The No-BS Guide to Profitable Gym Apparel Sales in 2026

Memberships might be your core service, but exploring additional revenue streams is the smart, long-term play for fitness businesses. And gym apparel sales is one of the easiest, highest-ROI secondary revenue streams out there—if you actually have a plan.

It’s simple because it’s not a high-ticket upgrade or complicated launch. Your members naturally want to rep your merch. Hoodies, new logo designs and seasonal drops—they’re already asking for them.

If you’re like a lot of gym owners though, you’re simply not systemizing your gym apparel sales, or even retail sales in general. Which means you’re reacting to members’ comments instead of having an organized, annual plan in place.

Let’s look at how you can easily create that system, along with five steps to level up your merch game this year.

The Real Problem: Most Gym Apparel Sales Are Reactionary

Has this ever happened to you? Class is just wrapping up when a member casually walks up and says, “When are we doing hoodies again?”

Another member chimes in, “And what about crop tops?”

Merch wasn’t even on your already-packed to-do list. So you spend the afternoon Googling “cool gym t-shirt ideas” and “best hoodie vendors.” You head to Canva in an attempt to DIY something. The design turns out okay-ish but not great. You do your best to order the right quantities and sizes, only to drown in inventory because your guess was simply that: a guess.

If you don’t have a solid plan for your secondary revenue streams like merch, supplements, or events, you end up wasting time, energy and money. And that’s typically why gym apparel sales underperform. It’s not that your community doesn’t want some new swag—you just didn’t have an effective plan.

Why Gym Apparel Sales Are Still Worth It in 2026

When done correctly, apparel sales have the opportunity to be:

• High-margin
• Low operational lift
• Zero inventory risk (through pre-orders)
• A branding amplifier
• A community connector

During a recent Wodify webinar called “The No-BS Apparel Playbook,” we chatted with Matt Albrizio, VP of Sales at Forever Fierce.

Albrizio explained that instead of reinventing your gym apparel sales strategy every month, you can create an annual plan, execute it, and repeat.

“The reason why I love apparel so much is because once you figure out the game plan once, and you have the plan set—the workflow, how it goes—you don’t have to blow it up and start over every time you do it,” he said.

5 Steps to Rock Your Gym Apparel Sales This Year

Here are the five simple steps to add apparel sales as a secondary revenue stream this year, without adding unnecessary stress or time.

1. Create a Yearly Apparel Plan

Albrizio’s first recommendation was to ditch “random” and instead create a simple, predictable system for your gym apparel sales. The goal is to mix event-based designs, seasonal drops, and core logo merchandise.

“We set up three to five orders for the year,” he explained. “We sit down and say, ‘how many times a year realistically work for you?’ Every gym is a little bit different but when you set up the plan with us, we follow up and say, ‘Hey Billy, now’s the time to run your Memorial Day project, and here are 40 ideas to pick from. Do you like any of these, or can we work on something custom?’”

Albrizio also noted that timing matters more than most gym owners think. One of the most common mistakes is selling the wrong items at the wrong time. For example, hoodie sales generally perform significantly better in October and November than in December. Therefore, strategic timing alone—including planning at least one month in advance—can actually double your sales.

2. Save Time by Getting Merch Design Help

Albrizio is adamant that gym owners should enlist the help of the pros when it comes to design work.

“I have gym owners who are wasting a lot of time talking to AI in Canva, only to come back with a really crappy design that members don’t want to buy,” he said. “The vendor should be doing this for you. You should be sitting back. You shouldn’t be burning out your battery on the design process.”

He went on to explain that when money is lost in merch sales, it’s not in printing mistakes—it’s in wasted gym owner time. Albrizio said the fix is simple: work with a vendor that specializes and has a proven track record in gym apparel sales. They should understand what your members actually want to buy, and give you a quick turnaround for mock-ups.

3. Limit Choices to Avoid Choice Paralysis.

Just like with any gym retail sales, it can be tempting to try to please everyone with a giant list of options. But when it comes to apparel, Albrizio said it’s critical that you stick to 3-4 garment options max.

“The biggest mistake that gym owners make is that they’re offering too much, and this is going to lead to choice paralysis,” he explained. “This is where people push back with me on things. They’re like, ‘You don’t understand, I’m trying to make everyone happy… Billy’s asking for a special green shirt, and Sally needs a purple tank top.’”

To counter this, Albrizio simply said, “You’re just never gonna make everyone happy with garment selection.” Ultimately, simple sells. And anything beyond 3-4 options causes decision fatigue. Therefore, he recommended spreading different options throughout your annual gym apparel sales plan.

4. Provide Sizing Samples to Drive Gym Apparel Sales

When ordering apparel, your members will want to try garments on, feel the fabric, and confirm the right fit. Albrizio said you can increase conversion rates and eliminate returns by simply providing samples ahead of each order.

He said he sends free garment samples because it builds trust between you as the gym owner, your members, and Forever Fierce.

He explained, “The biggest objection that people have about fashion, design, clothing today is, how does it fit? How does it feel? You might wear a medium t-shirt, a large hoodie, an XL oversized t-shirt. Stuff fits all over the place. You have to have these garments in-house and let people touch, feel, and try things on.”

Albrizio noted that, according to Forever Fierce statistics, people are 77% more likely to buy when they get to touch, feel, and try things on ahead of time.

“So the samples are a huge selling point.”

5. Offer Preorders (the Secret to Profitable Gym Apparel Sales)

Apparel preorders turn what would be a gamble into a guaranteed margin. Most gym owners know the pain of racks and racks of unsold items turning into décor. But with preorders, you only print what’s sold, which means you don’t have to guess about sizing or quantities. Plus, you aren’t fronting the bill with your own cash flow.

Albrizio believes this is the single-most important part of successful gym apparel sales.

“We want to collect as many orders as we can ahead of time, because it’s going to eliminate the number one reason why gyms avoid apparel and merch in the first place: cash flow,” he said. “When we have preorders, we’re only going to print what’s sold. There are no boxes sitting in the back office collecting dust. We’re not guessing on sizes. There’s no cash tied up in dead inventory.”

He added, “And really, when it comes to sales, preorders are going to answer the most important question: ‘Why do I need to buy this right now?’”

​Albrizio said that preorders create urgency. It doesn’t matter how cool the design is. The urgency comes from knowing that if your members don’t buy now, they miss out. This shifts the purchase from “nice to have” to “I don’t want to be left out.”

Your 2026 Gym Apparel Marketing Playbook

One of the best benefits of gym apparel sales is that—just like the process—the marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. While you can’t just make one post on social media and expect 100 orders, you can follow these six quick steps to drive sales.

1. Email marketing—Send an email to members letting them know that the preorder is live, and include the simple steps to place an order.
2. Class announcements—Have your coaches or instructors verbally tell people in class about the preorder, and to check their email for details.
3. SMS—A quick text with link to order will serve as a third touchpoint after the initial email and class announcements.
4. Social media post—Use your merch mock-ups to create an eye-catching reminder about the preorder, going on now.
5. Face-to-face conversations—If you assume everyone has heard about the preorder, you’ll miss out on sales. Find ways to connect with clients and remind them.
6. Incentives—Albrizio said nowadays, you have to give people a reason to buy. “You can’t just say, ‘New merch available, click here.’ Why does someone need to buy right now?”

​Pro Tip: Check out these super-helpful plug-and-play scripts and templates for your gym apparel sales!

And don’t forget, Wodify has everything you need to plan, execute and promote your merch sales this year. Book a demo with our team today to find out more!