Tech innovation in retail is a fact – and a much-needed one! A lot of shoe retailers have already started using 3D foot scanners to add digital touchpoints in their physical stores and elevate the shopping experience to be more personalized, fun, and interactive.
However, not all 3D foot scanners provide the same capabilities. Below we gathered the five most important factors to take into account when considering placing one in your store.
1. Customer Experience
Retail customer experience is key. When people visit a retail store, they want to have a seamless, fast, personalized experience that will enable them to enjoy every moment of their shopping. And this is how you can evaluate whether your new 3D foot scanner will provide this to you:
Great design with functionality: In order to attract customers, the 3D foot scanner should look inviting and stand out in the store as a high-tech device. Intrigued shoppers will be encouraged to try it – at first maybe even just for fun, while getting their unique personalized shoe recommendation as a result. The design needs to enable ease of use – aim for a 3D foot scanner that incorporates a touchscreen positioned at a convenient angle for the customers to see their results and recommendations. And don’t forget to highlight the scanner location! Ideally, to improve visibility, the 3D foot scanner should easily integrate with screens in the store.
Speed of results: Make sure that the time between stepping onto the 3D foot scanner and getting recommendation results is not longer than 10 seconds. Otherwise, things can get boring, but also hectic if there is a line of people waiting. SafeSize makes sure that customers receive their scan results within 5 seconds so stores can scan as many feet as possible!
Recommendation accuracy: To keep customers satisfied, choose the 3D foot scanner with the highest accuracy of the shoe recommendation. For the most accurate fit recommendation, find a scanner with software that combines best-in-class 3D foot scanning with 3D scanning of inner shoe dimensions. After all, how can you match your foot with the right shoe, without 3D shoe data?
2. Omnichannel opportunities
Apart from the engaging user experience, 3D foot scanners can also help you bridge the gap between online and offline sales. When shopping online, the behavior and preferences of every customer are noticed, but in physical stores, there is a missed opportunity – customers come and go remaining anonymous. This creates a challenge for shoe retailers in their attempt to make their services easier and more valuable for all their customers.
With SafeSize, every time a customer scans their feet in-store, the highly intelligent 3D foot scanner creates a digital customer profile which can be later used for online shopping. In this way, store managers and marketing teams can better understand their customers and potentially even retarget them in the future with a personalized offering to help them cover their specific needs.
At the same time, customers who have saved their digital profile can purchase shoes again – online and in-store – feeling confident that no matter where they are, they have the most accurate insights to select the best fitting shoes.
3. Integration as part of the customer journey
Every customer is unique. They have unique preferences, needs, and of course foot anatomy! The majority of 3D foot scanners at the moment scan shoppers’ feet to create a nice 3D view out of it and that’s it! After that, it’s up to the sales expert to provide a recommendation based on their experience. But did you know that a 3D foot scanner can have more capabilities?
Model recommendation for sports shoes: Look for a 3D foot scanner with ability to advise the consumer which shoes to buy based not only on feet dimensions but also taking into account their personal sports habits
Self-learning algorithm: The software should serve each and every customer in the best way possible – this can be achieved by a feedback-based self-learning algorithm that improves the personalized fit recommendation with every use.
4. Real-time stock integration
In addition to recommending the right shoe model, to provide a seamless experience and a successful purchase, the recommendations given by the 3D foot scanner should be in line with the current store inventory. Hence, stock integration is a valuable feature that should be included in the solution.
SafeSize helps shoe retailers connect the 3D foot scanner to the actual stock in the store and finalize the scanning journey directly with a purchase of the recommended shoe model, rather than just using scanning as a gimmick.
5. Kids’ shoe recommendation
Shoe recommendations for kids differ from the ones for adults. Too many kids walk in shoes that are too tight because the parents are unaware of the right shoe size for their kids or they do not change the shoe size on time as the child’s feet grow. On the other hand, children can’t really recognize the feeling of comfortable shoes and tell their opinion about it. Walking around in ill-fitting shoes can cause damage to the child’s feet development and posture, so it is critical that the selected shoe fits them just right.
Therefore, when purchasing a 3D foot scanner, opt for a system that covers the needs of both adults and children! For instance, SafeSize has created an algorithm that can predict how the foot of the child will grow over time. This feature allows consumers to feel comfortable purchasing the shoes, knowing they are making a safe choice. Thanks to the growth prediction algorithm, the parents can also be informed when the shoes are becoming too small.
