CONFIDENTIAL
________________________________________________________________________
Everyday Swim
Analysis of 'Aquacard' membership and drop out demographics
________________________________________________________________________
Submitted to:
Annabel Kehoe
Islington Everyday Swim co-ordinator
Amateur Swimming Association
Ironmonger Row Baths
1-11 Ironmonger Row
London
EC1V 3QF
Submitted by:
Steve Bullough
Sport Industry Research Centre
Faculty of Health and Wellbeing
Sheffield Hallam University
Collegiate Hall
Sheffield
S10 2BP
Tel:
+44 (0) 114 225 5929
Fax:
+44 (0) 114 225 4341
Email
s.j.bullough@shu.ac.uk
http://www.shu.ac.uk/research/sirc/
Analysis of 'Aquacard' membership and drop out demographics
The age and gender of those people holding Aquaterra 'Aquaqcard' membership (designed for those
people who want to use the facilities to swim) and those people who had terminated 'Aquacard'
membership were supplied for analysis. The following two tables highlight the results from those
lists in relation to participation data for swimming from Active People.
Table 1: Age, gender and facility the member signed up at for current Aquaterra members
Under 16
16-19
20-24
25-29
30-44
45-59
60-69
70+
Total
No.
3
1
42
161
364
165
5
2
743
Percent
0.4
0.1
5.7
21.7
49.0
22.2
0.7
0.3
100.0
Active
People
16.8
17.4
16.6
18.0
13.3
10.3
5.0
13.8
Male
Female
Total
No.
392
388
780
Percent
50.6
49.4
100.0
Active People
10.0
17.0
13.8
Proportion of 100 swimmers*
17
18
17
18
14
11
5
Index**
1
32
127
265
163
7
6
Proportion of 100 swimmers*
37
63
Index**
137
78
* Proportion of 100 swimmers is the amount of people you would expect to swim if the Active People data was applied to 100 people i.e.
Active People males / (Active People males + females) *100 (10/27) *100 = 37.
** Index numbers are a useful way of identifying variations within groups. All things being equal it might be expected that male members
who would account for 37 of every 100 swims according to the Active People data set, would also account for 37% of membership.
However, in reality males appear to be over represented in membership terms as evidenced by the index score of 137 i.e. membership
percentage / proportion of swims (50.6/37) *100 = 137.
Archway Pool
Cally Pool
Highbury Pool
Ironmonger Row
Other dry site
Total
No.
48
106
310
299
17
848
Percent
5.7
12.5
36.6
35.3
2.0
100.0
Table 1 highlights that almost half of all Aquaterra members are aged between 30 and 44 with only
the 45-59 (22.2%) and 25-29 (21.7%) age categories having significant levels of membership. The
membership levels by those 24 and under is low with only 46 members although the swimming
participation levels for this group are above the national average. The index numbers show that those
in the 25-29, 30-44 and 45-59 groups are over represented and those in the other groups are under
represented in terms of Aquacard membership. Analysis by gender shows that there is no major
difference between males and females in terms of current membership, although in reference to
Active People, females are much more likely to swim than males. The index numbers show that male
members are over represented compared to what would be expected from the Active People data.
The two most popular sites where people signed up were Highbury Pool (39.7% or 310 people) and
Ironmonger Row Pool (38.8% or 299 people). Table 2 shows the demographics of those people who
have terminated their membership with Aquaterra.
Table 2: Age, gender and the facility signed up at of Aquaterra membership terminations
Under 16
16-19
20-24
25-29
30-44
45-59
60-69
70+
Total
Male
Female
Total
No.
0
2
87
238
375
121
4
0
827
No.
349
499
848
Percent
0.0
0.2
10.5
28.8
45.3
14.6
0.5
0.0
100.0
Percent
41.2
58.8
100.0
Active People
16.8
17.4
16.6
18.0
13.3
10.3
5.0
13.8
Active People
10.0
17.0
13.8
Proportion of 100 swimmers*
17
18
17
18
14
11
5
Proportion of 100 swimmers*
37
63
Index**
1
59
169
245
107
5
0
Index**
111
93
* Proportion of 100 swimmers is the amount of people you would expect to swim if the Active People data was applied to 100
people i.e. Active People 16-19 / SUM(Active People 16-19:70+) *100 (16.8/97.4) *100 = 17.
** Index numbers are a useful way of identifying variations within groups. All things being equal it might be expected that male
members who would account for 37 of every 100 swims according to the Active People data set, would also account for 37% of
those people cancelling membership. However, in reality males appear to be over represented in cancellations terms as evidenced
by the index score of 111 i.e. cancellation percentage / proportion of swims (41.2/37) *100 = 111.
Archway Pool
Cally Pool
Highbury Pool
Ironmonger Row
Dry Site
Total
No.
95
81
298
345
29
848
Percent
11.2
9.6
35.1
40.7
3.4
100.0
Table 2 shows that those aged 30-44 are most likely to terminate their membership (45.3%) although
as this is the age category with the most members it also has the highest level of swimming
participation according to Active People. It is worth noting that almost 29% of those terminating their
membership were in the 25-29 age range which is relatively high given the smaller age range of only
5 years and the above average participation rate. Those people aged 25-29 and 30-44 are over
represented in terms of cancellations as the index scores show. The data also shows that females are
more likely to cancel their membership than males (58.8% cf. 41.2% males) even with a much higher
participation rate in swimming, although the index scores suggest that the gender representation of the
cancellations is relatively similar.
The facility where the former members signed up at shows that Ironmonger Row Pool has the highest
number of people who signed up there dropping out (40.7%) with Highbury Pool the next highest
(35.4%). It is worth noting here that although these two pools have the majority of members
terminating their agreement, they are also the two facilities that have the highest number of people
signing up.
There is a caveat which needs to be outlined at this stage regarding analysis of the facility which the
members signed up at. As members can use all four Aquaterra pools under the terms of their
membership it can not be known which pool they utilised the most, therefore is not possible to
associate terminations accurately to the performance of a particular facility without making
assumptions. It could be assumed that the facility the member signed up at is their local pool and
therefore would be the one they would be most likely to use, but without this being proven it would be
unwise to generalise this assumption to all members.
The data for both members and those who cancelled their membership was cross tabulated by gender
and age and also in relation to which pool the member signed up at. Tables 3 to 6 show the results of
the analysis. Table 3 begins by showing the number of people who signed up at each pool by gender.
Table 3: Ratio of gender in relation to facility signed up at
Archway Pool
Cally Pool
Highbury Pool
Ironmonger Row Pool
Other dry site
Gender
Male
Female
Count Ratio Count Ratio
15
31
33
69
52
49
54
51
132
43
178
57
184
62
115
38
9
53
8
47
Table 3 highlights that males are more likely to become members at Ironmonger Row with a ratio of
62:38, followed by Highbury Pool although the proportion of women signing up in comparison is
higher. Females are more likely to become a member at Highbury Pool followed by Ironmonger Row
although the proportion of females signing up here in relation to males is lower. For those who sign
up at Archway pool, they are much more likely to be female.
The age of those people who signed up was also analysed by the facility they signed up at.
Table 4: Age and facility of membership sign up
Archway Pool
Cally Pool
Highbury Pool
Ironmonger
Row Pool
Other dry site
No.
0
0
1
0
0
16-19
Row %
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
No.
4
6
15
13
3
20-24
Row %
9.1%
6.1%
5.1%
4.5%
18.8%
No.
8
17
74
59
4
25-29
Row %
18.2%
17.3%
25.3%
No.
21
41
130
20.3%
25.0%
168
4
30-44
Row %
47.7%
41.8%
44.5%
No.
11
33
69
57.9%
25.0%
45-59
Row %
25.0%
33.7%
23.6%
47
5
16.2%
31.3%
No.
0
1
1
60-69
Row %
0.0%
1.0%
0.3%
3
0
1.0%
0.0%
No.
0
0
2
70+
Row %
0.0%
0.0%
0.7%
0
0
Table 4 shows that all four pools have the highest number of members signing up from the 30-44 age
range, with Ironmonger Row having almost 58% of its membership sign ups from this group. It may
be worth looking at whether there any underlying reasons why this occurs, also any reasons why
Highbury Pool has a higher proportion of people from the 25-29 group and also at Cally Pool for the
45-59 category. Table 5 outlines the gender split for those people who cancelled their membership.
Table 5: Drop out figure by gender in relation to facility signed up at
Gender
Male
Archway Pool
Cally Pool
Highbury Pool
Ironmonger Row Pool
Other
Count
26
28
116
166
13
Row %
27.4%
34.6%
38.9%
48.1%
44.8%
Female
Count
Row %
69
72.6%
53
65.4%
182
61.1%
179
51.9%
16
55.2%
0.0%
0.0%
Table 5 shows that for those people who cancelled their membership, females are more likely to
cancel their membership than males. By individual pool, Archway Pool has the highest level of
females cancelling in comparison to males. For the two pools with the highest sign up and
cancellation numbers, Highbury Pool has a higher proportion of females dropping out (a difference of
66 people) compared to Ironmonger Row where the difference is only 13 people. This is due to a
lower number of males dropping out from Highbury Pool.
Table 6: Age split for those who dropped out
No
0
0
1
Archway Pool
Cally Pool
Highbury Pool
Ironmonger Row
Pool
Other
1
0
16-19
Row %
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
0.3%
0.0%
No
13
9
34
30
1
20-24
Row %
14.0%
11.7%
11.7%
8.9%
3.4%
No
24
20
84
25-29
Row %
25.8%
26.0%
29.0%
104
5
30.8%
17.2%
30-44
No
Row %
46 49.5%
31 40.3%
114 39.3%
171
15
50.6%
51.7%
No
10
16
55
31
8
45-59
Row %
10.8%
20.8%
19.0%
9.2%
27.6%
No
60-69
Row %
0
0.0%
1
1.3%
2
0.7%
1
0
Table 6 shows that for those people cancelling their Aquacard, people aged 30-44 are more likely to
cancel their membership, especially if they signed up at Archway and Ironmonger Row (approx 50%).
The spread across age categories is relatively even when looking at the data by pool but it may be
worth investigating the reasons behind a higher proportion of members in the 45-59 group cancelling
at Cally and Highbury.
However, as stated earlier, the sign up and drop out percentages may not reflect the pool in which the
member used the most therefore these results need to be viewed with this caveat in mind. When
trying to put the data in context, Table 7 shows the sign up and cancellation percentages for the two
pools which have the highest number of members split by the three most populated age brackets.
Table 7: Sign up and cancellation analysis by most populated age brackets for Highbury Pool
and Ironmonger Row
25-29
Highbury
IRB
Sign
up
25.3%
20.3%
Drop
out
29.0%
30.8%
30-44
Variance
-3.6%
-10.4%
Sign
up
44.5%
57.9%
Drop
out
39.3%
50.6%
45-59
Variance
5.2%
7.3%
Sign
up
23.6%
16.2%
Drop
out
19.0%
9.2%
Variance
4.7%
7.0%
Sign
up
36.6%
35.3%
Overall
Drop
out
Variance
35.1%
1.5%
40.7%
-5.4%
Table 7 suggests that there are a higher proportion of people terminating their membership in the 2529 age group who signed up at Ironmonger Row Pool than there are at Highbury Pool. Highbury Pool
has a higher retention of members in the 30-44 group but Ironmonger Row has a higher retention for
the 45-59 bracket. It may be worth looking at the underlying reasons behind the 10.4% variance at
Ironmonger Row for the 25-29 group, and also if there is anything from Highbury Pool that could be
used at Ironmonger Row given the difference overall in retention.
Conclusions
The report has shown some insight into the basic demographics of members and former members
which could be used as benchmarks for the future, albeit under consideration of the caveats to which
this data is subject. The market intelligence approach to membership can supply useful information in
which the ES team can use in a similar way to 'dry' side membership analysis and retention.
0.3%
0.0%