Pilates Performance Is Bifurcated<\/p>\n The return rate of first-time clients has proven to be one of the strongest predictors of long-term studio revenue, and a key indicator of financial success. And while studios that successfully convert leads and retain first-time visitors generate significantly higher lifetime value, not all studios approach retention the same way.\u00a0<\/p>\n Such disparity has led to a performance gap between top and average studios.<\/p>\n From January to February 2026, lead conversion and first-time return rates declined for average Pilates studios, while top-decile studios held conversion steady and slightly improved retention.\u00a0<\/p>\n Top-decile studios performed better in both conversion efficiency and retention, showing flat yet higher lead conversion rates of 71% in February. Average studios saw conversion rates drop 2% that month from 49% to 48%.\u00a0<\/p>\n Looking at first-time studio return rates during the period, top decile studios saw a 1.35% increase from 74% to 75%, while average studio return rates dropped 4.76% from 42% to 40%.\u00a0<\/p>\n Top decile revenue per location did drop for top studios (as it did for the average studio), but their $108,000 core class revenue per location was more than double the $49,000 core class revenue per location of the average studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe operational processes of top-decile studios set them up for a great year,\u201d FitGrid founder and CEO Ntiedo \u201cNT\u201d Etuk told ATN. \u201cTheir methods of lead conversion and first-time client engagement are so good, they are literally bucking the market trend. It\u2019s powerful to know that it can be done, and being at that level is what all studios should strive for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n How Top Studios Win With Engagement\u00a0<\/p>\n Further analysis suggests that studios with stronger community engagement<\/a> and instructor relationships<\/a> outperform their peers in these critical areas (particularly first-time return rates).\u00a0<\/p>\n Instructors play a major role in the first experience and retention culture, and they employ a slew of methods to get clients back, from personally greeting first-timers and having classmates introduce themselves to sending personal follow-up messages.<\/p>\n The studio communities that relentlessly focus on such operations, measure the effectiveness of their efforts, and embed a process and culture around their practices are those that win. The top decile of studios needs such instructors to make first-timers feel connected to the studio.<\/p>\n \u201cThe instructor makes all the difference in the world. If you, as a client, get a message from an instructor after your first class, that matters,\u201d said Etuk. \u201cIt shows the client that he or she matters. The best studios embrace that personal touch by having every client feel seen, acknowledged and supported.\u201d<\/p>\n In a growing, popular and competitive modality like pilates, that little bit of acknowledgment seems to make a big difference.<\/p>\n Why Comparative Intelligence & Benchmarking Are Critical<\/p>\n By using comparative intelligence, studio operators, franchise brands and investors gain measurable insight into fitness industry performance trends and how their brands are doing compared to the rest of their modality, and how to do better.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is critical because in the relatively young fitness and wellness industry \u2014 unlike hospitality, which has HVS, media, which has Nielsen, or even cars, which have JD Power \u2014 nobody really knows what \u201cgood\u201d is.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAsk a studio owner if their client acquisition rate is any good and they\u2019ll likely tell you they\u2019re not sure, or that it\u2019s \u2018good enough for them,\u2019 said Etuk. \u201cWhat they don\u2019t know is whether it\u2019s good enough for them to survive, or even thrive, in the market. Only benchmarking against the competition can tell them that.\u201d<\/p>\n To solve that problem, Etuk, a serial tech entrepreneur, created FitGrid in 2018. He had become enamored of the fitness space, and started a studio to understand how technology could be used \u201cto improve the success of businesses that help heal the world so much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n His biggest insight, however, was how isolating the experience felt. He had no idea whether his studio performance was good or not, and had nobody to ask. And he felt many owners felt the same way.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a competitive world, absolute metrics are only partially useful. If they can\u2019t illustrate performance compared to the industry, modality, or peer group \u2014 especially local peers \u2014 then they\u2019re only telling you part of what you need to know to survive,\u201d Etuk said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYour studio might be exhibiting a 40% retention rate, but is that good? It depends,\u201d he added. \u201cWhat are your competitors\u2019 and peers\u2019 retention rates? If their retention is much higher than yours, then any client that tries them is probably never coming to you. Worse, if you lose a client to them, they\u2019re probably never coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n To better address this issue, Etuk has FitGrid pull basic information from studios, via their booking platforms, then combines the data into a standardized set of metrics and definitions that could be used across the industry to describe key operational outputs (e.g.. lead conversion, at-risk %, revenue per instructor).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFinally, there is something that helps you pinpoint what to spend resources, energy and dollars on to survive in your market,\u201d Etuk said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fitgrid-modality-table-1-788x457.png\")
<\/a>source: FitGrid<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/solidcore-2-788x525.webp.webp\")
Solidcore has emerged as one of the industry\u2019s top Pilates brands, offering a more up-tempo version of the modality (credit: Solidcore)<\/p>\n![\"an](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Copy-of-DNA_CP-9751-e1728494649719-788x394.webp.webp\")
Club Pilates, the world\u2019s largest Pilates brand by studio count, offers a more classic version of the modality (credit: Club Pilates)<\/p>\n