For what its worth, a change in price for Zwift...

Prompted by a marketing survey in late summer, rumors flew about whether it was precursor to a price increase for a Zwift subscription. Yes, yes it was. The current monthly subscription will be increased by about five bucks a month (or one venti caramel macchiato, extra shot). Though existing Zwifters will be insulated, and locked in at their current rate for another 12 months.

I touched on the subject of a price increase as it relates to price, in a blog post in August . My conclusion then (and still remains)- is if Zwift continued to add features that added value, or increase the benefits to its customer base, then the majority would be willing to cough up a few bucks in return.

I’ve poured over tons of comments revealing very mixed reactions from the Zwift community. Though they range from the extremely negative (those threatening to walk), to the very many more who tout the high value they’ve received (and think the increase to be a fair amount), there is one universal undercurrent. The news drops at an inconvenient time. Zwift experienced some massive tech challenges over the weekend, which is an inevitable growing pain of the platform (see also: technical debt*, a term/concept mentioned by Eric Min in Zwiftcast’s recent interview.)

Amidst the growing pains, Zwift has continued to add features that customers do value. In my opinion, the best is the new group workouts, which are bound to evolve, and in ways that are not necessarily “peloton”-ish. That is Zwift’s advantage, the ability to evolve. I’ve read plenty of comments of those who don't “get” group workouts. Maybe they don't yet see the forest because of the trees; but I’ll bet they will come around. It’s my hunch that group workouts will replace group rides. Think about it, if you design a 55 minute “workout” that is a constant 2.5 watt/kg (or whatever), no one gets dropped and you can ride with anyone, regardless of watts. Add to this the new Ruins course, with the promise of more roads? Zwifters can certainly ride out the next 12 months (at their current 10/month rate) to evaluate if Zwift continues to live up to its value added proposition, before they ever fork over an extra penny.

And it really comes down to value. I get a complimentary gym membership as a perk of being a group cycle (aka "spin") instructor. Even though the gym I work at is a pretty sweet deal in my market (with significantly more features at a lower price than competitors), I’m not sure I would pay $50+ dollars a month for a membership. Why? Well, that’s easy, I’ve got Zwift.

*Technical debt is a concept in programming that reflects the extra development work that arises when code that is easy to implement in the short run is used instead of applying the best overall solution. Technical debt is commonly associated with extreme programming, especially in the context of refactoring. (read more)