Pros and Cons of Virtuagym: Analysis Of A Leading Club Management Software

If you’re a fitness club owner, chances are you may have heard of automation tools that can make your everyday tasks a bit lighter. However, you may be hesitant or altogether resistant to the idea of using club management tools, not knowing that you’re missing a lot.

Now, you may think you don’t need one and that your existing processes still work. But there are signs that investing in an automation system may be in order. If you’re already experiencing growth, chasing payments, struggling with bookings, having a hard time communicating with clients or have no idea what your numbers really are, chances are you really need one. These problems and more make up some of the biggest hurdles to fitness club management.

Members of the fitness sector just like any other business type can greatly benefit from automation technology. For fitness clubs, it is not enough to have equipment and fitness personnel to achieve growth. Managing fitness clubs involve processes such as coaching, customer and workforce management and scheduling, to name a few. There are a lot of problems that come with paper-based gym management, complications that can easily be solved by club management software.

Gym Management Software Market Growth (HTF MI)

There are a lot of tools out there that can accomplish the above mentioned processes and one such powerful solution is Virtuagym, a cloud-based fitness membership and coaching platform designed to cater to health clubs, personal trainers and other fitness pros. The fact that the solution is being used by thousands of companies around the world is testament to the software’s effectiveness as a coaching and membership management tool. It is also a top alternative to popular club management software in the market.

Here, we will discuss the pros and cons of Virtuagym as a fitness membership and coaching solution. We will discuss the tool’s benefits, features and limitations if any.

Virtuagym: Club Management Software

Virtuagym has established itself as one of the most powerful club management software for any size of business, capable of managing tasks such as nutrition and exercise coaching, invoicing, online payments, staff and client management and access control, among many others. With the product, you can efficiently operate your business while retaining focus on fitness coaching.

It is highly recommended you explore the features first before committing to a plan. You can easily sign up for a Virtuagym free trial here.

The software has custom branded tools and an online community that can better promote your brand while improving customer engagement. It is also an excellent tool for revenue growth, offering hardware, flexible membership options and third-party app integrations. Virtuagym allows users to accept payments through debit cards via online payment modes and cash. Apart from these, the platform has more features that your business can benefit from. Here are some of them.

1. Membership management
2. Online payments
3. Session credit system
4. Retention dashboard
5. Business models
6. Invoicing
7. Webshop & online sign up
8. Hardware
9. Training plan editor
10. Nutrition software
11. Club community
12. Scheduling & booking
13. Online coaching
14. Business intelligence
15. Online scheduling
16. Member engagement
17. Coaching services
18. Mobile apps
19. Workout plan templates
20. Branded club app
21. Online and in-app booking
22. Payment management
23. Attendance monitoring
24. RFID check-in system
25. Point of sale (POS)
26. Automated invoices by email
27. Integrated online payment service
28. Progress tracking
29. Member profiles
30. Support for credit-based services
31. Multi-visit passes
32. Member filtering
33. Online webshop
34. Financial reporting
35. Access control
36. Mobile integrations with activity trackers and body composition monitors
37. Branded community portal
38. Member challenges and rewards
39. Multi-language member emails
40. Integrations: PayPal, PaySafe, Github, Facebook, Twitter

Virtuagym Pros and Cons

Our experts have evaluated the software based on features, functionalities, pricing and available integrations and have come up with this list of the pros and cons of Virtuagym. This is to improve your understanding of what the product can do for your business and its limitations if there are any.

1. Coaching/Training Plan Creation

Virtuagym comes with reusable workout templates that you can create with its streamlined training plans and workout editor. These features allow users to save precious time. Gym workout routines and fitness targets can also be created with its drag-and-drop editor. It has a library housing over 4,000 exercises or if you want, you can add your own. Any type of workout can be created using the system, including conditioning, cardio, group and interval training, progressions and super sets.

2. Revenue Booster App

Virtuagym uses gamification technology to make goal setting and achievement much easier. This feature can be used for both individual and group goals. Goals, being designed to motivate members can result in customer loyalty. This loyalty can generate new business through word of mouth, improving client acquisition and revenue.

3. Cloud-Based Fitness Technology

The use of cloud-based technology continues to gain traction among businesses owing to their flexible pricing, security and support for mobile devices. Virtuagym leverages cloud technology to provide fitness companies with much advanced methods of catering to their customers’ needs while keeping their own operations running smoothly. And since everything is done from the cloud, training plans can be accessed easily via web browser or mobile app even by those who are on the go.

4. Reduction of Fitness Business Risks

Just like any other service organization, fitness clubs are prone to revenue and asset loss. Such can be avoided as the system provides real time access to data that problems such as these can be easily identified before they even occur. Virtuagym basically let risks they way they are–risks.

5. Overall Convenience

A wide array of payment options such as PayPal or PaySafe, along with online sign up and coaching eliminate problems associated with payments, allowing fitness club owners, coaches and trainers to focus on more pressing matters.

6. Customer Attraction/Engagement Tool

Combining focus on physical fitness and nutrition programs directly appeals to health-conscious individuals who view health in a holistic way, addressing not only the rigors of physical discipline but also of nutrition balance. Customer engagement is improved, resulting in loyal clients. The app has a suite of tools designed for both members and trainers. For members, access to training plans, nutrition coaching, exercise instruction, class booking and business information is provided. Meanwhile, coaches can engage members through a community and push notifications, giving them instant communication with customers. Member progress can be tracked using integrated smart monitors and wearables.

7. Easy Communication

The software is known to bridge communication gaps between trainers, coaches and clients, allowing them to easily get in touch and come up with fitness training and nutrition programs that can greatly benefit their customers. Through this feature, members can share weight loss and bodybuilding tips, recipes and other news as it allows for the creation of different interest groups within the community. This community keeps everyone constantly in touch as it can be accessed from virtually anywhere there is an Internet connection. One-on-one communication is likewise possible with the app. Coaches and clients can get in touch by private messaging, a very effective way to nurture relationships even outside the gym.

8. Customer Nutrition

Virtuagym has extensive features to make sure that your client stays fit by giving them proper nutrition programs. This is possible as the system can create custom meal plans for specific members, ensuring that they reach their goals through proper diet. To complement this, the software comes with a food database where more than a million products can be found, along with members’ nutrition details. Finally, customers can keep records of their food intake using the solution’s food diary, which evaluates intake in accordance to member goals. What’s even better is that clients can add products to the food diary using a barcode scanner.

Now that you have an idea of the pros and cons of Virtuagym, you may be able to make a purchase decision. However, there are other key considerations when choosing club management software, among which are the things that your company needs. Knowing these factors should help you decide what tool is best for you.

By Astrid Eira

Astrid Eira is a resident B2B expert of FinancesOnline, focusing on the SaaS niche. She specializes in accounting and human resource management software, writing honest and straightforward reviews of some of the most popular systems around. Being a small business owner herself, Astrid uses her expertise to help educate business owners and entrepreneurs on how new technology can help them run their operations. She's an avid fan of the outdoors, where you'll find her when she's not crunching numbers or testing out new software.