Project Overview
Team Blue will be developing a Web and Mobile site for a neighborhood fitness gym. The fitness gym will be located in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago and will be named Bucktown Fitness. Our goal will be to create a Web and Mobile site to improve the relationship and commitment of current gym members and attract new potential members. This will help facilitate better brand recognition and improve revenue growth.
Value Proposition
Our value proposition with our business is to improve people's lives by providing them the knowledge, guidance, tools, and supportive community environment to live healthy lifestyles. The Web and Mobile website will allow viewers and members to obtain nutrition and health information; interact with gym employees and members; sign up for memberships, promotions, and fitness classes; and obtain general gym information to improve the members' overall gym experience.
Category of E-Commerce
The Web and Mobile Sites is a B2C marketplace where the fitness gym will be trying to reach individual members and potential customers.
Websites that contain some similar features to our planned website and mobile site include:
http://chicagoathleticclubs.com/
http://www.crossfiteastvillage.com/
Intended Customers of the Site and Our Business
AGE: 18 - 65; however we will provide additional focus on age group of 25-45 since they are more likely to pay for gym memberships. Individuals below the age of 18 may require special permission from their parents to join the gym. Individuals over the age of 65 are not likely to have interest in a gym membership. Ages 19-24 may have other options for fitness memberships through schools or universities.
Segment of Customers: Men and Women, particularly ones interested in healthy lifestyles. It will be important to attract both Men and Women for brand reputation and larger potential customer base.
Geographical Segmentation: Local community. Our focus is going to be on the local segment of individuals because people are not likely to join gyms that are a far distance from their homes or work.
How We Will Attract Different Types of Customers
To attract customers to our site, we will utilize marketing campaigns to create awareness of the fitness gym and our Web and Mobile Sites. Marketing campaigns will include email blasts, banner ads, advertising in local publications, and community events to create a presence in the neighborhood. Once on our Web or Mobile Sites, we are going have offerings tailored to attract the different type of customers:
- Impulsive Customers: On our Sites, we will offer promotional offers like 7 day free membership, direct sign-up for fitness classes offered, and low introductory prices that they can purchase directly from the site.
- Analytical Customers: Our Sites will offer a wealth of fitness and nutrition information. We will provide sufficient information about all our fitness offerings. In addition, we will offer one on one consulting for prospective members with our fitness experts to discuss the potential member's fitness goals and any questions they might have.
- Patient Customers: For patient customers, we will attract them by proactively maintaining our Sites and building a history of goals accomplished by the gym and our members. One initiative will be to create a members testimony page, where we can have member's posts their fitness stories and how the gym helped them reach their fitness goals.
Our Web and Mobile Sites will provide an experience that will satisfy both utilitarian and hedonic experiences.
- Utilitarian: Our Web and Mobile Sites will provide a utilitarian experience by providing tools to its users to improve their overall health. The Sites will include nutrition information, healthy recipes, and health tips to empower members to develop healthy habits. The Sites will allow members to sign up for fitness classes and special workouts. In addition, our Sites will include workouts that members can do if they cannot make it to the fitness classes.
- Hedonic: Our Web and Mobile Sites will provide a hedonic experience by creating a fun community for its members. It will include updating pictures of members, creating discussion boards for members to communicate with other members and employees, and it will include a blog with funny stories from gym. A goal of the Web and Mobile sites will be to get the members more involved with the gym to make it a more pleasurable experience.
E-Commerce Value Chain
- Attract - We will create awareness of our Web and Mobile site by deploying marketing campaigns which will include email blasts, banner ads, advertising in local publications, and participate in community events to creating a presence in the neighborhood. Since our focus is on the local community, creating a presence in the neighborhood is critically important for the success of the company.
- Interact - We will encourage viewers of the Web and Mobile sites to interact with the company by allowing them to sign up for memberships, sign up for upcoming classes and events, facilitate communication with gym employees, and provide a forum to communicate with other gym members.
- Act - We will encourage viewers of the Web and Mobile sites to act on their fitness goals by providing knowledge of nutrition and fitness for them to make positive steps towards their fitness goals. In addition, we will be posting things such as gym hours, fitness class schedules, and special events on our Sites to allow members act on the benefits provided by the gym.
- React - We will react to viewers of the Web and Mobile site by responding to any posted questions, requests, or comments. We will also use the Web and Mobile site to post information about any changes with the gym to improve member's experience.
Technical and Design Overview
Our Web Site and Mobile site will reside on the DePaul ECTWEB2 server. We will utilize ASP.NET as the application framework for both Sites. We will utilize programming languages C#, HTML5, and J-Query for our Sites. We will also use an Access Database.
We are anticipating using modules such as shopping cart (to purchase fitness classes and other fitness offers), online form (to create an interactive community for members and gym employees), and messaging capabilities (for members to send messages directly to gym employees with questions, requests or comments).
Contribution of Members
Tobin Cheuk - Provided input to all sections. Tobin also created document repository for posting business case.
Heidi Kooniz - Provided input to all sections.
Geoff Brown - Provided input to all sections.
Shane Burns - Provided input to all sections.