Peloton wants to go back to work with you

By Arianne Cohen

June 22, 2021

After a year of branding itself as the workout that you can do in your weird entryway nook or closet, Peloton is going to work: Today the company announced Peloton Corporate Wellness, which will bring Peloton to organizations and employees.

Through the program, companies can offer employees subsidized access to Peloton content and home machines, as well as provide companies tools to encourage and measure usages. So far, pilot companies include Samsung, SAP, Accenture Interactive, Wayfair, and Sky.

The move comes as workers return to the office—and Peloton faces concerns that its stock is overpriced. Though the firm has accomplished the nearly impossible feat of getting most of its 5.2 million members to exercise consistently in entryways and bedroom corners, its income stream is limited. Exercisers are a niche market (less than a quarter of Americans meet baseline exercise guidelines, let alone sweat) and most customers buy the fancy cardio machine once, and then pay either $12.99 or $39 per month for access to workouts. These numbers are at odds with Peloton’s $30 billion market cap, and altogether are a textbook case of a plenty-popular and laudable company facing the always-be-growing edict of post-IPO existence.

Peloton bikes typically cost individuals between $1,895 and $2,945, and treadmills cost between $2,495 and $4,295, often paid in monthly installments that come in well below boutique gym membership prices.

The company is swiftly expanding internationally, on a push to sign up every last cardio exerciser to be found on Earth—and presumably many of those Type A exercisers are worker bees. What’s in it for companies? The marketing spiel for the program touts its potential to aid in “attracting and retaining great talent,” and explains that exercisers can invite others to join a class, which will “help teammates bond while also forging great fitness habits.”

The program launches in the United States, the U.K., Canada, and Germany today, and adds Australia to the mix later this year.

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