What attendance tells you
A member who came four times a week and now comes once is telling you something long before their renewal date. Attendance also shows your busy hours, so you know when to have more trainers on the floor, and it settles disputes about whether someone used their membership.
None of that works if attendance lives in a register that nobody reads. It needs to be recorded every time, with the time, and be easy to look at.
Register vs biometric vs QR
What you need
- Register
- A notebook
- Biometric machine
- A device to buy, install and maintain
- QR check-in
- A printed QR and members' phones
Proxy entries
- Register
- Easy
- Biometric machine
- Hard
- QR check-in
- Hard, if each check-in is tied to the member's own account
Searchable later
- Register
- No
- Biometric machine
- Usually, from the machine's software
- QR check-in
- Yes, in the app
Works when the device is broken
- Register
- Yes
- Biometric machine
- No
- QR check-in
- Yes, the QR is just paper
Biometric machines work, but they're one more device to buy and fix, and fingerprint readers can struggle with sweaty or worn fingers. A register is free but unreliable. QR check-in sits in between: almost no hardware, and every entry is tied to a real member and a real time.
How QR check-in works in FitOS
- Your gym gets its own QR. Print it and put it at the entrance.
- A member scans it with the FitOS app when they arrive.
- FitOS checks their membership and records the check-in with the time.
- If the membership has expired, it shows up right away, so dues don't slip through at the door.
The QR belongs to your gym only, and each check-in is tied to the member's own membership. See QR check-in for details.
Stopping proxy attendance
Proxy entries happen when one person can mark attendance for another, like a friend writing a name in the register. When each check-in is tied to the member's own account and timestamped, a pattern like two entries a minute apart for people who never train together stands out immediately. Proxy attendance gets much harder to hide once members know every entry is visible and timed.
Use attendance to keep members
- Every week, look for members who haven't come in for 7 days or more.
- Message or call them: “Haven't seen you this week, all good?” A personal check-in works better than any discount.
- Watch for members whose visits drop sharply in the month before renewal. That's when to reach out.
- Use your busiest hours to plan trainer shifts.
Setup tips
Print the QR large (A4 is fine), laminate it, and fix it at eye level near the entrance where people don't have to queue. Make sure there's mobile signal or Wi-Fi at that spot. For the first week, have someone at the desk remind members to scan. After that it becomes a habit.
Ready to try it? Download FitOS and run it free for 7 days with up to 25 members, or read about fee reminders and choosing gym software.