In this article, Bryter's Anzie Huynh, who is hesitant about wearable tech, embarks on a quest to explore the potential growth of the fitness tech market. Recent survey results indicate that a significant portion of consumers who do not currently own a fitness wearable are open to the idea. Attracting new users to a market is always challenging, but there are several strategies that fitness tech brands can employ to expand the fitness wearable market.
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Expanding reach (and reps)
Working in the tech space over the past few years, I’ve watched the fitness tech market progress along the innovation adoption curve. From being relatively unknown to arguably a staple for many, we’re now seeing an explosion of new ways to engage with fitness wearables – from cutting-edge apps and metrics, to new form factors, and entirely new product categories.
Yet, there’s still room for growth.
According to Bryter’s latest study, a substantial proportion of consumers that don’t currently own a wearable are open to one.
How do we grow the size of this fitness wearable pie?
I went on a little journey so you don't have to.
I really, really don't like the idea of fitness tech, especially watches.
- I’m price conscious: but if I think something is worth it, I will invest
- I don’t see the point of fitness wearables: I don’t need a watch to tell me I’ve not slept well or that I’m stressed. I don’t gym, run, or cycle - most of my exercise comes in the form of weeknight team sport.
- I'm vain: I’ve tried on other people’s wearables and chunky just isn’t my vibe
Potential fitness tech owners agree with me on price and purpose, and that I'm more vain than most.
So what's changed?
I’ve started to pay more attention to my stress and sleep and the growing prevalence of minimalist form factors like bracelets and rings has made the idea of a fitness wearable more palatable.
However, the biggest reason is that with the over-confidence effect in full swing, I agreed to do the swim leg of a triathlon with colleagues. I did a practice swim and the enormity of what I signed up for hit me. Maybe I could benefit from a fitness wearable to help optimise my training so I can avoid embarrassment.
For the uninitiated, the category is overwhelming
My system 1 thinking and cognitive biases kicked in hard.
- ‘Take-the-best’ heuristic: There were too many features to consider, so I just picked one thing to use as my criteria (being good for swimming)
- Loss aversion: I couldn’t stomach forking out for something I might not get a lot out of. I love data more than most, but I couldn’t quite imagine what I’d do with the copious amounts of data I was promised.
- Familiarity bias: I gravitated towards brands I had heard a lot about and saw others wearing, so Fitbit, Samsung, Garmin.
*System 1 thinking is our brains’ unconscious, fast, automatic thinking. It accounts for over 90% of our thinking and we’re not aware of it happening most of the time, and commonly presents in real life as flaws and biases in our decision making.
Trying something on made things worse
The rings and watches I tried on felt comically large and clunky and the alternative watch straps that may have made a difference were either locked away or not on display. I understood why silicone is a popular strap material but that paired with large sizing jarred with my mental map of what a wrist accessory was – I wanted slim, sleek, and elegant.
Bryter’s study found that while these are not the biggest barriers for those who don’t currently own wearable tech, they’re certainly considerations for those that do (One in four wearable owners have been previously put off by size, material, or colour).
There are budget friendly options but they put me off
They looked and felt cheap, and I didn’t trust their ability to track my health stats. While higher end products looked better, it wasn’t enough for me to spend more. Luckily, I found a way to dip my toe in.
I’d come across Whoop before and was intrigued because of the minimal aesthetic, it was expensive as well, signalling (rightly or wrongly) that it was a quality product.
As chance would have it, my friend had one and they could not stop singing its praises. I thought that maybe I could consider a Whoop? After some exploring online, I saw that there was a one-month free trial – no strings attached.
Why not?
My Whoop is now enroute. I’m curious to see what I do with it and if my perception of wearables change. Watch this space for my next article, where I’ll get hands on with the Whoop and see if it changes my perception.
But in the meantime, this process has already identified several obvious flaws in brands’ and retailers’ approaches to wearable tech.
How do we grow the size of the fitness wearable pie?
If you would like to access a full copy of the report that contains additional data, insights and implications for wearable tech, you can download the full report here.
You can also read more Bryter insights on wearable tech here.
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