It will surprise few to hear that the online fitness market is growing at a tremendous speed, though it might elicit a gasp to hear just by how much. The online fitness industry, valued at $6 billion dollars in 

,  is expected to reach $59.2 billion by 2027.

Though this trend has accelerated due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, it is not one that was started by it. Prior to 2020, there had already been increasing interest in at-home workouts catering to the busy, those living or traveling in remote locations, and those looking to take advantage of lower pricing and higher optionality. One of the best examples of the trend is Peloton, a company selling high-end connected exercise bikes, treadmills, and fitness subscriptions. They were seeing 

The growth of companies like Peloton, of course, have accelerated this year thanks to quarantines around the world. Peloton’s stock is currently trading at about 

The question on most people’s minds, however, is whether the at-home workout trend will continue beyond 2020. The resounding answer is yes.

Research from fitness class schedule app Mindbody suggests that though in-person classes will continue to be popular after the COVID-19 pandemic, 

 of individuals still expect to do a virtual workout once a week, and 37% anticipate participating in two or three per week. Peloton predicts that at least 

 of Americans do not intend to renew their physical gym memberships once in-person classes are a safe option again.

This new “blended” in-person and virtual approach to fitness will see a shift in types of classes demanded in each of those settings. When restrictions were eased this summer in Australia, the most popular at-home workout became yoga. Weight training and pilates, classes that can require a significant investment in equipment, became the most popular in-person classes people returned to.

Apple, it turns out, is making a similar bet on “blended” fitness. It is projected to launch Fitness + by the end of 2020, a subscription fitness service that will feature yoga, strength, running, and cycling classes, amongst others. Apple expects that people will do many of 

, not just from the comfort of their own home. In places like NYC, where gyms are open but are not yet allowed to offer indoors fitness classes, Fitness + might be a game-changer, especially as the winter sets in and outdoor workout classes become less feasible.

It is clear to Apple, Peloton, and many others in the industry, that consumers will continue to expect fitness companies to offer technology-enabled virtual workouts alongside more traditional in-person fitness classes. Millions of people have purchased dumbbells, Peloton bikes and treadmills, OrangeTheory heart rate monitors, and other equipment to assist them in creating a similar environment to that of a physical gym, at home. Thanks to wearables and other fitness technology, instructors in live-streamed classes are now able to monitor their students’ heart rates, calories burned, speeds, posture, and level of effort throughout their workouts, which makes them able to intervene, correct, and motivate as they would in a physical fitness class. It also allows users to sync their workout data to smart devices of their choosing more smoothly, thus making it easier to track and control their overall health and fitness.

Those who have invested in an at-home workout space with equipment and fitness technology will find it harder to justify paying exorbitant membership fees for in-person classes post-pandemic.

Another lasting change stemming from at-home quarantines will be a heightened awareness of personal health. Rising rates of diabetes, obesity, and other chronic ailments due to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle is a wake-up call for many, which has left them with no other option than to engage in workouts at home. Needless to say, employers are paying attention. Many are helping their workforce stay healthy by sponsoring at-home exercise subscriptions, meditation, and general wellness programs.

Large companies like Peloton, OrangeTheory, and Apple are not the only ones who stand to capitalize on the at-home fitness trend. As the market continues to double, triple, and quadruple in size over the next decade, there is plenty of room for innovation.

Individual instructors and small independent gyms will be looking for help to digitize in the growing “blended” virtual and in-person model of fitness. Many have had to resort to using Zoom, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and other live video platforms to stream their workouts to interested participants, a sub-par option. Streaming a live fitness class is one thing. Teaching is another. These small companies are looking for more customized fitness management platforms that will allow them to collect payment, interact with their students, monitor students’ progress live, and generally provide an excellent holistic remote fitness program experience. Zoom and social media platforms just don’t cut it.

As gyms are forced to shut down and lay-off their staff, more and more individuals will look to start their own independent “blended” fitness companies, where live, on-demand, and in-person classes will all be a part of their offerings. Technology can help ease the transition.

At Livepeer.com, we’re passionate about the live fitness streaming industry, and understand the incredible benefits working out can have on our health, especially as many continue to work from home. We offer reliable, scalable, and easy-to-use live video transcoding services at a fraction of the cost. We hope to enable use-cases in this industry that would have previously been cost-prohibitive. For more information, please get in touch with us at 

The Future of Online Fitness

There is a large opportunity to disrupt more established e-commerce businesses in Europe and North America by being a fast follower of a rising trend in China - retail or e-commerce focused live streaming.

Retail focused live streaming blends entertainment and e-commerce to engage audiences in shopping-focused content, resulting in great conversion metrics and ultimately a significant increase in revenue.  Alibaba’s Taobao Marketplace, for example, pulled in around $15.1B USD in revenue from live streaming in 2018. With over 

60% of Chinese based internet users expected to be livestreamers

 before the end of 2020 , a trend that not surprisingly has been accelerated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, revenues for the livestream ecommerce market across China are 

Though numbers clearly show promise, the lack of traction this trend has seen outside of China is surprising. While there have been a few startups in western markets experimenting with blending live streaming and ecommerce, we have not seen established brands or retailers making serious attempts to replicate this trend outside of China.

At Livepeer.com, we see this as a great opportunity for disruptors in the industry to become early adopters of a new blend of entertainment, ecommerce, and live streaming. Underlying market enablers like high engagement in social media, online video, and influencer marketing for success in the West appear similar to those in China. Combined with good home internet and mobile connectivity, as well as ongoing challenges faced by retailers and shoppers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems like an auspicious moment to challenge established practices of e-commerce brands and platforms in Western countries.

E-commerce live streaming would allow retailers to engage with shoppers live, bringing products into the home and allowing shoppers to participate in a new type of shopping experience that would fill the void left by global lockdowns. A traditional website with static images or prerecorded video just doesn’t deliver the same experience as does in-person or live streaming shopping. While Amazon and YouTube have some limited capabilities to help enable e-commerce focused live streaming, we at Livepeer.com believe the winners will be players that combine a highly capable ecommerce platform with an excellent live streaming service to deliver a cohesive brand-first experience for their shoppers.

One of the biggest challenges those looking to build a platform in this sector face is the cost of building out and running reliable live streaming video infrastructure. Individuals entering the sector will need to ensure a high-quality live video experience for content creators that will attract viewers excited about this new way of shopping.

Livepeer.com is thrilled about supporting growth and innovation in the e-commerce and retail live streaming space. We’ve created a video infrastructure service that uniquely addresses the costs associated with standing up and operating this type of infrastructure, whilst delivering a high quality transcoding and streaming service. If you’re looking to quickly build and are interested in learning more about how we can help, drop us a note at 

Live streaming and E-commerce, an Untapped Opportunity Outside of China

In a world in which live video is expected to account for 

17% of all web traffic by the end of 2022

 you'd be hard-pressed to find a portion of our modern society that hasn't been altered by it. Coupled with the staggering growth in popularity of social media, live streaming has become highly accessible to anyone with a phone, social media account and good internet connection. Today, 

more than half the world's population uses social media

 and has the ability to broadcast at any moment, from anywhere, within seconds.

People choose to stream for a variety of reasons - to broadcast their daily lives to friends, promote events, promote their brand, generate revenue, create supportive communities, or amplify their impact. In fact, research shows that live streaming is a more effective way to attract larger, loyal audiences than pre-recorded videos. Live videos get watched 

We at Livepeer.com believe in the power of live streaming in the social media sector to continue shaping our world of tomorrow.

Live streaming is elevating both individuals showcasing their talents online for the first time and professionals with sizable audiences - without venue capacity limitations, event audience size is virtually unlimited. Millions of people around the world who are talented but unknown singers, dancers, and performers, can perfect their craft and have an opportunity to amass followers at an unprecedented speed. Many start streaming from their bedroom, others use live streaming to supplement their in-person events.

 Live streaming is helping streamers and their audience build valuable relationships.  Never before have we been able to feel as connected to our favorite social media personalities, influencers, artists, and brands as we can now. Triple the watch time for live videos over pre-recorded videos also means triple the engagement. Many social media platforms have chat rooms to facilitate interactions between live stream viewers, performers and each other through comments, questions, stickers, donations, and sharing. Social media streamers entertain their audience and in turn, they and their brands are compensated in sales and advertising revenue.

Live streaming allows gamers to create supportive communities that facilitate learning and connection. Though many viewers of gaming content are learning and developing skills to apply in their personal gaming, 

 of gaming content on Youtube in 2018 spent more time watching others play than gaming themselves. The most successful game live streamers, beloved for their narration, expressions, and communication style, manage to create communities of like-minded individuals who enjoy interacting with each other, in gaming and beyond.

At Livepeer.com, we recognize the incredible impact of live streaming and are supportive of innovation in the sector. We help live streaming social media companies do what they do best - build the best streaming experience for their users while keeping the costs of running that infrastructure low.

Growing platforms for performers, influencers, gamers, and many others looking to grow their brand on social media, tend to support a large number of live streams at a time, which often translates to unsustainable transcoding costs (read our blog post 

 for an introduction to transcoding). They end up reliant on existing cost-prohibitive streaming platforms to fulfill increases in live streaming demand. When it has been shown that 

80% of consumers prefer to watch a video than read a blog

63% of 18-34 year olds watch live streaming content regularly

, it is safe to assume that an investment in lower cost infrastructure can pay off exponentially in the future.

At Livepeer.com, we can offer pricing to significantly reduce costs, help with quick implementation, and provide instant scalability and reliability. We help platforms free up capital that can then be re-invested into growth and innovation. Get in touch at 

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The Future of Online Fitness

The Future of Online Fitness

Live streaming and E-commerce, an Untapped Opportunity Outside of China

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