Gym Membership Platform
Growing revenue 40% with seamless member experience
OBJECTIVES
PROJECT TYPE
Website
A boutique fitness studio chain with 8 locations ran on disconnected systems.
15 MIN · NO PREP REQUIRED
OVERVIEW
A boutique fitness studio chain with 8 locations ran on disconnected systems. Memberships in one software, class booking in another, retail in a third. Members complained about the clunky experience. Staff wasted hours on manual reconciliation. We unified everything into a single platform that members love and staff can actually use.
THE PROBLEM
Eight locations meant eight sets of problems. Each used different combinations of software. Membership data lived in MindBody. Class booking partially worked through a Calendly-like tool. Retail sales happened through Square.
Members couldn't easily book across locations. Checking remaining class credits required calling the front desk. Failed payment recovery was entirely manual—staff called members one by one.
Churn hit 6% monthly. Members weren't leaving because they didn't like the gym—they were leaving because the experience was frustrating. Competitors with slick apps were winning.
CONSTRAINTS
- Must migrate data from MindBody without disruption
- Staff training across 8 locations with varying skill levels
- Mobile-first—members use phones for everything
- Must integrate with existing keycard access system
- Peak class booking load: 500+ simultaneous users
- Budget must be recovered in membership growth within 12 months
DELIVERABLES
What we shipped.
Custom membership management platform
Mobile app for members (iOS and Android)
Class booking with real-time availability
Integrated retail and merchandise sales
Automated billing with smart retry logic
Owner dashboard with multi-location analytics
Staff tablets for check-in and point of sale
KEY DECISIONS
How we solved it.
Off-the-shelf fitness software or custom build?
Custom build on modern stack
Off-the-shelf solutions (MindBody, ClubReady) couldn't handle multi-location complexity without expensive enterprise tiers. Custom build cost similar to 3 years of enterprise licensing while providing exactly what was needed.
Separate mobile app or PWA?
Native apps with shared React Native core
Members expected native apps—PWA would feel second-class. React Native allowed one codebase for iOS and Android while providing full native capabilities including push notifications and health app integration.
How to handle data migration?
Parallel operation with gradual cutover
Big-bang migration risked disaster. We ran systems in parallel for 6 weeks, syncing data nightly. Staff could fall back to old system if needed. Confidence built before full cutover.
OUTCOMES
Results delivered.
+40%
Revenue Growth
First year after launch vs. previous year
-52%
Member Churn
Monthly churn dropped from 6% to 2.9%
+35%
Class Utilization
More classes at capacity with easier booking
89%
Failed Payment Recovery
Automated retry recovers most failed payments
20 hrs/week
Staff Time Saved
Per location on admin tasks
TIMELINE
Project phases.
Discovery & Architecture
Map all locations, audit current systems, design unified data model
Core Platform
Build membership system, billing engine, booking platform
Mobile Apps
Develop member apps, integrate health kit, push notifications
Migration & Testing
Data migration, parallel operation, staff training
Launch & Support
Full cutover, member onboarding, ongoing optimization
Ready to build?
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