IDS’ Vending Fit provides a seamless transaction experience to allow customers to easily access health and fitness supplies without direct, face-to-face interaction with employees
Keeping your customers and employees safe is an important aspect of any organization. While the news of COVID-19 continues to be prevalent, many organizations are doing what they can to protect their employees and customers by providing a safe and sanitary environment. While fitness centers slowly begin to open, it is more important than ever before for organizations to evaluate and adapt the center’s procedures, in order to provide a safe environment.
As recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, social distancing has become the “new normal” across the United States. This means keeping at least six feet away from the nearest person. At fitness centers, however, this can be a difficult task to achieve. Not only can it be difficult to distance yourself from others, but it can also be difficult to keep the equipment clean and sanitary.
As companies put in place measures to limit face-to-face interactions and encourage social distancing, it is also important to reduce the handling of critical fitness supplies and nutritional products, such as protein powder and foam rollers, as much as possible by limiting contact points. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the lifespan of Coronavirus can vary based on different surfaces and can last anywhere from 30 minutes to three days.
Fitness centers across the United States have remained closed over the past few months, due to COVID-19. However, many have begun the process of opening, but with new rules and regulations in place to keep its members and employees safe from harmful viruses and bacteria, including COVID-19. This could be by decreasing the number of customers that are allowed in your facility at one time or repeatedly communicating to customers how you intend to keep your center safe.
Keeping your members and employees safe should remain top of mind as a fitness center owner. Some fitness centers have established rules based on federal regulations in order to keep their members safe. For example, Gravity Fitness in Atlanta, Georgia has a staff member taking everyone’s temperatures at the gym’s entrance. While they originally had all staff members wearing a mask and allowing members to decide whether or not they wanted one, that rule quickly changed. Instead, there are set times during the day in which every member is required to wear a mask and set times in which it is optional. This allows members to exercise when they feel most comfortable and most safe.
Other fitness centers, such as CrossFit Beo in Sioux City, Iowa, have opened, but are required to have fewer than 10 people in the gym at one time. Those people must also remain at a distance of at least six feet apart from one another.
In order for fitness centers and gyms to begin opening, a plan must be put in place in order to keep everyone safe in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other harmful illnesses. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions provides controlled dispensing solutions to ensure that employees are equipped with the proper PPE equipment to limit exposure risks to infectious diseases. Vending Fit is a contactless solution that allows employees to provide customers with the fitness equipment they need in order to remain safe while being able to workout.
Vending Fit allows you to control your inventory and give customers and employees access to supplies, such as resistance bands, protein powders and yoga mats. When members attend your fitness center, they expect to workout, just as they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is your job to provide that type of experience for your members.
Additionally, you can fill your Vending Fit dispensers with products intended to keep your members safe and healthy. Vending Fit supply dispensers and lockers are flexible enough for you to vend smaller products, such as face masks and hand sanitizers, or larger products, such as towels and yoga mats. Your members should feel safe at your facility. Vending Fit will help you achieve that goal.
Vending Fit provides real-time data and reporting capability through its proprietary iQ Technology software. iQ Technology allows managers and administrators to track who accessed what item(s), when they accessed the item(s) and the quantity of the item they accessed. This is useful from an inventory management standpoint, as alerts can be received whenever a product is running low.
With Vending Fit, you have the ability to utilize existing point-of-sale systems, such as ABC Financial and student IDs, to integrate your gym PPE vending machines seamlessly into your business. Additionally, members can access the fitness supplies they need through cashless payment options or by swiping a membership card, entering a PIN number and more. This ensures that adding Vending Fit to your center will be convenient for both you and your customers.
Cleaning exercise equipment will remain a crucial aspect of every fitness center and keeping your Vending Fit dispenser and locker clean is no different. Luckily, disinfecting and cleaning is as simple as using warm, mild soapy water. Soap has the ability to demolish viruses in as little as 20 seconds. If you prefer commercial-grade cleaning and disinfecting options, PURELL® Foodservice Surface Sanitizer. It is approved for use on food-contact surfaces with no rinse required.
Although many places are beginning to lift strict stay-at-home orders, COVID-19 remains a threat. As your fitness center begins opening up, consider the new regulations you will put in place to keep your employees and members safe. Your employees and members are your most crucial asset, so keeping them safe is your number one priority. Vending Fit wants to help you come up with a plan in order to keep business operational by providing a solution that safely provides your members with the equipment they need.
For more information on Vending Fit and other dispensing equipment, contact 1-877-771-4446.
