Why Do We Wear Smart Watches & Fitness Trackers?

Recent research shows 29% of the UK's adults are classified as obese. On the contrary, however, there has been a definite rise in viral wellbeing trends in recent years, as well as a rise in the use of gadgets such as fitness wristbands.

Due to this huge contrast, the team at Total Merchandise wanted to look into this further and find out people's opinions first hand by conducting our own research.

Over on our Instagram account (we're @totalmerchandise - give us a follow if you aren't already!), we asked our followers if they owned a smart or fitness watch. The result was an exact 50/50 split of the people who responded, which made us wonder: why did these people choose to own either a smartwatch or fitness tracker?

In the next two questions, we asked on a scale how much they feel that wearing these items keeps them motivated to exercise and what they use these items for. The answers showed the average percentage by which people feel these products keep them motivated to exercise is a motivational 60%. Interestingly, 80% of the voters said they used smartwatches and fitness trackers to count steps rather than track more defined fitness progression.

Our research demonstrates one thing perfectly: regardless of whether they're simply trying to increase basic fitness or are preparing to run a marathon, your customers can certainly benefit from wearing fitness wristbands. Our range of promotional pedometers and tracker watches are ideal for helping to ensure your brand is with them every step of the way!

How Are Big Brands Using Healthy Lifestyle Trends To Their Advantage?

When you look at the huge advancements technology has seen within the health and fitness industry, it's easy to see just how popular keeping fit is with people across the globe. Keeping on top of popular trends can have huge benefits for your business. Just look at Fitbit! The global fitness watch brand was launched in 2007 by James Park and Eric Friedman after they noticed people wanted to get fit and track their progress as they did so.

Since that lightbulb moment, the brand has sold over 60 million products worldwide, with Fitbit users collectively racking up over 73.7 trillion steps by 2017.

Similarly, Apple's Apple Watch - which can also be used to track fitness, steps walked and so on - launched in 2015 and is predicted to have sold 33 million units in the 12 months of 2019 alone. In fact, the Apple Watch accounted for half of all smartwatch sales in 2018, with Apple, Samsung, Fitbit, and Garmin collectively accounting for 80% of all smartwatches sold worldwide.

The Growing Concern Of The UK Weight Issue

Despite the big numbers demonstrated above, the UK has a continuing problem with the population being overweight. We see it every day, with new scientific studies hitting UK news channels daily, stating the latest discoveries about why we gain weight and the health implications it causes.

In the poll conducted on our Instagram account, we asked people what percentage of the UK population they believe to be classified as overweight or obese. An astonishing 100% of respondents selected the right answer, which is two-thirds of Brits.

A recent study published by Cancer Research UK suggests obesity is the UK's second most preventable cause of cancer after smoking, with the charity warning that whilst the number of smokers is decreasing, the number of people classified as obese is rising.

However - that said, it's not all doom and gloom. There's been a 4.7% rise in the number of gym memberships taken out across the country, with the value of the UK fitness club industry sitting at around £5.1bn last year. The meaning? People are obviously looking at improving or continuing to work on their fitness - and of course, there's no accounting for the number of Brits who are doing more exercise outside of the gym, too.

Choosing Promotional Smart Watches And Fitness Trackers For Your Business

Promoting a healthy lifestyle is a great angle for your company to be affiliated with as it demonstrates to your audience that you care. And with the Athletics World Championships starting on 27th September (and - ahem - running until 6 October) what better time to get your business involved with the fitness hype?

Fun fact alert! Usain Bolt holds the record for the highest number of medals in the male competitions, winning an impressive 14 medals - eleven of which are gold. 🏅 Not far behind Bolt is England's superstar Mo Farah, who has six gold medals and eight medals in total. We wonder how many medals Great Britain will win this year...?

So! With all that in mind, why not gift your customers with our stylish and functional Fit Watch?

For an even more advanced fitness tracker, these promotional fitness wristbands feature a step counter, distance tracker, sleep monitor, burned calories tracker, heart rate monitor and more! Your customers can even connect their mobile phones to the tracker via Bluetooth for even easier use.

Of course, you're not just limited to fitness trackers when it comes to your company promoting keep-fit and a healthy lifestyle to your customers. Take a look at our branded health and fitness giveaways section for more ideas and don't forget to fill out the form for a Rapid Quote!

Main image from Pexels.com