ClassPass Doubles Down On Beauty Services, As Demand Outstrips Fitness

NEW YORK, United States — Fitness and wellness membership platform ClassPass is doubling down on its beauty and wellness services, as demand for personal care and beauty treatments overtakes fitness.

Following the announcement of two new partnerships with on-demand beauty companies: Priv in the US and Blow LTD in the UK, ClassPass subscribers can now use their credits to book on-demand hair and nail treatments with the established beauty service providers. 

Despite ClassPass having previously offered bookable beauty and wellness services in independent salons, this is the first time the brand has introduced 1:1 beauty services at-home. 

However, with its global fitness reservations — which are currently at 50-70% of pre-COVID reservation levels — not rebounding as quickly as its wellness reservations, which are much higher at 60-80% of pre-Covid levels, the company continues to adapt its offering to suit current changes in consumer behaviour.

“In the past few months, we’ve seen increased demand for personal beauty and grooming services as stress and anxiety levels around the world have skyrocketed,” explained Kinsey Livingston, ClassPass VP of Partnerships.

“We know that people want to get back to self-care, but not everyone is comfortable yet with services in public, indoor spaces. Some ClassPass members have shared that they are more comfortable attending 1:1 appointments (especially hair and nail appointments) — only second to outdoor fitness classes. This new offer leans into that trend by tapping into a real need in the market and ensuring customer comfort through a 1:1 service.”

The move is the latest in a line of pivots the company has been forced to make since the outbreak of coronavirus earlier this year. Having initially diversified to launch a new live-streaming platform aimed at supporting fitness studios and instructors, the company was quickly streaming 50,000 classes per week from 4,000 studios across the globe.

It has since launched personal training sessions, via a partnership with personal training service Find Your Trainer, in which ClassPass members can use their credits to book digital training sessions with qualified personal trainers.

And, despite navigating a challenging year, with 95% of its revenue drying up in the immediate wake of the pandemic, according to CEO Fritz Lanman, the decision to disable recurring monthly fees for members and eschew commission for a set period of time, is part of a longer-term business strategy.

“We decided let’s not be pennywise and foolish,” he told Business Insider recently.

Adding: “Let’s not only preserve the membership and keep churn very low — because our partners are really going to need us to send them a lot of volume to stay in business — but let’s also use this as an opportunity to earn the trust of our customers by showing that we will put their safety first.”

With $285 million from a Series E funding round led by L Catterton and Apax Digital in January this year, he also admitted that the company was in a very fortunate position to be “capitalised to weather the storm” and build the company that it wants to — a vision that continues to evolve and grow alongside changes in the market.