| name | ancillary-revenue-mix |
| description | Grow the margin dues can't reach: personal training, small-group/semi-private, retail, and café/juice-bar revenue per member. Read revenue-per-member and contribution margin by line, and sequence ancillary growth on the retained base. Attach and margin benchmarks are verify-at-use. |
Ancillary Revenue Mix
Dues pay for the room. The margin lives in ancillary: personal training, small-group/semi-private, retail, and café. The metric is revenue (and contribution margin) per member, and it rides on retention — you can't sell PT to a member who already quit.
The lines and where their margin sits
| Line | Margin character | Attach lever |
|---|
| Personal training / semi-private | High-margin labor; premium to dues | Assessment at onboarding; goal-driven upsell |
| Retail (apparel, supplements, gear) | Merchandise margin; inventory risk | POS attach, curated assortment |
| Café / juice bar / smoothies | Food-service margin + traffic | Pre/post-class impulse; throughput |
| Workshops / challenges / events | Programmed high-margin bursts | Community + referral engine |
The measure
ancillary revenue per member = total ancillary revenue / active members
ancillary attach rate = members who buy ancillary / active members
Model these before touching dues pricing — a modest lift in PT attach often beats a risky dues increase. Attach and margin norms are [verify-at-use].
Sequencing rule
Ancillary rides on retention and onboarding:
weak retention? -> fix retention first (churned members buy nothing)
strong retention, low PT attach? -> build the onboarding assessment -> PT path
strong PT, no retail/café? -> add the highest-margin, lowest-ops line that fits your space
Anti-patterns
- Chasing dues increases while PT/retail attach sits untapped.
- Adding a café or retail line before the membership base is retained enough to buy from it.
- Measuring ancillary in gross dollars instead of per-member and by contribution margin (a busy café at thin margin can lose money).
See also
