How Embedded Payments are Driving the UK Wellness Boom

A single, unified screen, where consumers can both browse and pay without being redirected to external websites, is always the main preference for most people when it comes to online bookings and purchases. 

In the UK, the wellness industry in particular is experiencing a digital transformation as consumers migrate to mobile applications. Consumers now spend an estimated £15bn (US$19.6bn) a year booking personal services through software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms and apps.

At the heart of this boom is the fitness sector, which has merged as one of the single biggest drivers of digital bookings. 

However, research from Global Payments confirms that a poor payment process causes 71% of British consumers to abandon a booking altogether, making embedded payments essential to meeting modern consumer expectations.

Younger consumers drive platform adoption

The sharp uptake in platform bookings is being driven overwhelmingly by younger demographics. Gen Z and Millennials together account for half of the total UK spend, pouring around £7.5bn (US$9.8bn) annually into wellness and fitness applications. 

This is rapidly becoming a permanent habit for users, with more than half of Gen Z (55%) and half of Millennials (50%) reporting using booking platforms more than they did two years ago.

Fitness is the clearest example of how this behaviour is shifting across the country. According to the data, 31% of UK adults surveyed now use platforms to book fitness services, ranging from individual classes to gym memberships.

Grant Evans, Head of Sales, Integrated and Platforms at Global Payments, emphasises the high stakes for software developers in this space: "We are living in the app economy and fitness is one of its biggest winners – from padel to pilates. This presents a huge opportunity for platforms, but only if they have the right technology in place. Crucially, this must include payments, which are often the make-or-break moment in a transaction."

"Platforms must find the right software partner to deliver on this need if they are going to attract new business – it is how they can win the trust of businesses looking to grow and help their SMB clients turn first-time bookings into repeat business.”

Local brands empowered by discovery tools

Booking fitness services via SaaS applications is becoming habitual as well, with 60% of those polled using this digital method regularly. This shift in consumer behaviour is also changing how people discover local services. 

One in eight (13%) consumers surveyed use booking platforms as a discovery tool to find and support independent businesses. For SMEs, listing on these digital marketplaces offers a vital pipeline to reach entirely new customer bases.

However, capturing this demand requires the right backend infrastructure. The survey found that 36% of independent personal services businesses in the UK need their software to have a greater ability to better manage payments.

To illustrate the impact of this technology, Global Payments worked with Sheli McCoy, Coach and Owner of SweatBox Dundee.

She says: “Your vibe attracts your tribe and we’ve built a community based on that ethos, giving that opportunity to everybody who comes here. Success is knowing we can’t do everything ourselves – it’s about harnessing the talents of other people and bringing in technology to help us pull everything together.

“The software we use helps people find us, book their classes and pay online, making it a better experience for clients while allowing me to focus on spending time face-to-face, coaching and working with them on the ground.”

Consumers demand frictionless checkouts

While booking platforms offer unparalleled convenience, the consumer experience ultimately succeeds or fails at the point of sale. For modern platforms, embedded payments are becoming the most basic requirement.

The data from the survey highlights a strict intolerance for friction during checkout:

• 71% of consumers say a poor payment process would cause them to abandon a booking altogether
• 42% of users actively choose platforms based specifically on whether they offer simple, secure payments
• 84% of consumers expect a refund within 48 hours if a service, such as a fitness class, is cancelled.

SaaS platforms that fail to deliver seamless checkouts and rapid refunds, therefore, risk losing individual bookings. It means they will also lose the SMB clients who rely on those platforms to build trust and turn first-time users into repeat customers.

For platform providers, integrating strong, end-to-end payments functionality becomes integral in capturing a share of the increasing consumer spend.

The growing convergence of SaaS and fintech means software providers must move beyond simple booking diaries and evolve into comprehensive financial ecosystems.