The other day, I was chatting with the owner of a trendy East Coast fitness chain.
I asked, “So, how do you verify who’s walking into your clubs?”
He gave me that look — the one reserved for people who just asked how to turn on a light switch — and said confidently:
“MMS from the well-known vendor XXX.”
We happened to be standing right behind the front desk. Every so often, a member would stroll up, flash a QR code from their app at the scanner, a confident beep would sound, a profile would pop up on the monitor… and they’d disappear into the gym. The receptionist, meanwhile, was busy folding fresh towels and didn’t bother to glance at the screen.
In just thirty minutes of sipping coffee at the counter, I spotted at least three people whose faces clearly didn’t match the ones in the profile photos.
When I pointed this out, the owner just waved it off:
“We’re not a prison. We want to be friendly. If someone drops in ‘just to look around,’ they might buy a membership later. Checking people’s IDs… that’s just not our vibe.”
Now, maybe I’m biased — after all, I’ve spent over a decade in the retail Asset Protection consulting business, helping companies design and deploy AP solutions — but a few questions immediately popped into my head:
- What happens when one membership starts “feeding” a dozen friends?
- How do you plan to protect your assets when you move to 24/7 access?
- What if that membership starts making the rounds with a used phone once you roll out that shiny new NFC door access?
- And are your locker room locks just as “friendly” as your front door?
I didn’t ask these questions out loud. I’m no fitness expert.
But my team and I thought about it… and built our own solution. Whether it works better — you decide. We gave it our best shot. 😊
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