Athlo is a free app where members and class participants can rent out and make cash back on their gym membership when not using it. The app is launching this September, and comes as previous research found that Britons have wasted up to £4 billion a year on unused gym memberships.
Launching in London initially before targeting international expansion, Athlo reports that it has 4,500 pre-registered users. Partnered gyms currently signed up to the platform include Sweat by BXR, The Manor, MoreYoga, Paola’s BodyBarre, The Altitude Training Centre, and Milo and the Bull.
Athlo’s marketplace sees members post their gym membership when not using it, and… ‘provides a one-stop solution to members, consumers and health clubs alike.’
Athlo users can earn back up to 90% of their membership or class fee. For consumers, it provides access to gyms and classes on demand and at preferential rates rather than one-off flat fees.
Athlo adds that it works with gyms and solves a number of industry issues, aiming to place the control back with gym owners.
‘Athlo helps gyms reduce member churn, stop memberships being frozen, improves retention and adds recurring revenue opportunities. Just a 5% increase in customer retention can increase company profits by 25-95% [according to Bain & Co].’
Matthew Mansell, Founder of Athlo, said “One of the main reasons people give up their gym membership is because they are not using it enough and, as such, don’t see it as good value for money.
“We have built the first member-centric retention and growth platform. Our solution gives members more flexibility to get the most out of their membership, and ultimately helps gym providers to better retain their member base.”
Alex Nicholl, Director at BXR, added “Athlo’s offering will help us to further grow our membership numbers and give existing members more freedom to use their membership in a way that suits their lifestyle. From early conversations with the Athlo team we could really see how the platform would add value.”
Athlo is free to download from the App Store.
