Zumba Fitness

From untapped market to rapid user-base expansion

User testing

Mobile development

MVP development

Results and business impact

300k users after the first non-beta version was released

Great quality and stability achieved and maintained in a big and dynamic team

Adjusting the development approach to the newly delivered content through a lean approach

Scoping features on the fly while delivering the solution

Building great functionality of asynchronous work between Appunite and Zumba teams

Successfully building the mobile application while the backend was being wrapped up which shortened the delivery time but required a creative technical approach

The Client

Founded in 2001, Zumba® is the largest branded dance fitness company in the world – reporting more than 15 million weekly participants, in 200,000 locations, across 185 countries. Zumba® blends world rhythms with easy-to-follow choreography for an effective workout that empowers participants to become their best selves – mind, body and soul. In addition to its original Zumba program, the company offers 10 Zumba specialty classes – from aquatic-based to those specifically designed for active older adults and children. In 2016, Zumba launched its first non-dance, HIIT workout STRONG Nation®, where music acts as the main motivator. In 2023, Zumba launched CIRCL Mobility™, a revolutionary new program designed to unlock the body's full potential through flexibility, breathwork, and mobility exercises. The Zumba® lifestyle is rounded out by the company's many consumer product offerings, including video games, VR +MR experiences, original music, activewear and footwear, and interactive Fitness-Concert™ events.

Appunite's team collaborates flawlessly with our tech team, acting as an ideal augmentation to our in-house capabilities. They successfully delivered our application within the agreed timeline, effectively addressing our concerns through their extensive knowledge and experience.

Kaue Ribeiro
Mobile Engineering Manager
Zumba Fitness

The main challenge

The overarching goal for Zumba was to launch a high-quality hybrid experience so their students can easily access in-person classes/instructors, as well as on-demand content with instructors from around the world. This created a couple of specific goals.

Zumba came to us with this initiative by 2nd quarter of 2023. They wanted to have the service ready by New Year’s to serve people who decide to take care of their health in 2024.

Provide a platform for easy at-home access to Zumba® classes

Make it easy for anyone to start learning about Zumba®

Once they get the hang of things allow them to find and sign up for local Zumba® classes appropriate for their skills

Overall: Improve the accessibility of learning about Zumba® and make it easier for more people to start attending live classes

Delivering extensive scope in tight timeline

The MVP’s scope was extensive, and we had little time to deliver what was planned. Additionally, we were targeting an entirely new user-base for Zumba, so a lot of testing was necessary. Zumba was calling the shots when it came to product development and integration targets, we were providing the technical expertise that allowed us to deliver on time.

Handling the scope on time through experience

One of the major aspects that allowed us to make this happen was seniority of our delivery team. Leveraging the knowledge we gathered delivering similar business solutions, we were able to fulfill Zumba’s product requirements on time. On the technical side, this meant for example that we had to work simultaneously on the product backend and on the frontend for the mobile app. In some cases, this required us to engineer with unfinished backend contracts. If not for our experience that allowed us to also guide Zumba’s team in this environment, we would not have delivered on time.

Solving for user-friendliness through integrations

Seamless use of the Zumba’s service meant for the end users also using third-party services. We integrated with native payment services, and with Apple’s Health application. Here we also leveraged knowledge from other projects (about e.g. Apple Privacy implementation) to deliver efficiently.

Effectiveness through well-managed delivery

Our clients tell us that from their experience software agencies don’t always manage big teams well. Because at Appunite we opt for a model that is decentralized and facilitates cross-team collaboration, both our small and big teams work great. As of February 2024, our Zumba team counts 12 people (5 Android engineers, 5 iOS engineers, QA, PM, and Account Manager). We are also maintaining other apps for Zumba.

Efficient delivery of a key feature

The key feature for monetization was Video on Demand. The entire service is built around this, so it had to be of the highest quality: being able to launch the videos on the web service, mobile app, on TVs through Chromecast, Airplay and on any internet bandwidth (we used HLS for that). Because we worked previously with multimedia services, we knew how to implement those features quickly and cost-effectively.

Decision-making insights

Successfully delivering such an extensive scope on a tight deadline required a couple of key decisions to be made.

Choosing native development over cross-platform

While cross-platform is a great choice for some use cases, the business requirements of this Zumba projects called for native development. We wanted to seamlessly play the video on native platforms, through AirPlay or Chromecast, and handle payments without hiccups. Native development in this case allowed us to deliver faster, cheaper, and with better performance.

Iterative tests with live users

Launching Zumba's service to a new market segment demanded rigorous validation of our business hypotheses to ensure a flawless user experience and clear value proposition. To achieve this, we run a pilot program with three distinct phases. Initially, we conducted feasibility studies with Zumba's existing instructors to assess market readiness. Next, we tested our service's core business assumptions with this group. Finally, we run broader test with potential end-users, who were invited via Facebook to provide critical feedback. This approach confirmed the app’s stability, Product-Market Fit, and helped define path of developing successful product.

Future outlook

Our cooperation with Zumba is long-term and ongoing, so there are many plans for future developments. Since we focus on generating business impact through technology, it’s easier to describe what we’re working on currently in these terms.

User retention — lean GTM

One of the service’s functionalities designed to build user retention was a smartwatch add-on (compatible with Apple Watch and WearOS). Initially, Zumba thought of it as a big product, so it wasn’t in the initial scope. We thought differently. In 3 days we designed a Proof of Concept that tracked the user’s training statistics. Zumba team liked it, they asked us to design an MVP. It allows to track the exercise statistics, manage the video played in mobile app or paired TV. Experience in building similar solutions for native platforms allowed us to do this very efficiently. Currently, we’re working on the legal side of things to release such a feature, and then we’ll test how it impacts retention.

Paywall A/B tests to increase conversions

Increasing user conversion from app downloads to active trials is a pivotal goal for us and Zumba alike. To achieve this, we introduced an A/B testing strategy for subscription models and trial offers to optimize conversion rates and ROI. A critical component of our approach includes enhancing acquisition through referrals and allowing current users and instructors privileged access to free trials. This method leverages the trust within the Zumba® community and contributes to a more engaging and cost-effective user acquisition channel.

Improving user experience through localization

After the app was released, some reviews in app stores voiced the need for more language choices. We implemented an application localization plan, prioritizing the languages for the most active geos. This allows us to continually increase the language user experience while rationalizing the workload.

Gamification for user engagement

We’re implementing gamification features to engage users more deeply: users earn badges for various activities, like liking an instructor or participating in a workout; they can set weekly goals for class attendance; and achieve what Zumba has branded as HypeState™ for workouts lasting over 21 minutes, tapping into the peak endorphin release time. This strategy enriches the user experience, encouraging consistent and enjoyable participation.

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