ClassPass choses to focus on partnerships as they prepare to face the economic hardships that COVID-19 triggered in the boutique and fitness industry. The company has been a leading provider of wellness, barber and hair services as well as beauty services since 2018 at independent salons. On Wednesday, they announced that the U.K’s Blow LTD and the U.S’s Priv are their two strategic partner companies.
The deal will see ClassPass’s 1 million members benefit from Priv’s on-demand pedicures, manicures, blowouts, and haircuts beginning from Austin, Texas, and New York City. Blow LTD’s similar services will be accessible within the Greater London area. Priv, with over 30,000 beauty professionals, has amassed over 500,000 customers in its six-year history, and it recently merged with BeGlammed.
Kinsley Livingston, ClassPass’s VP, foresees wellness and beauty service bookings faster rebound than fitness. She added that while fitness bookings have returned to 50-70% of their pre-corona levels, beauty and wellness services have returned to 60-80%. Kinsley explained that numerous people feel safer when served personally than in a group setting. The trend during Covid-19, she said, was for services such as meditation leading to a more holistic wellness experience.
ClassPass’s three or four-tier membership services are typically market-specific. In Austin, they go for $39 to $99 monthly for 21 to 60 credits, respectively. In New York, they range between $49 to $159 monthly for 27 to 100 credits. Now, the beauty services in all markets will go for 24-50 credits each. ClassPass members can book their preferred services online through an app and get a location and hair-specific technician or stylist within 24 hours.
When Covid-19 started, ClassPass’s revenue dipped by 95% after 10 days. Consequently, the company started a new rollover policy to ensure that unused credits did not expire, and members could cancel when they needed to. From April to August, ClassPass forewent the revenue it took from its fitness affiliates, and so far, 60% of their customers have logged into the virtual workouts.
The partnership, initially pre-negotiated as a revenue share agreement, giving ClassPass a “small commission” for every reservation, is predominantly profitable for Blow LTD and Priv. The priority will be on on-demand services with lower overheads and one-on-one offerings and whose resumption in New York City already started in late June.