Fitness has gained momentum and understanding in Indian peninsula at different paradigms. From local 'Akhadas' to corporate gyms, things are changing fast. A large chunk of revenue is being raked in by fitness wears, apparels, equipments/machines, analyzers, facilities and many other fitness simulations in the market. Apart from professional competitions with athletes, trainers, coaches and nutritionists giving in their best physique and bodybuilding transformations together, the industry has gained ground in general lives of people, especially, the urban metropolitan population.
The corporate and business houses now have state of the art gym facilities in offices where the employees can work up their body clock and metabolism before ending an eventful day. The gyms have cropped up all over the nation with best of the best facilities and membership plans for the people to enjoy and shape up at the same time. There are retail outlets in the market which cater to the fitness fashion enthusiasts and fitness freaks in the nation. Although there is an overall boom in the market, it is still unorganized and is not channelized to reach a substantial outcome. The growth of the industry is scattered and lacking a definite direction, making most the efforts put in by a segment of the community go waste.
Behavioral Challenges in front of estimated growth
Media Relationship: The role of media is limited to a few PR stories of athletes or trainers and that too in a few comparatively bigger expos and competitions. Unlike other industries, fitness industry is not a regular feature in the mainstream media. There is a need to assess and analyze the growth of the fitness industry from a new perspective in India.
One of the reasons they are not highlighted much is because they are only into competitions and lack humanistic publicity which comes from grounded efforts to grow overall as a personality. It is a fact that only a handful of people in the industry could make a name recognizable by common people at large. Most of the fitness fraternity depends on social media platforms like Instagram for connecting to the masses which doesn’t help as public memory is short and there are many like them posting their pictures over there. Another setback is not having organic followers on socials paid boosts don’t help in getting real publicity. Although social media is a wonderful medium to make an image and inspire, it lacks in promoting the person and sport behind it. The real test lies when people start recognizing the person beyond a close-group fitness industry too.
Individualism: The growing individualism has affected the industry and apart from surface cordiality, the integral unity in the fitness community is lacking. The competitive spirit is somewhere taking over the sporting spirit here. Everyone is thinking about his or her individual growth and is skeptical of supporting others in the industry. Sometimes the sincere efforts put up by some of them lose value because of this response. There is an underlying disinterest if we talk of industrial kinship without monetary benefits. May be this is the reason that there is no unified competition which covers whole of the nation irrespective of the fact whichever federation the competing athletes belong to.
Prospective Growth Segments
The gym apparels and wears have seen a hike with global investors in addition to our Indian brands who are playing a major role in shaping and searing up the market. Then there is fitness food industry which boasts of sugar-free, calorie-free, fat-free or even carbs-free nutrition. There is a huge segment of health supplements which come as a much needed top-up for maximum health benefits to the health conscious consumers. There is sprouting of health supplements and again an organized and well-compared approach is lacking in selection of the right one. Good news is that people are ready to shell out a considerable amount of money to spend on fitness benefits, to look and feel good. They are joining gyms and exploring and are even ready to leave their comfort zone, changing their regime and diet, to achieve health goals.
Indian people are becoming conscious of the health hazards of obesity, diabetes and many other illnesses triggered by unhealthy lifestyle. Instead of finding a cure, they have gradually started understanding that it is better to give the due attention and exercise to the body within time. Advertising industry, gym fitness industry, supplementation and nutrition industry is cashing upon this mindset of the people and if we notice, we will find such advertisements and offers attracting our attention for a better and healthier lifestyle.
The total retail market in India is valued at 4579 Cr, growing at 16-18 per cent and was expected to cross 7000 Cr in the year 2017. Modern retail is expected to grow by 22-27 per cent. Fitness centers are bound to rise with the increased per capita income, higher lifestyle standards and sedentary lifestyles of today's youth. The fitness training and new methods have become raging trends in fitness community and hence, it further accentuates the investment potential in this segment. The rise in fitness industry can also be seen in the light that in comparison to the earlier times when only male population sorted more to fitness training, today, we have more and more women and girls opting to train themselves to become fitter and better. The age group of people opting for gyms and fitness consoles to keep them look and feel good varies from 18 to 40 majorly. Even after their 40s, there are people who are fighting some health issues, general health and have been advised by their physicians to follow training and workout schedules.
According to Data Bridge Market Research report Indian Sports Medicine Market alone is expected to reach USD 554.2 million by 2022. If these are the figures for one segment, there are several others in the Indian fitness industry. All the fitness brands taken together from nutrition, supplementation, gym chains, equipment, apparels, accessories, equipment, technology to academies; is expected to cross USD 90 billion by 2022. Indian fitness industry will hence, expand actively and passively in other sectors existing in the Indian market, generating more employment and more income in the time to come.
Indian fitness industry, hence, is destined to grow at a significant rate of 20-30 per cent per year. This is a sector which needs immediate attention of the government bodies, media, fitness industry retailers, fitness industry training facilities, competitors and all the stake holders together. Together it should be harnessed to be able to grow in terms of revenue generation as well as health benefits for the country as a whole. This industry if taken seriously can provide the nation a cutting edge over the world as many a talent is waiting to be recognized in a better light here in India. Not many people know that India is well-recognized name in the world fitness and bodybuilding industry and the sport must be centralized by the government the government to give it a leveled direction and fair competition from all side, giving way to an
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The team is based out of Delhi and is connected to all the leading athletes, trainers and nutritionists. The purpose is to bridge the gap between common people and all fitness e..
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