Health, fitness, and nutrition are considered important aspects of every individual’s life. With the advent of technology, people started using the latest devices for the betterment of their health. Over a period of time, people have also discovered a connection between health and smartphones with the use of mobile applications. No wonder, you will see several thousands of eCommerce apps available in the health and fitness industry. But very few of them are getting the user’s attention. This is exactly what makes this industry so challenging. The aspiring app developers need to do thorough analysis and research before venturing into such a lucrative but unpredictable app niche.
What statistic is saying?
The eCommerce industry of fitness and health app has shown a growth of over 400% in the last five years. The health apps industry is all set to cross a milestone of $50 billion by the year 2020. The perfect mingle of modern technology and the health industry has created many miracles when it comes to health benefits. It has also opened new avenues for businesses; they got access to a massive customer database in a short time.
The overall market condition for health-related apps has also improved significantly in the last few years. Now app developing companies have a diverse range of business models to monetize their product in less time. Most of the app developers are using in-app Ads, service sales, licensing and even paid downloads to boost their revenue. The health apps are considered as a mandatory choice for several health clubs and fitness studios. Fitness enthusiasts prefer a fitness club or gym. Because it offers them a dedicated mobile app to keep track of their workout schedule and visits.
All these key statistics and facts clearly demonstrate the bright future for eCommerce apps in the coming time.
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Latest Trends to watch out for:
Here are some latest trends that will help eCommerce app owners to stay ahead in the competition which is prevalent in the fitness industry:
1. Personalization
Personalization is considered a key trend in the mobile apps industry and it plays an important role in customer satisfaction. Today, users can enter their personal data including gender, age, weight, height, and health objectives to derive a personalized fitness plan. Customers can also opt for premium services. They can make a comparison between several workout plans and choose one that suits them the most. This is not only saving their cost but they can follow a proper fitness regime. This will allow them to reap maximum benefits out of their efforts.
2. Rewards & Recognition
Being healthy is considered as the biggest reward for users and the entire fitness industry is growing on this aspect. Offering rewards after achieving certain fitness milestones is the most recent trend to watch out for in the mobile apps industry. Customers are getting a free gym membership or discount on their existing plan when they complete a specific fitness challenge. Most of the eCommerce apps are also offering fitness accessories and supplements to users. This encourages them to work on their health goals on a consistent basis.
3. Evolution of notifications
Most of the eCommerce apps have recently changed the way they send push notifications and messages to their customers. They are not overusing the notification mechanism thereby successfully maintaining the interest of users in the fitness apps. Now app developers are studying the everyday work schedule of customers to avoid them disturbing during unplanned meetings and tight deadlines. At the same time, these apps are also making sure that users are following their daily fitness and nutrition regime by sending them to push notifications at a precise time.
4. Compatibility with wearables
Your app must support all kinds of wearable devices available in the market including smartwatches. During the app development process, the designers need to make sure that the app is perfectly integrated with the system of wearable devices. Sometimes, the high-end functionality offered by modern devices uses a different algorithm; the app needs to be synchronized with the device for its smooth functionality. There are several latest tools available that help developers to integrate their apps very easily with wearables. Health is the priority reason that encourages users to buy a wearable device. This clearly demonstrates the growth opportunity for app developers and the strong need for making their products compatible with modern wearables.
5. Online Streaming
Most of the people find it very difficult to go to the gym every day because of their tight schedule. Many of them even give up an idea of a workout as they fail to get in touch with their trainer regularly. This is exactly where the idea of online streaming is coming into the picture. By offering such a unique service, app developers can offer users a platform to get fitness training at any point in time. Users don’t need to personally interact with their trainers. They will enjoy the utmost flexibility while managing their fitness regime.
6. Artificial Intelligence
As most of the app developers are trying to integrate artificial intelligence with fitness apps, the users have their own virtual fitness trainers who look after all their fitness objectives. The use of AI in the fitness app is allowing developers to offer personalized and affordable services to their customers. With AI assistance, users can choose a fitness plan according to their health goals and physical stamina. This kind of modern innovation will definitely help fitness enthusiasts to get the best out of their efforts.
7. Subscription Features
In the coming time, you will see a nutritionist subscription as an important part of every eCommerce app in the health and fitness industry. This will allow users to create a personalized diet plan which they can follow and even amend whenever needed.
According to Kyro, “A perfect nutritionist can create a diet chart according to the specific requirements of an individual”.
Today, users want to have all the functions related to their fitness and nutrition in a single app. So, offering such a kind of subscription within the app will definitely act as a great source of revenue.
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8. Combining multiple segments
The diverse kinds of fitness and health app segments can be merged into a major application that comprises exhaustive features. Some of the key functionality may involve fitness tracking, data management, nutrition guide, medial companion, connection to doctor and much more. When customers see all the key segments covered into a single application, they will encourage them to use it to experience high convenience.
Challenges:
- Protecting the personal details and vital data of customers is the biggest challenge companies will face in the coming time. In order to overcome this issue, they need to add multiple level securities to their applications and win the trust of customers.
- Offering a smooth user interface while giving access to a plethora of features is another challenge app developers need to deal with. UX/UI developers need to push all their limits to make sure that the app is very quick and simplistic in use.
- The overall cost of developing an eCommerce app in the health, fitness and nutrition industry has drastically increased over the last few years. App developing companies need to allocate a significant amount of budget on marketing their app in order to increase their customer reach. Most of the app developing companies prefer to release their app on multiple platforms iOS and Android. This involves a lot of investment in the form of both time and money.
Competition:
The market for eCommerce apps in the health industry is very lucrative. Even leading IT companies and several other non-health businesses are also willing to jump into the market. With such strong competition, increasing user reach and getting a higher conversion rate is the toughest challenge for new apps.
With so many eCommerce apps already available in fitness and health niche, app developers need to think out-of-box to create a product that will stand out in the competition. Adopting modern technology and trending innovation will definitely help them to get an edge over the competitors.
Germany, UK, and the USA are considered as best choices when it comes to segregating the market on the basis of geographical boundaries. All these countries boast highly favorable market conditions. This is because of their massive audience size that looks for digital solutions to their health, fitness and nutrition-related issues. The most popular eCommerce apps are contributing a share of 30% of total health apps that offer services for connection to practitioners and doctors.
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The Bottom Line:
Though eCommerce apps in the health industry have a lot of potentials to grab, the road for success is not very easy. There will be lots of challenges that need to be overcome. Watching out recent trends in the market will definitely help companies to make informed decisions. By taking the help of the right tools and following modern trends, app developers can definitely focus on offering efficient services to their customers at an affordable price.
Web Developer & SEO Specialist with 15+ years of experience in Open Source Web Development specialized in Joomla & WordPress development. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions".