Social distancing demands, growing physical fitness awareness driving trend

In this April 2020 file photo, a trainee takes an exercise course from a coach as it is being livestreamed at a gymnasium in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. (MENG DELONG / CHINA DAILY)

Zhang Yujia, an engineer at a Beijing software company, bought a yearlong membership at online fitness platform Keep last month.

The COVID-19 outbreak has accelerated live broadcasting in the fitness sector. Many offline gyms closed down during the peak of the pandemic, and many coaches stayed at home and chose to offer livestreaming courses.

Zhu Yue, head of livestreaming at mobile app Keep

"I have turned to online workout classes instead of going to gyms to keep fit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The mobile fitness app Keep provides livestreaming training courses several times a day. Purchasing the membership lets me take 30 live broadcasting lessons free of charge," Zhang said.

Annual membership costs the 33-year-old white collar worker 218 yuan (US$32.5) and also gives her access to tailor-made exercise classes, prerecorded workout videos and some fitness instructions. Doing exercises at home to burn calories through mobile fitness apps is now becoming a new trend.

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As livestreaming has seen a big boost in China since the COVID-19 outbreak, a string of fitness platforms are exploring potential business opportunities in the burgeoning segment.

Keep launched several livestreaming courses in June, including yoga, Zumba, calisthenics and spinning classes, each of which lasts about 30 to 50 minutes. Users need to pay 18 yuan for each course they participate in.

The mobile app has made some innovations for livestreaming classes including establishing a scoring system that shows real time rankings and different musical selections for various training sessions. The livestreaming aims to make users feel a sense of authenticity and individuality while taking the classes by creating an immersive experience.

Zhu Yue, head of livestreaming at Keep, said the company has been committed to building a livestreaming fitness system since the first half, which covers recruiting and cultivating trainers as well as designing related training courses to provide high-quality content and services to users.

The livestreaming is considered a long-term trend in the fitness industry and users are exhibiting increasing demand for online fitness content, Zhu said, adding that Keep aims to cultivate a batch of trainers into star fitness leaders akin to internet celebrities like Li Jiaqi, a top-tier livestreaming host who endorses beauty products.

Zhu said Keep is now offering a series of systematic and vocational training programs for online trainers who should also possess acting abilities when cameras are rolling and also be able to operate fitness-related content and attract new users.

"We have a comprehensive team, which is responsible for promoting these coaches, designing their personal images and handling clothing and makeup, as well as taking photos and shooting videos for them. We will also help these coaches obtain diversified income by allowing them to sell or promote sales of sporting products and fitness equipment when they provide live broadcasting courses," Zhu said.

He added that the arrival of the 5G era will bolster development of livestreaming in various industries, such as e-commerce, online education and sports.

Data from Quest Mobile showed the number of domestic active users of sports and fitness apps skyrocketed to 89.28 million in February, an increase of 93.3 percent on a yearly basis

"The COVID-19 outbreak has accelerated live broadcasting in the fitness sector. Many offline gyms closed down during the peak of the pandemic, and many coaches stayed at home and chose to offer livestreaming courses."

In the first half, Keep closed an US$80 million round of financing, and based on industry estimates, the valuation of the company has exceeded US$1 billion. So far, it has 6 million daily active users and 40 million monthly active users.

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Data from Quest Mobile, which tracks the mobile internet space, showed the number of domestic active users of sports and fitness apps skyrocketed to 89.28 million in February, an increase of 93.3 percent on a yearly basis.

Online livestreaming fitness platform TT has also witnessed a surge from users who watch virtual workout videos. The company said livestreamed fitness courses maintained a compound 20 percent daily growth of user subscriptions since late January.

Gyms were among the hardest-hit businesses in China due to lockdowns. Many fitness clubs also took advantage of livestreaming services to host live events online to engage clients quarantined at home.

In this August 2020 file photo, a trainee takes an exercise course from a coach as it is being livestreamed at a gymnasium in Changsha, Hunan province. (PHOTO / CHINA NEWS SERVICE VIA CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

Coaches from Super Monkey, an offline gym chain, began giving livestreaming lessons on short-video sharing platforms Douyin and Yizhibo in China since the outbreak, with 190,000 people watching the online livestreaming courses simultaneously during peak hours.

According to a report by Shenzhen, Guangdong province-based Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, revenue from China's fitness club market is expected to increase from 87.8 billion yuan in 2017 to 123 billion yuan in 2020

The company also launched 14-day online training courses in February. The 399-yuan online courses were sold out within a single hour, and were estimated to bring the company over 260,000 yuan in revenue.

Liu Hongjian, head of livestreaming at Super Monkey, said: "The livestreaming business is not restricted by regions as users from cities like Changsha, Xi'an and Luoyang can come to our livestreaming studio and have good interactions with trainers, breaking the limitation of geographical boundaries."

Han Wei, the founder of Lefit, a 24-hour gym chain based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, said the pandemic has forced the fitness industry to try a new "way of survival". Han said they have not yet considered making money online, but plan to turn the livestreaming business into a long-term service so as to bring more value to users.

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Meanwhile, Liu Shuting, founder and CEO of Super Monkey, said online courses are only a supplement to offline services during a special period of time and cannot replace offline courses.

According to a report by Shenzhen, Guangdong province-based Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, revenue from China's fitness club market is expected to increase from 87.8 billion yuan in 2017 to 123 billion yuan in 2020.

Ma Axin, an analyst at LeadLeo Research Institute, said fitness platforms have marched into the livestreaming segment in an attempt to attract more people to fitness classes and further enhance monthly active users and revenue.

"The number of residents who prefer working out at home has increased significantly due to the pandemic, and they may think their movements are nonstandard and hope to obtain professional guidance from trainers," Ma said, adding that yoga, aerobics and other indoor fitness livestreaming courses are gaining traction among fitness enthusiasts.

Ma said the livestreaming business will help online training platforms boost their revenue in the short term. "How to cultivate users' exercise habits through livestreaming is the key point. In addition, there are some drawbacks to livestreaming fitness courses as trainers cannot actually correct mistakes of trainees' movements, and it also is hard to master the rhythm of livestreaming."

Finding just the right users for each live broadcasting session and providing them with highly efficient interactions and exercise experiences is key to ensuring the long-term development of the livestreaming fitness business, Ma added.

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There is huge growth potential in China's fitness industry. Market consultancy iResearch said that 63.8 percent of people spent less than 1,000 yuan on fitness and sports in 2018, and the country's fitness sector is situated in an initial stage of development.

Wang Huaiyuan, an investor in the industry, said many fitness lovers still prefer workout lessons that are free of charge and are cautious about paid content, so it will still take more time for online fitness platforms to generate profits through livestreaming methods.

However, Wang said online livestreaming courses are playing a critical role in helping fitness brands attract a new breed of users and enhance their stickiness.