.svg)
As a gym owner, you have your hands full.
From onboarding new members to managing the day to day operations and overseeing coaches, you probably feel overwhelmed from time to time.
It’s likely, however, that you’ve considered selling merchandise through your gym at some point. Many gyms make this consideration, but it stops at that. It can be hard for gyms to find a great software solution that allows them to make merchandise sales seamlessly.
In this post, we’re going to go over the benefits of gym merchandise sales and talk about the reasons why WODHOPPER is your ideal partner when it comes to gym billing software.
Simply put, gym merchandise sales can help gyms create an additional revenue stream that helps them stay profitable.
Of course, you don’t need a “retail store” per se within your gym. It could just be the counter or the sign-in desk.
On top of that, every time one of your members buys a t-shirt or water bottle and uses it in public, that’s free advertising for your gym (Actually, it’s better than free, because your member paid for the item in the first place)!
The amount you profit from gym merchandise sales also depends on the types of products you decide to sell.
We recommend starting with a small assortment of merchandise, focusing primarily on gym-branded clothes, and consumables, like nutritional foods and drinks, wrist wraps, and sports tape.
Make sure you don’t forget about higher-margin items. A custom screen-printed t-shirt may cost $5 or $6 to produce, but can easily be sold for $20 or more. The same thing goes for hoodies, backpacks, water bottles, and shorts.
As a leading gym management software, WODHOPPER’s top priority is to make life easy and efficient for gym owners. This includes gym billing.
But gym billing isn’t limited to collecting membership fees or dues on a monthly basis. With WODHOPPER, gym POS software is built into our normal payment processing.
In other words, gym members each have an account, and merchandise sales can either be paid for on the spot or whenever that member is billed. That gives your members greater flexibility, and an additional incentive to purchase.
Sure, you can purchase a merchant software for gym credit card processing, and run gym merchandise sales completely separate from the rest of your gym’s operations, but doesn’t that sound a bit clunky?
Not only that, but your members won’t have the flexibility to roll purchases into their account, and your revenue data will be split between multiple databases.
Rolling monthly membership payments and merchandise sales together with WODHOPPER’s Automatic Payment Processing feature allows gyms to cut down on merchant fees, reduce the work inherent in running two separate billing systems and provide better, more flexible service to gym members.
To show how WODHOPPER simplifies gym management and gym billing for merchandise sales, we wanted to get the perspective of a CrossFit gym owner.
We spoke with Blair, of CrossFit Anywhere, who told us about his gym’s experience using WODHOPPER for merchandise sales.
While merchandise sales do create an additional revenue stream for CrossFit Anywhere, Blair particularly likes the fact that they help “round out the member experience,” providing athletes with the ability to wear branded merchandise.
He also appreciated the simplicity of WODHOPPER's billing features.
“Having member credit cards on file is awesome,” he stated, adding that WODHOPPER makes it easy to type in a member number and name when that member wants to make a purchase. That way, there’s no need for additional hardware like a square reader, and members don’t have to carry around their wallets in the gym.
When asked if CrossFit Anywhere had used different gym management software in the past for merchandise sales, Blair told us that prior to switching to WODHOPPER, the gym had used software from another leading gym management software company.
“The point of sale was way too involved,” he said, “so we used a third-party point of sale instead. That kept all the money separate.”
He went on to mention that the decision to use the third party software came from a realization that the gym management software’s reporting “didn’t have as clean of reporting [as WODHOPPER]. It made it very difficult to sort out revenue driven from retail sales from revenue driven through memberships.”
In other words, using two separate software products, while not an ideal solution, was preferable to having to deal with unclear reporting.
WODHOPPER eliminated this issue for CrossFit Anywhere altogether, making retail sales easy to process (without the need for any third-party hardware or software), and providing clear reporting that’s easy to understand.
No need to stress about distinguishing retail revenue from membership revenue in those reports!
So you’ve decided to start selling merchandise at your gym. That’s great!
Here are some tips to help you do it efficiently and profitably:
These can help kick-start sales of new products and move older products. Social media and other digital marketing channels can be used to get the word out on these deals to your athletes and their friends.
If grocery stores do it, there must be some benefit to it, right? There is! Depending on which types of nutritional products you’re selling, you can find a way to provide some samples. Cut up protein bars and stick toothpicks in them, or make a batch of shakes with tiny sample cups.
If you include an ingredient list and your expert opinion on why the product is a great nutritional choice, it is more likely to sell.
No, we’re not saying your coaches and check-in desk staff should turn into full-fledged salespeople. No athlete wants to go to their gym thinking their coaches care more about selling them a t-shirt than they do about their fitness and health.
But it is important for your team to be aware of what you’re trying to achieve, and trained in on how to help. Make sure it’s on every coach’s radar. Is the athlete using a bad product that is inhibiting their development? Maybe there is a better product available to them right at your gym.
There are plenty of opportunities to cross-sell and upsell that don’t feel overly salesy.
Our goal is to help your gym thrive, without adding to your workload.
Want to learn more about gym payment processing and merchandise sales with WODHOPPER?
Request a quick demo today and we will show you the ropes!
We want to help you manage and grow your gym in every aspect. Join our positive and powerful community and gain the knowledge, support, and passion of our team. We’ll work hard to make your gym run better, faster, and more efficiently.
