Weight loss firm Weight Watchers’ revenue fell 10% to $327.8 million in the fourth quarter, while membership dropped 15%. What’s slowing the company down? A new report in AdAge argues fitness trackers and apps are to blame. “Weight Watchers really has to change what they’re offering—they have to get modern,” Meredith Adler, an analyst at Barclays, told AdAge. “People are just more digital now than they ever were.”
More than 50 million adults in the U.S. Are using apps to help themselves get or stay healthy, according to Nielsen research. While Weight Watchers—which is largely based on coaching and mutual support meetings—may have been slow to adapt to new technology, the company is taking it seriously now. It teamed up with fitness tracker maker Fitbit late last year, for example. “The whole health-and-fitness category has morphed into a positive place, with free apps and trackers for people to consider,” the company said in a statement. “We plan to be there for our members and future members by continuing to provide motivation, accountability and support whenever and wherever they may need it.”
For more on Weight Watchers from Coins2Day, check out this interview with its North American president Lesya Lysyj.