Mobile apps have made—and continue to make—an indelible imprint on people’s lives. In August, IHRSA’s CBI magazine will feature a piece that discusses their benefits on a number of levels. In that feature, we’ll discuss the impact apps have had and offer statistics that demonstrate how society across the board has come to depend on them. Here are a few of the key data points:
Between the Apple App Store and Google Play, some 5.7 million apps are available for download.
Between 2015 and the first quarter of 2021, the number of healthcare and fitness apps nearly doubled, reaching over 100,000.
49% of people across all demographics open an app over 11 times each day.
As the “frictionless” consumer experience—one typified by the use of technology to streamline customer interactions and foster engagement free of barriers—began to take hold, mobile apps were the tip of the spear in that movement. Back in 2019, prior to the onset of the pandemic, IHRSA asked the question: “Have we made health club customer service too frictionless?” At the time, we noted, “increasingly, the human touch points that bond consumers to brands are being lost.”
Enter COVID-19 and a complete shift in the paradigm. Frictionless turned to “touchless” and a club’s ability to recreate these experiences digitally and virtually became the difference between those who thrived and those who struggled when clubs shut down.