage could stifle your ability to log in members, schedule clients, or worse – receive payment. On the other hand, most systems that operate strictly offline can’t be integrated into websites for your members’ convenience.

In addition to online and offline platforms, you’ll want to know if your gym management software includes a website or mobile app as an included feature. Many gym management software solutions do not include websites or mobile apps. Some will include these at an added cost.

Exercise.com includes websites and custom-branded mobile apps for gyms to maximize the accessibility of gym owners, staff, and customers. The website and app are both fully functional so that clients can perform essential tasks like sign up for classes, purchase personal training sessions, or renew their memberships.

Exercise.com takes this a step further by using Zapier which helps connect many of your most popular apps so that you and your clients can easily transition between all of your most popular accounts. If they find your website, they’ll be able to jump to your social media accounts or use other applications you might use on your site for things like scheduling, nutrition tracking, and more.

#2 – Scheduling Capabilities

The primary purpose of gym management software is to make life easier for gym owners and staff. Many fitness studios have numerous trainers, class options, and class times. If you’re an expanding fitness brand, you may even have more than one studio to consider for scheduling.

Scheduling is an important concept to consider when choosing gym management software. There are many services that are designed strictly for scheduling, but chances are your business needs more than just scheduling help. Beyond that, there are some common flaws with scheduling platforms that could create undesirable headaches for you and your staff.

For example, some scheduling platforms have limitations that won’t let your clients see or choose specific classes, instructors, or locations. Other services may allow clients to book sessions but not pay for them. It’s rare that a gym management software product will include all of the features necessary for the convenient operation of your business.

Exercise.com’s scheduling platform is user-friendly and accessible in-person, via your website, or through your custom-branded mobile app. Your schedules can be accommodated to include specific instructors, times, and locations, and members can pay using this software. Exercise.com also designs your scheduling platform to be uniform with your company name, logos, and colors.

#3 – Marketing Features

Why do gyms buy gym management software? This should be to save time, money, and to stay organized. When you’re shopping for gym management software, you’ll find that many companies have no more than a few features that they offer. What this means for your business is that you’ll need to purchase additional services from other companies or handle those tasks on your own.

For example, a company like Visibook is only designed to offer basic scheduling services, with some applicable payments. They won’t offer other services like point of sale, website/mobile app integrations, or marketing integrations. In this particular case, marketing tools can be the most costly when purchased individually, so it can often be more cost-effective to use an all-in-one platform.

Marketing is a broad concept that includes many different tasks. You’ll have to find ways to promote your business to both prospective and current clients to find and retain as many clients as possible. (Check out our article about digital marketing for gyms to learn how to do so.)

As part of the all-in-one gym management software platform, Exercise.com offers an assortment of marketing integrations to help increase traffic and retention for gym owners. Some of these features include:

• Email Marketing
• Google Analytics
• Facebook Pixel
• Zapier Support

Together, these included features help to improve the number of people that will see your brand; the rest is up to you.

#4 – Point of Sale/Ecommerce

Growing your brand requires advertising. People won’t buy your product if they don’t know who you are or what you sell. Having point of sale (POS) and ecommerce features are simple ways to improve your brand’s outreach while making a profit in the process.

Many gym software products are limited to just POS capabilities if any sales can be made at all. This isn’t ideal if you are looking to increase your overall revenue, expand your business, or just offer your members products they can rely on. Ecommerce is also a valued asset because it integrates sales with accessibility.

Exercise.com’s gym ecommerce software features provide gym owners with a fully customizable POS platform that’s made available to clients in-person, via mobile app, or through the gym’s website. You’ll be able to sell merchandise, personal training packages, or even fitness challenges to your members from nearly any location.

#5 – Automation

Did we mention saving time? If you’re looking to spend more time working with your clients and less time scheduling, tracking payments, and sending out workout programs, you’ll want to find gym management software that includes automated features. This includes basic recurring payments at the very least.

Automation is key for both business owners and clients, with over 35 percent of young adults being subscribed to automated payments, according to a CreditCards.com survey. This only reflects the payment portion of your business. Your clients will be much more likely to utilize automated services that are free of charge.

Yet again, Exercise.com gym management software delivers a multitude of automated resources to make gym ownership easier. Your staff will be able to automate schedules, payments, workout plans, assessments, messages, and more. Using automated services helps to free your staff so they’ll be available for your members instead of pushing papers.

Choosing Gym Software: Key Takeaways

As a small fitness business owner, it’s important to be sure you consider your growth when you invest in your gym. Choosing the right fitness business management platform can help make those transitions smooth and effortless. You’ll want to use an accessible product with scheduling capabilities, marketing integrations, and plenty of automated features.

There is a surplus of business management solutions out there, but which is the best for you? Choose the best gym software today. Book a demo with Exercise.com to see how we can help you manage your gym easier.