Fitness Research InstituteAustralian gym & boutique fitness research

Research focus areas

Twelve focus areas covering Australian gym and studio operations.

Each area produces benchmark data we publish in aggregate. Operators who take part help shape the questions and the resulting reports.

  1. 01

    Module

    Business profile

    Type, ownership model, locations, years operating, hours, membership and casual visit options, trial availability.

  2. 02

    Module

    Growth and demand

    Membership growth, enquiry volume, trial bookings, attendance and conversion, churn, capacity, expansion plans.

  3. 03

    Module

    Marketing and lead generation

    Lead sources, paid social, search, SEO, Google Business Profile, referrals, content, budget bands, CPL and CPA where known.

  4. 04

    Module

    Sales and conversion

    Response time, booking flow, reminders, no-show handling, post-trial follow-up, CRM use, common objections.

  5. 05

    Module

    Membership and retention

    Plan mix, average tenure, cancellation reasons, onboarding, check-ins, community events, win-back activity.

  6. 06

    Module

    Operations and staffing

    Headcount, contractor vs employee model, retention, recruitment difficulty, owner hours, peak load and bottlenecks.

  7. 07

    Module

    Costs and margins

    Rent, wages, software, equipment, insurance, marketing, franchise fees, utilities, and biggest current cost pressures.

  8. 08

    Module

    Technology and systems

    Booking, CRM, payments, access control, website, email, SMS, member app, reporting, integration pain points.

  9. 09

    Module

    Supplier and ecosystem mapping

    Software, agencies, suppliers, accountants, payroll, franchise brands. Used for ecosystem research, not outreach.

  10. 10

    Module

    Owner sentiment

    12-month confidence, perceived risks and opportunities, stress, work-life balance, appetite to expand or sell.

  11. 11

    Module

    Franchise-specific

    Franchisor support, marketing fund, training, royalties, local autonomy, would-buy-again sentiment.

  12. 12

    Module

    Google Business Profile and local reputation

    Review count, rating, response rate, recent themes, photo freshness, local ranking signals, perceived impact on enquiries.

Method

How findings are produced

Direct operator feedback

Email conversations, short structured surveys, and optional phone interviews with owners, operators, managers, and franchisees.

Public business data

Listings, location, category, hours, ratings, and review information from public business sources, refreshed periodically.

Research facts and confidence

Each fact stored against a business carries a source type and confidence score. Owner-confirmed facts are weighted highest.

Aggregation thresholds

Category, state, and segment benchmarks are only published once minimum sample thresholds are met to protect respondent identity.

Take part

Operators are the source of every benchmark we publish.

If you run a gym, boutique studio, or franchise location in Australia, your perspective improves the quality of the next report. Most modules take a few minutes and you can skip anything that doesn't apply.

Participate in the researchView reports