Health and wealth go hand-in-hand, or rather step-by-step

On his LinkedIn profile, 24-year-old Gurugram-based consultant Harshvardhan posted that he and his Delhi-based friend, Saarthak, had purchased Apple smartwatches after they came across an offer that was hard to resist — walk 15,000 steps every day for a year and get a chance to get back the money you spent on your smartwatch. They have succeeded in convincing their two friends Sidhant and Ishnoor, based in Chandigarh and Mohali, respectively, into buying these smartwatches. All four friends have shared and synced their progress and are now motivating each other to walk 15,000 steps daily so as to be eligible for rewards of up to 100 per cent of the sum insured (watch invoice value) at the end of the year, or even monthly.

“Imagine buying an Apple Watch and having the chance to get it absolutely free. All you need to do is walk. Sounds like a dream, right? Even if you don’t hit the target every day, there are reward levels based on your consistency. Your earnings? Credited monthly,” says Harsh.

Mixing health and sales, InsurTech platform Zopper and HDFC ERGO, have started ‘India Gets Moving’ initiative, where customers at the point of purchase of the Apple Watch can voluntarily enroll in the ‘Zopper Wellness Programme’. They have to then sync their step data from Apple Health Kit to ‘here by HDFC ERGO’ app after which the app monitors their steps regularly. The marketing move seems like a win-win for everyone — while the buyer rewards start at 8,000 steps each day, the insurance company gets the much-needed health data with a chance to promote its various loans, the smartwatch brand gets the much required impetus in a declining market with a growing number of local players offering smartwatches that are way cheaper.

The data issued by the International Data Corporation (IDC), premier global provider of market intelligence, India monthly device tracker for November 2024, has revealed that the country’s smartwatch sales declined for the second consecutive quarter by 20.7 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to 38 million units.

According to an executive at an authorised Apple Store in Mohali, the sale of smartwatches has increased manifold after this limited-period offer was launched about three weeks back. The sales figures have grown from 100 to 500 a month.

The one thing Covid pandemic has ensured is an increased awareness towards nutrition, health and fitness. The number of channels and fitness influencers, besides growing number of gyms across the country indicates the emphasis being laid on health.  As of 2024, there are more than 30,000 gyms in this country. The country’s health and wellness market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5 per cent during 2024-2032. And various platforms, be it fitness apps, gym memberships or even tech companies like Apple or insurance companies like Zopper are not going let go of such an opportunity. After all, fitness is the new selling mantra.