Earlier this week, Fitbit reported that Fitbit Premium has exceeded 500,000 paying subscribers less than a year after its launch. Available for $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year, the premium health and fitness app helps subscribers better manage their health by sharing in-depth information, personalized insights, hundreds of workouts, sleep tools, wellness reports and more. The boost in subscriptions is due, in part, to the company’s extension from a 30-day free trial to a 90-day free trial. To get the most out of the program, many subscribers use their app with their Fitbit smartwatch, but this is not a requirement. Subscribers can use the app even if they don’t own a Fitbit watch.
Co-founder and CEO comments on progress
“The launch of Fitbit Premium is part of our broader strategy to diversify our business beyond hardware, while also delivering on our promise to provide more personalized experiences, data and insights to our users to help them move more, manage stress, sleep better and eat well,” said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit, in the announcement.
“COVID-19 has made it incredibly difficult for people to stay active and healthy, and underscores the importance of prioritizing both our physical and mental health. In these extraordinary times, we are supporting our users by helping them navigate these challenges so they have the tools, motivation and support to help them stay healthy and fit at home with services like Fitbit Premium,” Park added.
Changes since the pandemic
Since the pandemic hit the U.S., Fitbit has made some conscious decisions to support its users and premium subscribers with new offerings. As a result of the extended free trial, the company saw new users with an increased interest in the premium app. Among the trends Fitbit saw was that, within two weeks of joining Fitbit Premium, subscribers walked an average of 700 more steps per day.
Fitbit believes the added value they bring to the fitness table has kept subscribers engaged. The benefits to subscribing to Fitbit Premium include the following:
- Hundreds of audio and video workouts, including workouts from well-known brands like POPSUGAR, Yoga Studio by Gaiam, Aaptiv and barre3 and from celebrities, trainers and influencers like Ayesha Curry and Harley Pasternak
- Over 100 mindfulness practice sessions to help manage stress, improve focus, relaxation and positivity
- Sleep analysis, daily sleep scores and audio relaxation tools
- Guided fitness programs like “Eat to Beat Cholesterol” and “Get Active”
- Premium games and challenges to play with friends and family
- Wellness reports with health data, including stats about heart health, weight, sleep and activity
Fitbit Premium is also available to Fitbit Health Solutions enterprise customers via Fitbit Care.
How Fitbit Premium is unique
While there are other fitness apps and subscription services available, Fitbit has brought together different brands which is somewhat unique. For example, Fitbit Premium includes Yoga Studio by Gaiam. Accessing Gaiam TV by itself is $9.95 per month. Aaptiv is $15 a month, or $100 a year. It is likely that Fitbit Premium does not include the full line-up of workouts and classes, but it provides a wide variety of options at an affordable price.
Insider Take
At a time when health and fitness are top of mind, it is great to hear that companies like Fitbit are stepping up their game, and people are responding positively. Attracting and retaining 500,000 subscribers in a year is great progress. This doesn’t include those who are in their 90-day trial period. We are also pleased to see that Fitbit has continued its 90-day free trial program. Many subscription services offered longer trials in March and April, but they started to return to “business as usual” after that. We are now six months into the pandemic, and Fitbit is still offering 90-day free trials. That’s a high bar for other companies, but clearly it’s working.
