Gymiku Launched for Gym Owners to Solve the 'Ghost Member Problem' in Fitness Gyms; Accepting Applications for First 3 Free Trial Monitors

## The 'Ghost Member Problem' and Background in 24-Hour Fitness Gyms

In recent years, as interest in health awareness and preventive healthcare increases, the fitness market continues to expand. On the other hand, a major challenge in 24-hour fitness gyms is the increase in 'ghost members'—members who stop visiting shortly after joining.

While the business model of automatically charging monthly dues appears stable, it is often supported by members who could quit at any time. Non-visiting members have little connection to the gym, making their dissatisfaction or reasons for quitting hard to see, which leads to the risk of sudden cancellations.

Gym operators often face the following frustrations:
- Cannot understand the true reasons for cancellation or dissatisfaction.
- Dormant members visit after a long time only to process a cancellation on the spot.
- Cannot notice when a member's motivation drops.
- Staff lack time to follow up with each individual member.

This is not simply about a 'lack of member will.' We believe the background lies in the lack of systems to help members continue and the inability of gyms to provide thorough follow-up to all members.

## Why are 'Ghost Members' Increasing in 24-Hour Gyms?

In 24-hour fitness gyms, the main reasons members do not continue utilization lie in the following psychological factors.

### Member-side 'Difficulty in Continuing'
1. 'Don't know what to do'
Many new members join without a clear training objective or specific menu. Consequently, they do not know what to do or in what order, raising the hurdle for visiting.
2. 'Hard to feel the change despite effort'
Exercise results are not immediate, leading members to feel it is 'pointless' after only a few visits. Systems to visualize daily progress are crucial.
3. 'Cannot continue alone'
For habituation, existence of companions or a community to connect with loosely is important, rather than relying solely on individual willpower.
4. 'Lose the opportunity to return after missing days'
According to a survey by hacomono, reasons for quitting such as 'just stopped going' or 'got into the habit of slacking off' are cited, indicating a lack of support toward goal achievement.

### Gym-side 'Problem of Inability to Provide Thorough Follow-up'
1. Limits of low-cost, facility-based operations
While 24-hour gyms achieve low prices by keeping operational costs low, they face the issue of lacking human resources to care for each member individually.
2. Difficult to provide individual follow-up with many members
For gyms holding thousands of members per store, it is not easy to grasp in real-time who is losing motivation or who is likely to quit.