As you know, I’ve been a proponent of fitness bands in the past. They are on the forefront of fitness technology and, as the price continues to drop, they seem to be poised to become even more popular than they already are. However recent studies are now pointing to a new issue in the world and business of fitness bands: they are frequently abandoned only months after being purchased and used. While this doesn’t mean that sales are going down (in fact, they’re still strong and going up), it does mean that investors are now proceeding with more caution regarding the longevity of this niche in the fitness market.
The research firm Endeavor Partners has looked at the numbers and estimates that around a third of all fitness bands are abandoned and no longer in use after only 6 months of being purchased. A health care investment fund, Rock Health, says that according to Fitbit’s regulatory filings, only half of the 20 million users registered to Fitbit were still active within the first quarter of 2015. So what does all of this mean for fitness bands in general? It means that fitness bands are failing when it comes to engaging their consumer base and making the people who their products want to continue to use said products.
This doesn’t mean that people are going to stop buying fitness bands, yet. But it does mean that every customer that buys one isn’t necessarily a repeat customer and that there is also a lack of brand loyalty when it comes to fitness bands. People who no longer use their fitness bands aren’t going to recommend to their friends and family that they should buy one. They also aren’t going to be tempted to sign up and pay for premium packages, a source of growth for many fitness band companies. Hopefully these companies can figure out a way to renew interest in their products once they’ve been purchased and the novelty wears off because if not, there are going to be even more abandoned fitness bands in the future.
If you’d like to read more, the link is here.