October 2, 2024, New Delhi: In the last decade, with the arrival of fitness bands or watches in the market, many consumers have purchased one or more of them. Products from Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung, Fitbit, Lenovo, GOQii, Noise. boat, Fire-Boltt and many other brands are available to consumers.

Majority of these devices can be used to track and monitor physical and fitness activities, such as steps covered, calories burned and consumed, heart rate, distance covered, sleep duration, and some even breathing. With the fitness bands, monitoring heart rate has become easier, however majority users aren’t essentially aware of the same and not using these bands for monitoring heart health.

LocalCircles has conducted a national survey to find out how consumers use fitness bands, how regularly it is used and how beneficial users find the many varieties of fitness bands available in the market. The survey received over 33,000 responses from citizens located in 278 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 48% respondents were from tier 1, 30% from tier 2 and 22% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

Only 21% of those who purchased fitness watches/ bands are using them; Many have multiple discarded units lying at home

Going by the reports, people change their fitness watches/ bands as witnessed in the case of mobile phones whenever new upgraded versions come in the market. It is also a popular gift item. In many cases, the band /watches may get damaged or may get discarded for many reasons. The survey first asked consumers, “How many fitness watches/ bands has your family purchased in the last 3 years that are lying unused (don’t need repairs)?” This question received 11,154 responses with only 21% of those who have purchased fitness watches/bands indicating that they are still using them. Of the remaining, 50% indicated that they have 1-2 fitness watches/ bands lying unused; 21% claimed that in their homes there were 3-4 fitness watches/ bands lying discarded and 8% indicated that they had 5 or more such units lying used in their homes. To sum up, only 21% of those who purchased fitness watches/ bands are using them; Many have multiple discarded units lying at home.

35% are not using the fitness watch/band because they don’t believe they need one to track their activity

A common reason for discarding usage of fitness bands according to inputs on LocalCircles, is that people get anxious while wearing fitness bands/ watches if they are unable to follow the daily fitness regime. The survey asked, “What are the key reasons you stopped wearing the fitness watch/ band on a daily basis?” Some among the 11,290 who responded to this query indicated more than one reason. The majority shared that the key reasons were that they felt it is not needed as they exercise anyway or conversely it was a constant reminder to exercise which was not always feasible for them. The data shows that 35% are not using the fitness watch / band because as the respondents claim “I exercise regularly and don’t really need a fitness watch/ band to track the same”; 17% of the respondents claimed “I am just unable to exercise daily/ regularly”; 13% complained “it has to be charged every day/ night”; 39% cited “other reason” not mentioned above; 4% stated that “it was a gift and I didn’t really buy into the idea of wearing a fitness watch/ band”; and 4% opted for “can’t say”. To sum up, among those who have a fitness watch/ band but don’t use it, key reasons cited include realizing that it’s not needed as they exercise anyway, need to charge or not wanting a daily reminder to exercise as it’s not feasible.

Of those who wear a fitness watch/band regularly, the top use cases are tracking daily steps and seeing time/date; Only 34% track heart rate

With manufacturers coming up with new designs and applications for fitness watches/ bands, people use them for varied functions. The survey next asked, “What all do you use your fitness watch/band for on a regular basis?” Some among the 11,051 respondents to this question indicated more than one reason why they or their family members wear a fitness watch/ band regularly. The top use is tracking daily steps and using it as a wristwatch for seeing time/ day. The data shows that 66% of respondents use fitness watch/ band for “tracking daily steps”; 59% use it for “seeing time/ date”; 41% use it for “tracking kilometers walked”; 34% use it for “tracking pulse/ heart rate”; 27% of the respondents use it for “seeing/ responding messages (sms, WhatsApp, email, others)”; 14% use them for “answering phone calls”; and 7% use them for “tracking other activity like cycling, swimming, etc.”. With only 34% fitness band users tracking heart rate, there is clearly need for awareness about importance of heart rate tracking and popularizing such a feature if it exists.

In summary, 79% of those who own a fitness band indicated that they had 1 or more fitness watches/bands lying discarded at their home. The number of such units in a household may be as many as 4 or more. The reason why a lot of people stop or don’t use the fitness watch/band they own, as the survey reveals, can be because they don’t feel the need for it as they already have a fitness regime or because they don’t have the time to exercise. These two groups account for 52% of the respondents surveyed. In addition, 13% conveyed the problem of recharging the unit every day/ night. On the positive side, 66%, the largest group among those who actually use fitness bands, use them for tracking footsteps while 59% of them use it for tracking time. Only 34% use it for tracking pulse/ heart rate, clearly something that if created awareness about, can improve.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 33,000 responses from citizens located in 278 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 48% respondents were from tier 1, 30% from tier 2 and 22% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.