Buried in Issue No. 338 of Fitt Insider was a warning shot for every operator whose retention math secretly depends on members who forget to cancel: Equinox and SoulCycle were ordered to repay $600K over hard-to-cancel memberships, per the issue. The message from regulators is getting louder — friction is no longer a retention strategy.
When the exit is easy, the only thing keeping a member is a reason to stay. That's the problem Cadoo was built to solve.
The industry is consolidating around engagement
The same issue showed operators buying growth and doubling down on stickiness:
- Fitness and leisure operator Bay Club acquired 425 Fitness, operator of three Seattle-area facilities, per the issue.
- UK-based RoxFit, a training platform for fitness racing, landed £800K in a pre-seed round, per Fitt Insider — a bet that competition keeps people coming back.
- Brazilian club management platform Next Fit raised roughly $8.8M, per the issue, as software to run stickier memberships attracts capital.
These are industry references, not Cadoo partners. But the pattern is clear: the money is flowing toward engagement, because lock-in is on borrowed time.
Lock-in fails, competition retains
A member who can cancel in a few taps churns the moment the habit fades. A member locked into a friendly, money-backed challenge with three friends doesn't reach for the cancel button — they're mid-competition and mid-community. Cadoo turns that dynamic on: members bet money with friends on reaching fitness goals, so they keep coming back because friends and stakes are on the line, not because the cancellation flow is a maze.
Recurring challenges fill the gap between visits — exactly where memberships quietly lapse. That's retention built on genuine engagement, the only kind that survives a regulatory crackdown on friction.
Engagement you can actually measure
Cadoo-verified workouts give operators real engagement data instead of a swipe at the front desk. The camera counts reps only. Steps and distance come from Apple Health or Google Health Connect. And every finished challenge can produce a skinned, shareable video, so members market your brand while they build their habit — better-ROI marketing than any win-back email to a member already halfway out the door.
Making membership worth keeping
The fix for the cancellation crackdown isn't a stickier contract — it's a membership members don't want to cancel. A social, stakes-backed challenge does that by giving people a live reason to show up. On our roadmap (not live yet), winnings could convert into credit or perks at your gym, tying wins directly back to your revenue. See it at cadoo.games/brands or reach the team at Tim@cadoo.io.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the hard-to-cancel crackdown matter for gym retention?
When regulators penalize friction and cancelling gets easier, revenue built on forgotten memberships evaporates. The durable alternative is genuine engagement — a member active in an ongoing, social, money-backed challenge has a real reason to stay enrolled, so retention rests on value rather than obstacles.
How does Cadoo keep members active between visits?
Cadoo runs recurring challenges members stake money on with friends, so there's a live competition happening in the gap between sessions. That sustained activity lifts visit frequency — the metric that separates a retained member from a no-show waiting to cancel.
How does Cadoo verify that a challenge workout really happened?
The camera counts reps for supported movements, and steps and distance come from Apple Health or Google Health Connect. That gives operators trustworthy engagement data and keeps the friendly, money-backed competition fair for everyone.
Can members redeem winnings at my gym?
Redeeming winnings for credit or perks at a partner gym is on our roadmap and not live yet. Today, Cadoo's value is higher visit frequency, lower churn, and shareable branded content members create for you.
