Technology makes it easy to personalize almost any experience. Looking for a night out at a restaurant that matches your taste? There’s a website – or an app – for that. Need new clothes but can’t find the time to shop?
Try a subscription service that provides a personal shopper and ships clothes directly to your home.
Fitness, especially, has risen to the forefront of American culture. It’s shaping the way we think about food, about health, and even about fashion.
Athleisure has become the fastest growing niche in the clothing market, to the point where even high-end designers have begun designing “professional athletic” wear, suitable to transition from the gym straight to the office.
And while there have been attempts to make fitness compatible with tech-savvy millennials (think ClassPass), they have fallen short of the ultimate goal of pleasing the customer, the fitness studios, while remaining profitable for the actual website itself.
The problem has been: how can a website market a system that is profitable and attractive to an entrepreneur trying to maximize his or her customer base while also appealing to customers hungry for a good deal?
Enter the new kid on the block – ZenRez, a tech startup founded by Matt Capizzi, who got hooked on yoga while in grad school and desired a cost-effective way for him to sample studios.
As a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, Capizzi needed to feed his yoga fix while staying on a tight student budget.
And now, with the rise of the ZenRez app, people can personalize and expand their exercise selections without worrying about breaking the bank.
ZenRez is a website and app catering to residents of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, CA; New York City; Portland, OR; and Pittsburgh, PA. (Though if you live elsewhere – don’t despair! ZenRez will likely be coming to your city soon!) But what is ZenRez?
And why is there so much buzz surrounding this site even in its earliest days?
What Is ZenRez?
ZenRez is an online service that connects workout studios – especially yoga studios and facilities that offer fitness classes – with potential customers.
Studios who have openings in their classes, which may usually only be open to members or customers who have purchased a class package, sell the spaces to ZenRez.
Studios are free to set the pricing for their classes on ZenRez, though usually they end up discounting their fees in hopes of attracting new clients.
Unlike ClassPass, which requires users to purchase a membership, ZenRez users can explore single classes at a variety of studios without buying into a long-term commitment at either the website or the fitness studio.
How ZenRez Works
Finding a workout class can be as simple as checking one app one time a day. Each evening at 9:00 pm, ZenRez posts the openings for classes at participating fitness studios the following day.
Prices are determined initially by the studio posting the openings, but also by demand. Users can search for a class by type or by location.
Clients can also view the “Daily Zen” which highlights a particular studio’s class, so prospective clients can preview what they’d be signing up for.
You are more likely to get a good deal for a class that starts in an hour or two (and that the studio wants to fill quickly) than you are for a class 24 hours in advance, when the studio may have more time – and hope – that a full-paying customer will book a spot.
You’re also more likely to get a better discount for a studio’s less popular classes and times; the studios are trying to promote those classes that may be otherwise under performing.
ZenRez offers clients the opportunity to try a class without devaluing or undercutting the studios. Clients are happy because they are getting a discount, and studios are happy because they can market to fresh faces without losing money.
ZenRez doesn’t offer subscriptions or class packages, though, which can be a benefit to both the clients and the studios: clients aren’t trapped in a membership they may or may not fully utilize, and studios still have the opportunity to individually garner full-cost members from those who sample their wares through the site.
Users can favorite studios on the app, to receive alerts when there are openings, and soon the site hopes to add a feature for favoring individual classes and instructors as well.
It provides a customizable and flexible approach to working out, sampling studios, and expanding their fitness repertoire, all while eliminating a studio’s perishable income.
What Makes ZenRez Special
ZenRez is unique because it is truly a win-win solution for both studios and users. They classify themselves as a “discovery platform” whose goal is to connect potential clients with studios that will best serve their fitness needs.
And because ZenRez doesn’t compete with the class packages that studios offer, fitness facilities are eager to partner with the site, which is, of course, a benefit to the site’s users.
In addition, because the classes are a little bit more expensive than on platforms like ClassPass, ZenRez tends to cater to a higher-end clientele.
ZenRez is also an excellent option for people who travel frequently for business (or pleasure!) but don’t want to have to join gyms in several cities across the country.
Since there is no membership fee to use ZenRez, users aren’t locked in to a particular location, gym, or fitness class type.
ZenRez Benefits
ZenRez offers many benefits to both studios and users.
For Users:
There is no long-term commitment: this is great for people who like to vary their workout, or are on the go, travelling in multiple cities.
ZenRez offers variety: clients can choose from many different types of classes, from Pilates to yoga, from HIIT to barre, and even cycling classes.
It’s easy to find (small) discounts: users don’t have to pay full price for the classes they take at participating fitness studios
For Studios:
Studios fill empty slots in classes, which prevents perishable income. Once a class starts, unfilled slots can never be sold again; fitness studio classes only have one opportunity each day to maximize their profit. ZenRez fills these gaps.
Studios work with ZenRez to set pricing. So while users are privy to discounts, the discounts aren’t detrimental to the profit margins of the fitness studios.
Because this model is more attractive to studios than platforms like ClassPass, more studios may be willing to jump on board ZenRez, which will ultimately benefit the clients!
ZenRez Downsides
Nothing in life, not even one of the hottest web startups in the past ten years, is perfect. ZenRez is not currently available nationwide.
They are only fully operational in a handful of cities, and while ZenRez is certainly expanding all the time, its relative inaccessibility is certainly a hindrance to people living in cities other than those it services at this time.
Furthermore, because ZenRez is reliant on studios agreeing to use its services, there is no guarantee that the classes you prefer will be available on the day you want – or ever. ZenRez isn’t really a good alternative to your gym membership.
You can’t purchase packages or memberships at a discounted rate, so if you like a gym’s classes, and want to go regularly, ZenRez isn’t the platform for you.
If you are the type of person who needs the motivation of a consistent membership to encourage you to head to the gym, you might want to think twice about using this platform.
Since it’s pay-by-the-class, there is no incentive to utilize your money to its fullest potential, as there is in a traditional gym membership.
Additionally, you might not save as much money as you want. If you’re looking for deep discounts, ZenRez isn’t the place to go. Because the studios set the pricing, they aren’t nearly as forgiving as some clients may like.
Finally, if you need to plan your workout schedule far in advance, ZenRez won’t be able to provide information more than 24 hours in advance.
ZenRez Final Words
In an era where fitness – like everything else – is becoming a prevalent part of everyday life, people are searching for easy, high-tech ways to personalize their experiences.
While ClassPass may have been an option in the past, its limited selection pale in comparison to the opportunities currently offered by ZenRez, and to the opportunities that ZenRez promise are in store!
From low-impact pilates and yoga to high impact interval training and the rapidly growing barre workout craze, ZenRez caters to your interests and your budget.
Fitness aficionados looking to expand their workout repertoire, try something new, or expand your opportunities as you travel to multiple cities, ZenRez is worth a look. It’s promising to reshape the future of exercise.
