The Elevator Pitch … Creating a personalized fit experience helped Superfeet blend consumer demand for personalization with its mission to be the life-changing support under every foot. “Demand for personalized services at brick-and-mortar retail is becoming a reality,” points out Jim Wnorowski, director of experience and technology. Superfeet has partnered with Volumental to add its 3D personalized fit experience to their scanning technology to help retailers create a personalized in-store experience and provide an end-to-end solution for individualized product.
The 3D Personalized Fit Experience: The technology goes beyond aesthetics to the heart of fit. The platform’s algorithm makes it possible to create individualized insoles based on a consumer’s biometric data. Using a dynamic gait analysis and 3D scanning, the system unlocks a customer’s unique movement patterns to create personalized ME3D insoles specifically tuned for them.
The Retailer Benefit: “Our goal is to equip retailers with a premium, cutting-edge technology platform that adds to their in-store experience,” explains Wnorowski.
Why the 3D Personalized Fit Experience: Research shows consumers are willing to pay a 20 percent premium for personalized products and therefore retailers that are selling personalized products are enjoying increased revenue and more satisfied customers. “The 3D Personalized Fit Experience is an easy way for retailers to offer individualized product and create an experience consumers cannot get online, bringing shoppers back into the store after and especially rough year,” says Wnorowski.
Other Benefits: Going beyond an enhanced in-store experience, the system offers retailers an inventory-less sale that helps lower operational expenses and reduce overhead. Retailers using the system report increased revenue per ticket and reduced returns due to a personalized fit.
The Consumer Benefit: Using 3D personalized fit technology provides Superfeet a way to adapt its signature shape for the specific movement patterns of a person, providing the ultimate in individualized support and performance. Within just a few minutes, consumers can lay eyes on what makes their biometrics data unique and learn more about how a personalized product can benefit them.
The COVID-19 Impact: Since running experienced an incredible surge during the pandemic as a way to safely spend time outdoors and remaining active, Superfeet strives to ensure that both veteran and newbie runners are staying pain- and injury-free and continuing to run post-social distancing. “Many retailers were forced to close during the pandemic and consumers became more comfortable purchasing products online,” says Wnorowski. “The personalized fit experience gives shoppers a reason to break with online shopping habits and safely return to physical stores.”
What’s Next: “It is safe to say that the future is almost limitless,” says Wnorowski. Superfeet is partnering with technology platforms such as Volumental to provide recommendations with even more specificity. In addition, the company anticipates delivering a solution that allows retailers to keep a consumer’s fit profile online, enabling easy omnichannel purchasing.
A SUPERFEET CASE HISTORY
Less Inventory, Fewer Returns, Higher Margins
Superfeet spent MANY years developing an end-to-end system that enables retailers to deliver a unique fitting experience and individualized product in-store. To make adoption of the solution quick and easy, Superfeet partnered with Volumental to add its 3D personalized fit experience to their scanning technology.
The 3D personalized fit experience leads to increasingly positive business results for specialty run retailers on multiple levels:
- The average monthly inventory cost for the 3D Personalized Fit Experience system is less than $300. Retailers can cover the cost of the system by selling one pair of ME3D insoles a week.
- ME3D insoles are an inventory-less sale with a premium revenue stream. A retailer receives three times the revenue, compared to Superfeet’s over-the-counter insoles, without any inventory carrying costs with 45 points of margin.
- With the personalized ME3D insole, retailers experience a 30 percent lower return rate within the premium $130-$160 price category. Additionally, the Volumental 3D scanning solution delivers a more precise foot sizing helping reduce footwear returns up to 18 percent.
- Retailers experience a 70 percent email open rate from customers receiving an email with their personal scan metrics (compared to industry average 21-22 percent).
- “It took just under two weeks for my insoles to arrive. I trimmed them, put them in my shoes, and tested them on a few short runs. Wow, y’all. These are great! #gamechanger of course they are, they were custom made for me!” — Kristy C
- “I was really impressed with the scanning and technology and its application for the end result. The insoles fit me like a glove. My ME3D insoles have become my daily drivers for long days at work – where I’m on my feet for hours at a time – as well as my runs which keep me sane.” – Kyle W
