In the boom of “weight loss for all”, health management apps seem to have ushered in unprecedented development opportunities. However, can these apps really monetize traffic with this outlet? This article will delve into the performance of health management apps in the national weight loss wave, analyze how they attract users through personalized health management solutions, and the challenges they face in terms of business models and user experience.
During this period, under the policy advocacy of “the state calls you to lose weight”, taking the “Weight Management Year” as an opportunity, a national weight loss boom swept in, which also led to the “slimming economy” closely related to it. From the widespread popularity of special courses on weight management, to the rapid increase in sales of weight-loss-related products in a short period of time, to the blooming of hospital weight loss clinics, this wave of national-level operations is simply a new entrepreneurial compass in the eyes of a considerable number of people: online fat loss camps make knowledge payment rejuvenate another spring, all kinds of light food private kitchens simply play salads out of flowers, and fitness bloggers teach people to lose weight while bringing goods and meals……
However, if the national fat loss outlet really comes, it is likely that the first to meet the impact of traffic will not be those merchants who are directly involved in weight loss products or services, but integrate the concept and services of “healthy lifestyle” to help people determine whether they really need to lose weight.
As for whether they can convert traffic into real revenue, there is a question mark first.
New national-level rigid needs
Is it exercise or diet to lose weight first? Can you lose weight by keeping your mouth shut and opening your legs? What is the correct order for fat loss and shaping? Looking at the relevant high-profile entries, it is not difficult to find that people are always full of doubts about the science and effectiveness of weight loss. In this era of information explosion, all kinds of weight loss methods have sprung up one after another, making it dazzling and difficult to choose.
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In the social consensus formed in the past, the outside world has always been keen to rudely link weight loss with low weight. But this time it is different, the weight loss initiative proposed by the state focuses on the theme of health management, which is to promote a civilized and healthy lifestyle.
According to the analysis of industry insiders, this policy orientation reflects the reality that more than 400 million adults in China are overweight or obese, and has also spawned a trillion-level economic wave involving sports, medical care, consumer electronics, health food and other fields.Weight management will become a new economic engine that will reshape the consumption structure。
Relevant data show that the scale of our country’s health management market has reached 1,810.7 billion yuan in 2023 and is expected to exceed the trillion yuan mark by 2030. Behind this growth is the increasing demand for preventive health management services, which are no longer satisfied with the treatment of diseases after they occur, but also pay more attention to daily health maintenance and disease prevention.
From this perspective,Health management has actually become a new national necessity。 Zinc Scale observed that among those who actively respond to the call for policy, many people have begun to seriously examine their eating habits, exercise patterns and daily routines, trying to find a healthy lifestyle that is both scientific and sustainable.
They are clearly aware thatLosing weight is not just about losing weight, it’s more about a lifestyle change。
On this basis, the primary need of this group of people is to understand what kind of health they are in and how to manage and improve this state through scientific methods.
In addition to going to the hospital for professional physical examinations, this traditional health management method, health management apps have become the preferred tool for many people to self-monitor and manage their health in their daily lives with their convenience, personalization and data tracking advantages.
Failed to leverage the core needs of users
After testing common health management apps on the market, including mint health, small calorie health, lemon light fasting, etc., Zinc Scale found that they usually tailor a set of personalized health management plans for users from multiple dimensions such as management purposes, weight loss goals, and exercise methods in the novice guidance stage. From the specific point of view, these solutions not only cover dietary adjustment, exercise advice, status tracking, but also involve fitness partners, intelligent assistants, data backup and other levels, and seem to want to meet the various needs of users in health management in an all-round and multi-angle way to help users build healthy living habits.
This is also the core competitiveness of health management apps:Use big data and artificial intelligence technology to analyze users’ health data and provide users with customized health improvement suggestions, rather than simply promoting a weight loss product or service.
At the same time, they also have a very similar business model, that is, through this set of personalized health management solutions, they attract users to recharge their annual membership to unlock and start their health management journey.
Member recharge price
These apps usually provide basic functions such as recording data, status tracking, time management, and health information for users to use for free, but deeper personalized value-added services require paying members to enjoy, such as access to more detailed diet plans, professional exercise tutorials, regular health assessment reports, and one-on-one health consultant consultations. However, the zinc scale can be seen from many recommendation posts about health management apps, and “free” is still the keyword for their drainage. After allFor many first-time users, the above free features are enough to attract them to take the first step in health management。
In addition to membership services, another paid gameplay that is popular on health management apps is to launch paid registration activities such as “Throwing Meat Challenge Camp Post-Holiday First Aid Plan”, “Summer Sprint 14-Day Fast Weight Loss Challenge”, and “May Day Sprint I Bet I Will Lose Weight”.
As long as users sign up to participate and check in after meeting certain goal requirements, they can receive free membership, share the prize pool, and receive physical rewards such as scales. However, judging from the complaints on the Black Cat complaint platform, some users have reported that such activities have concealed key information, induced users to sign up for consumption, and users mistakenly believe that the registration fee is refundable.
Complaints about related check-in activities Source: Black Cat Complaints
In addition, the focus of user complaints is also focused on the products sold in the built-in mall of the health management app, which have problems such as food safety and poor quality. It seems that the health management apps at this stage,Whether it is functional design or commercial operation, it has not really leveraged the core needs of users, not to mention making it form a long-term dependence.
A key gateway to a healthy life
It is undeniable that the national weight loss boom has indeed brought unlimited business opportunities. Recently, Alipay AI Health Butler officially launched the “Weight Loss Zone”, launching a series of agents to guide users to eat scientifically and exercise healthily, and 7 multi-department weight loss doctors from tertiary hospitals have opened AI clones in the special area to help the whole people manage their weight.
At the end of April, BGI released the “i99 Zhijian” multi-omics health management system. According to reports, the system has six core functions, which can identify the risk of familial hypercholesterolemia and provide precise medication recommendations by integrating user genetic data and physical examination results over the years.
Earlier, Anhui Medical University, together with the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China and other units, released the weight management intelligent assistant “Order Reduction” in Hefei, which is the first large-model intelligent assistant in China to intervene in obesity-related chronic diseases through lifestyle.
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If the relevant information is pulled through, almost all of them, from hospitals to pharmaceutical companies, to Internet giants, want to get a piece of the pie, but their respective battles are also extremely clear. It is not difficult to see thatAt present, there is a lack of synergy to bring health management services together, and this is also an inevitable trend for the future development of related industries。
From the perspective of the entire industrial chain structure of our country’s health management industry, iResearch relevant reports show that the upstream of the industrial chain is pharmaceutical and other manufacturers; The midstream is a health management-related enterprise, including two major scenarios inside and outside the hospital, and the outside of the hospital is mainly based on Internet hospitals, physical examinations, insurance, testing, and pension + health management; The downstream is for different types of consumer groups, driven by government departments, supported by industry, university and research, and empowered by science and technology throughout the whole process of the industrial chain.
Source: iResearch Consulting
It is manifested on the user side,Health management apps actually have the potential to become core entrances。 Because it can not only integrate the production information of upstream drugs and health products, closely integrate with midstream health management services, but also directly reach the downstream diversified consumer groups, which is enough to form a closed-loop health management ecosystem. In this system, the health management APP comprehensively integrates and analyzes the user’s health data, living habits, medical records and other information, based on big data and artificial intelligence technology, so that its membership value-added services are no longer suspended on the surface, making users feel that “there is no need to recharge at all”. Because combined with the user’s genetic data and physical examination results, they can customize their own diet plans and exercise recommendations, and even predict potential health risks and intervene in advance.
Free is still the key to attracting users Source: Xiaohongshu
Health management apps can also share data with partners such as medical institutions, insurance companies, and physical examination centers to provide users with one-stop health management services. Users do not need to switch between different platforms to enjoy the full chain of services from health consultation, disease prevention, disease treatment to rehabilitation care. This convenience will greatly improve the user’s sense of experience and stickiness, so that it will gradually form a long-term dependence on health management apps.Based on this, health management apps can naturally explore more diversified service models。
For example, it can cooperate with medical institutions to provide users with telemedicine consultation, physical examination appointments and other services; or linkage with offline institutions such as gyms and yoga studios to provide users with offline experience courses to enhance users’ sense of participation and stickiness; Combined with elderly care services, it provides integrated elderly care and health services for the elderly, including health monitoring, rehabilitation nursing, life care, etc.; Work with education and training institutions to popularize health knowledge, cultivate public health awareness and self-management ability, and open up a broader market space through cross-border collaborative innovation.
Of courseTo achieve such a goal, health management apps also need to solve some of the problems: First, strengthen the protection and privacy security of user data to ensure that user information is not leaked or abused; secondly, it is necessary to improve the professionalism and accuracy of the service to avoid misleading users or providing ineffective health advice; Finally, it is also necessary to strengthen communication and collaboration with partners to ensure the coherence and consistency of services.
To sum up, perhaps only those comprehensive health management service providers who can deeply understand and fully meet the core needs of users and continuously innovate service models can become real winners standing on the national fat loss outlet.
