Lululemon will launch a fitness subscription for Mirror owners. Enough to revive the home fitness market? Future will tell.
On October 5, Lululemon will launch a new subscription service that requires the Mirror trainer. Lululemon Studio offers its services for 10,000 sessions, which are already available on demand with a Mirror subscription. Members will have access to legacy online content from partners, be able to stream new weekly classes, and register for face-to-face classes at discounted rates. The program currently lists eight partners – AARMY, Y7 Studio, DOGPOUND, FORWARD__Space, Pure Barre, Rumble, AKT, and YogaSix. Members will also receive discounts on Lululemon products and early access to its events.
Lululemon will launch a fitness membership for Mirror owners
This new program is part of the company’s plan to expand Mirror’s reach, The New York Times notes. Lululemon bought startup Mirror for $500 million in 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown when people had no choice but to work from home. With the easing of sanitary measures, people returned to their rooms. Then the sales of home sports enterprises fell sharply, and the demand for their products literally melted away. Peloton, for example, lost at least $757.1 million in the first quarter of 2022. Lululemon had to revise its Mirror 2021 sales forecast to $125-130M from $250-275M originally.
Enough to revive the home fitness market?
In an interview with The Times, Lululemon chief executive Calvin McDonald said: “What we saw in terms of related sports was a change in response to the pandemic, customers really wanted the convenience and the ability to have a sports solution at home. Profit is in our hands. We decided to invest in the development of our business.” Calvin McDonald didn’t say how many users the Mirror has, but it appears to have attracted a lot of new customers. He also explained that the company expects Mirror to account for 5% of its sales over the next 5 years.
The future will say
A subscription to Lululemon Studio will cost $39 per month and all current Mirror subscribers will automatically become Studio subscribers. Those who do not have the Mirror will first need to obtain it. To lower the entry price, Lululemon will nearly halve the price of the Mirror and offer it for $795 (up from $1,495 originally) for a limited time starting October 5th.