BOXSPOT Magazine Article

Dropping in at a Box isn’t the easiest thing in the world, for either athlete or owner.

As the owner of CrossFit St. Louis, JoAnna Dettmann sees 50 drop-ins a month. She said she gets six to seven emails a week concerning dropping in at the gym, from “Can I drop-in?” to “What are your hours?”

“It’s almost etiquette for people to think they need to ask the Box owner if they can drop in; even though all of the information is on the website, it’s just what happens,” she said.

She also knew a couple of CrossFitters who traveled for work and often dropped in, and said it wasn’t easy. Think about it: you have to Google “CrossFit gym” and find four close to you. Then you have to visit their websites, look for schedules and drop-in prices, and you might reach out only to never to hear from the Box.

“You ask any traveling CrossFitter, they will all say the same thing; it is rare that you hear someone go, ‘Oh it’s so easy.’ No, it’s not easy. It’s literally you have to look at four different places, especially if you’re in a town you don’t know,” she said.

In order to alleviate this pain point of both athlete and Box owner, Dettmann co-founded BOXSPOT. It’s an app for CrossFit owners to streamline the drop-in process and for athletes to easily find and register for drop-in classes. Dettmann said to think of it as OpenTable – a real-time online reservation network for the restaurant industry – but for CrossFitters.

How does it work? For the athlete looking to drop-in, they can pull up their BOXSPOT app and enter the zip code or the name of the area they are heading. Gyms will appear in their search and they can sort through times, amenities desired, etc. After choosing the Box they’d like to drop-in at, they can sign a waiver and pay for the class all via the app.

On the side of the owner/trainer, they will get a text message saying the athlete is stopping by for the class, that a waiver has been signed, the fee paid, any injuries he/she has, etc. “There’s no more of this taking the Coach away from class, making them late because they have to sign in all these different people, and make them find waivers and swipe credit cards,” said Dettmann. “We wanted to find something that was going to change the system we were currently in and make it easier, and apps are where it’s at.”

Dettmann plans to launch the app today at the Open reveal of 20.1 with a launch party at CrossFit St. Louis. Athletes and owners can register via the app or online. For the athlete, you’ll just need to submit your credit card information. For the owner, you’ll have to share your Box info, class times, upload photos of the gym, amenities and bank account information so athletes can pay your drop-in fee. Dettmann said there is a credit card processing fee, but the owner will only lose a small percentage; for example, if your drop-in is $20, it will cost the athlete $21.32 and the owner will get $19.83. “The efficiency to me is worth every penny,” said Dettmann.

And this is just Phase One of the app. Look out for future phases with features like rewarding multiple drop-ins a month, ways to get your Box at the top of the list, etc.

The BOXSPOT app will be available October 2019 for download on iOS and Android and available through the Google Play Store and app store. For more information, visit boxspotapp.com or follow @boxspotapp on Instagram or Facebook.