Founded over 12 years ago, Heartcore prides itself on being the creators of London’s fitness and wellness scene with one simple goal in mind—to touch lives. With more than a decade spent between Los Angeles and London, founder Jess Schuring has worked with numerous people on both continents whilst shaping the UK fitness landscape with the roll-out of her hugely popular studios. When she moved to London in 2007, she didn’t only bring her passion for fitness with her, but also her knack for creating beautiful spaces that make people feel inspired to work out. This is how Heartcore was born.

But like many fitness businesses all over the world, the COVID-19 pandemic forced all 10 of Heartcore’s locations across the UK to shut down in March of 2020 to help keep communities safe. For a business that was used to seeing their in-studio classes packed to the brim with their loyal client base, they knew they had to pivot their class offerings and start exploring digital options to keep their clients moving and healthy throughout the pandemic.

Since Heartcore is such a beloved fitness brand in the UK, they didn’t have much trouble connecting with their clients online. “When we announced our shutdown, which was in March, we initially started with Instagram live classes,” says Erica Delaney, marketing manager for Heartcore. “So, we sent an email to our entire database, letting our clients know we wanted to stay connected and to follow along with us on Instagram.” Shifting their studio offerings to online classes proved to be successful—within a week, their Instagram following grew by 16,000 followers.

“That really showed us that our Heartcore clients wanted to stay connected even during such a tricky time," says Delaney.

The dedication to keeping a strong sense of community was also at the forefront of Heartcore’s efforts during such a tricky time. “We really encouraged community however we could get it,” says Jess Hatley, head of business operations at Heartcore. “We would ask our clients to have a friend take a virtual class with them or we would offer free virtual classes every now and then.”

Hatley also stresses that they were keen on giving back to the medical community who were working tirelessly to keep folks healthy and safe, as well. “We offered free classes for NHS workers. We wanted to make sure that anyone who's involved in the medical community and doing such a great service was supported with free classes."

How Mindbody helped Heartcore's community book virtual classes
When the brand switched over to live streaming its classes, they were worried that clients would be confused with how they could sign up for classes. Realizing that consistency is key to helping their community transition to a digital platform, Heartcore’s team credits their branded app to making the process a seamless experience.

“I think the ease of being able to book a class in the same way as they did in the past—I think that meant a lot to guests,” says Delaney. “To give them that sense of familiarity and know that some things have stayed the same like booking through the Heartcore app and finding their favorite teacher on the schedule—there’s definitely something there in the beauty of routine and familiarity.”

Luckily, the studio has been able to resume in-studio classes since late July, but their digital offerings still play a big role with a group of around 2500 clients who continue to live stream. “It's been a wild ride. And obviously, digital has been a big theme for us since the original lockdown,” says Hatley. “Now, we're kind of playing with the hybrid model of digital classes and studio classes, and just taking it kind of week by week and seeing what our clients want.” Currently, seven of their 10 locations are able to welcome their clients back for the in-studio experience, and occupancy continues to be strong. However, by adopting a hybrid business model, clients who don’t feel comfortable coming into one of the open studios, or usually attend one of the studios that are currently closed, every single one of their clients can still enjoy the Heartcore experience.

Now, the team at Heartcore is making sure they future proof the business by continuing to implement other digital offerings like Video on Demand, a key benefit in getting their content to their loyal clients and to help create another revenue stream. They hope to offer this through the Mindbody Branded Mobile App to help their clients easily access and sign up for hybrid and Video on Demand only memberships.

To say that wellness is at the heart of the mission of internationally known brand Neal’s Yard would be an understatement. Founded in 1981, they are a modern apothecary whose ethos is highly regarded for being an organic, sustainable, and ethical company.

From small beginnings in a quiet corner of Covent Garden, they are now a global brand with a growing presence that spans across five continents. But even for a massively successful brand like Neal’s Yard, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the company to face some challenges this year. Luckily, the company was able to shift their focus to relying on online product sales and offering virtual therapy treatments through Mindbody’s Virtual Wellness Platform.

“In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was virtually impossible to know where this was going to go,” says Charlie McCorry, head of business development at Neal’s Yard.

“Luckily, our business was already online in terms of our product, but we quickly realized our focus needed to change to everything digital first for every channel of our business.”

Prior to the pandemic, “One of the biggest things for us during this time was using the Mindbody system for our therapy business. My key focus was making sure we used it to the best of our ability,” McCorry says. The ability for their software system to accept online payments and offer online therapy sessions became an absolute must for the brand to continue to grow their customer base and connect with their community—even in the face of the coronavirus.

Historically, Neal’s Yard depended widely on the in-house experience to cater to their clients’ needs, but the two lockdowns the UK has faced due to the spread of the coronavirus didn’t stop them from offering their services. The company is known for unique offerings that don’t necessarily require a literal hands-on approach—services that have been extremely beneficial for their clients who are trying to adapt to this new normal.

“Our business isn't just about massages and facials—we’re not your typical beauty salon. We are a holistic centre and a treatment centre that has some of the best experts in the world,” says McCorry. "We offer counselling, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, hypnotherapy, meditation—these are all services numerous people around the world are benefitting from during a time like this.”

Using Mindbody’s Virtual Wellness Platform in a unique way to book appointments and deciding to competitively price their online therapy sessions allowed the already successful brand to actually grow their customer base by opening up their services to people located all over the world. With a digital presence, customers don’t have to live in the UK or travel there to get the full Neal’s Yard experience.

“In-house, these services are priced quite high, usually. And what we wanted to do was to be able to launch online therapy sessions to our customers and new customers as well, and say, ‘Look, you can reach us, you can reach our experts through this virtual platform, but at a very reasonable cost.’”

Needless to say, the platform was a necessity for Neal’s Yard and not only accommodated their existing client base but allowed them to reach clients all over the world who were looking for therapeutic relief from stress. In fact, the company has seen a huge spike in clients from various countries booking online therapy sessions.

“We have clients in the Netherlands, the US—we even had someone from South Korea the other day book a treatment. So, all of a sudden, we're able to open up our therapies to an extensive market and then an international one.”

In recent weeks, Neal’s Yard has been able to re-open a good portion of their locations to provide in-house therapy services to their local clientele—but with some areas in the UK still under lockdown and an international fan base, their digital presence is still very much alive. “If the store in their tier is closed, or if they can't travel, they have the option of getting their favourite therapists still online.”

By the looks of it, a hybrid-esque model is here to stay for Neal’s Yard to keep the masses happy and stress-free. Because they were so quick to pivot their focus to the digital aspects of their business, they have been able to grow throughout the coronavirus pandemic—and will continue to do so.

Mindbody, the leading experience technology platform for the wellness industry, and ClassPass, the premier fitness and wellness membership, have announced the ClassPass Revenue Guarantee.

This new program, exclusive to Mindbody customers, provides a monetarily backed guarantee that ClassPass will drive incremental revenue growth. Through this guarantee, if the business does not see a positive impact within 90 days of implementing ClassPass, Mindbody will write that customer a check for 2x the difference.

“In this new era of wellness, consumers are looking for well-rounded routines that encompass multiple dimensions of wellness. This provides a great opportunity for wellness businesses to expand their client base - but we know that 21% of Mindbody customers say that acquiring new clients is their top hurdle,” said Fritz Lanman, CEO of Mindbody and ClassPass. “Our goal has always been to help our customers build bigger, better businesses, and our data shows ClassPass drives a 32% user increase to studios. The ClassPass Revenue Guarantee shows Mindbody customers we don’t just believe that ClassPass will drive them new incremental revenue, we are willing to guarantee it."

Mindbody acquired ClassPass in October of 2021 bringing two of the industry’s most prominent leaders together. Mindbody helps businesses deliver amazing client experiences through powerful studio management software, while ClassPass helps businesses grow by merchandizing excess inventory and maximizing overall revenue by marketing and dynamically pricing open spots to ClassPass consumers. Together, Mindbody and ClassPass are creating the world’s largest wellness experience marketplace for consumers.

With 80 per cent of ClassPass users being new to the studios they visit, and 50% being new to group fitness, the potential for wellness businesses to gain new customers with ClassPass is substantial.

“Since bringing the companies together, we have seen firsthand how Mindbody and ClassPass are better together, and we are excited to show our customers just what this means through the Revenue Guarantee,” Lanman said.

find out more about the ClassPass Revenue Guarantee

Experience technology platform Mindbody has announced a global agreement with boutique fitness brand TRIB3 to support its franchisees as it expands internationally.

"A key component of success for our fitness industry is community. Mindbody’s data consistently shows that sense of community plays a key role in why consumers choose to partake in wellness experiences. With a premium fitness offering and a keen focus on building and fostering community in each individual location, TRIB3 is poised for impressive growth," said Josh McCarter, Mindbody CEO.

"With an expansive and constantly evolving suite of offerings, we look forward to growing alongside TRIB3 in this partnership."

TRIB3 sets itself apart in the fitness market through intensive and inclusive high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions with three elements: treadmills, resistance and intensity. Each TRIB3 location also nurtures its member community through purpose-designed lounge areas and mixology bars that host events, socials and celebrations of key milestones.

With locations currently open in territories including the UK, Spain, and Finland and stores sold in eight countries globally, TRIB3 continues broadening its reputation, brand and network across the globe. Mindbody’s easy-to-use customer acquisition and retention features, streamlined reporting and payments offerings will support TRIB3 in a successful rollout of its expansion strategy.

"TRIB3 is currently on track to open more than 1000 locations by 2026, so it is imperative to have a software partner that we can rely on to power and actively support our expansion efforts as well as further streamline our digital operations. We are confident that Mindbody fills this need," said Kevin Yates, CEO of TRIB3.

“With this partnership with Mindbody we have a consistent blueprint for opening new stores and true collaboration on their ongoing development roadmap; that means we are able to bring consistency across the brand for franchise partners, consumers and our team.”