Chapter 3: The Spanish Fitness Industry and the Digital Transformation

Technology, could it be one of the most searched words on the Internet during the years 2020 and 2021? You could say yes, and it is also true that technology has been one of the main factors that have helped to innovate, to be more efficient and have changed the consumption and needs of the inhabitants of the world. In particular, one of the elements that have helped to change processes and specially to change the forms of communication and interaction has been the Smartphone. In fact, 67% of the world population already have a Smartphone while the internet has a penetration rate of 59.5% in the world (We are Social, 2021). Likewise, it is interesting to know that in the world, 80% of the time that the Smartphone is being used is through apps (Ditrendia, 2018). In particular, the apps related to fitness and health have grown exponentially and so have their downloads. As an example, in 2020 a total of 218 billion apps were downloaded in the world, with a total expenditure of 134 billion dollars, 20% more than in 2019 (App Annie, 2021), In this sense, it is estimated that the number of fitness and sports apps will continue growing, among other reasons, because of its association with the promotion and incentive to practice physical exercise. (Glynn et al., 2014).