Plain-English studio terms

Assigned seating lets members reserve a specific spot, bike, reformer, or mat when they book — instead of grabbing whatever is open on arrival. Studios run it in one of three modes: off, clients pick, or auto-assign at booking time.

Attendance rate is the percentage of bookings that result in an actual check-in — a healthy boutique studio sits at 80–90%, with the rest split between late cancels and no-shows.

A chargeback is when a member disputes a credit-card charge through their bank — the studio is debited the original amount plus a $15–25 chargeback fee until the dispute is resolved.

A class pack is a pre-paid bundle of fitness classes a member buys in advance — for example, 10 classes for $200 — and redeems one at a time when they book.

Class utilization is the percentage of total weekly class capacity that gets filled — a healthy boutique studio runs 60–75%, with peak classes near 90% and off-peak as low as 35%.

A client booking portal is a branded, member-facing website or app where clients book classes, manage packages, see their attendance history, and update payment details — all without calling the front desk.

A drop-in is a single, full-price class purchased on its own — usually by a non-member, a visiting client, or a member without an active package.

A fee snapshot is the instructor pay rate captured at the moment a class session is created — so that future changes to the instructor's rate don't rewrite past payouts.

GDPR is the EU/UK data-privacy law that applies to any studio with European members; PCI DSS is the payment-card industry rulebook for handling credit-card data. Both apply to small studios; neither requires a lawyer if you use compliant software.

An instructor pay rate is the per-class amount a studio pays an instructor — typically a flat fee ($30-80 per class), a per-head bonus, or a hybrid of both.

An instructor substitute is a replacement teacher who covers a class when the scheduled instructor cancels — the studio pays the sub the class rate and decides separately whether to dock the original instructor.

The intro funnel is the path from website visitor to paying member — typically site visit → intro offer purchase → first class → 2nd–5th class → membership. Conversion at each stage is the studio's most important growth metric.

An intro offer is a discounted first-class or class-pack deal sold only to new clients — designed to convert visitors into members by lowering the friction of the first visit.

A late-cancel window is the cutoff time before class — usually 12 or 24 hours — after which a member who cancels still loses the credit or pays a fee.

Member lifetime value is the total dollar revenue a member generates from join date to cancel date — for boutique fitness, the typical LTV sits between $1,200 and $4,800 depending on format and retention.

A membership freeze is a temporary pause on a recurring membership — usually 1-3 months, sometimes for a small monthly fee — that keeps the member's account open without billing them full price.

A no-show fee is a charge a studio applies to a member who books a class but doesn't attend without canceling — typically $10-25 or the forfeit of a class credit.

Peak times are the high-demand class slots — typically weekday 6–9am and 5–7pm plus Saturday morning — where classes consistently fill; off-peak is everything else, where utilization drops to 30–50%.

A prerequisite class is a required intro or foundations session — common in CrossFit, reformer pilates, and aerial — that a new member must complete before booking regular group classes.

A punch card is an older physical or paper version of a class pack — the studio punches a hole or stamps the card each time a member redeems a class, until the card is full.

A referral program rewards existing members for bringing new clients — typical structure is 'refer a friend, you both get a free class' or 'refer 3 friends in 30 days, get a free month'.

Self check-in lets a member mark themselves as present from the client portal — usually via a banner that appears 30–60 minutes before class — so the front desk doesn't have to greet-and-mark every arrival.

Studio achievements are unlockable badges members earn for hitting milestones — first class, 10 classes, 50 classes, 8-week streak, first morning class, etc. — surfaced in the client portal to nudge habit formation.

In multi-tenant SaaS, a tenant is one customer's isolated workspace — for studio software, each studio is a tenant with its own subdomain, branding, members, and data.

An unlimited membership is a recurring monthly auto-renew plan — typically $149–$249/month — that lets a member attend as many classes as they want within the billing cycle.

A waitlist is an ordered list of members who want a spot in a fully-booked class — they're auto-promoted into the class when someone cancels.

A drop-in is a single class purchased and booked in advance through your system — it creates a member record. A walk-in shows up the day of class without a booking — handle them as a drop-in at the front desk to capture the data.

WhatsApp class reminders are booking confirmations, pre-class nudges, and cancel notices sent through WhatsApp Business instead of email or SMS. They land where members already read, which is why no-show rates tend to drop sharply after a studio switches channels.