ST. LOUIS — ClubReady, a Chesterfield-based provider of management and billing software for fitness studios, has bolstered its technology to meet the changing needs of gyms due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The software firm said it recently retooled and expanded parts of its software with components designed to increase communication with gym members and help gyms practice social distancing.
Founded in 2009, ClubReady is owned by parent company Clubessential Holdings of Cincinnati and provides software and services for boutique fitness and wellness studios. It has more than 4,000 customers.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes ClubReady has made to its software during the coronavirus pandemic is integrating its technology with video conference software Zoom. That addition has allowed gyms to provide a hybrid class structure including in-person instruction that can also be streamed online.
“One thing that we’re seeing is that studios that are opening are still maintaining their virtual presence too. I think that’s going to be a little bit of a new norm,” said Darol Lain, president of Club Ready.
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The pandemic has forced ClubReady to think differently about how its fitness studio clients operate, Lain said. That means ensuring its technology offers gyms expanded tools that can be tailored to the varying social distancing requirements across states and municipalities.
Many gyms, Lain said, have instituted contact tracing of members and pivoted their check-in systems, using ClubReady's no-touch technology offering barcode scanning or online sign-ins. Lain said check-in processes have become an increased priority for many fitness facilities because of COVID-19 restrictions on how many users their gyms can hold at any given time.
About 25% of the studios and gyms that use ClubReady’s software have reopened, Lain said. The company said its clients have had more than 300,000 combined weekly unique member check-ins, which totals nearly 40% of previous highs prior to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
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