The Digital Sales Assistant by SafeSize, designed at the Development and Innovation Center in Athens and currently available in the Netherlands and Ireland, is due to be launched soon in new international markets.
Europe, Asia, Australia, and Greece have all caught the attention of the SafeSize’s new innovative product – the Digital Sales Assistant – designed to facilitate the instore shoe buying experience.
The Digital Sales Assistant, the “smart” self-service digital solution, aims to address some of the key challenges retailers face such as the shortage of human resources, the need for continuous training and the inconsistent customer experience. Currently, SafeSize’s Digital Sales Assistant has been launched in pilot programs in two leading sports retail chains in the Netherlands and Ireland. It’s a global innovation and the first product in its category with significant growth potential.
As Angelos Stavrakis, founder and CEO of SafeSize, pointed out “The goal of the new product is not to replace sales staff and reduce jobs but, in conjunction with the sales assistants, to reduce sales losses due to high customer traffic.”
The Digital Sales Assistant, powered by Artificial Intelligence, is designed to perform recommendation and selling activities. More specifically, it is designed to offer personalized shoe recommendations to consumers by combining their foot data (3D Foot Scan) and personal preferences with the available shoe stock at each store. This innovation is expected to bring significant changes to the consumer experience, giving them ultimate control over their entire shopping journey and reducing operational costs for stores, as they can recommend and sell shoes without requiring the physical presence of a specialized sales assistant.
It should be noted that SafeSize recently raised €14 million in a funding round in which Phaistos Fund participated. According to information, a major player in the footwear retail industry also joined as a strategic investor. Additionally, existing foreign investors, such as Dutch Convent Capital and 3TS Capital Partners, participated in the funding round.
SafeSize has developed the innovative 3D foot scanning and shoe recommendation solution, which allows consumers to find shoes that fit them perfectly, while also helping retailers increase sales and minimize costs related to footwear returns. The SafeSize solution is already installed in 2,500 physical stores in more than 50 countries worldwide, including retailers like Intersport, Decathlon, Sports Direct, SuperSports Xebio and more. The company has also developed a mobile application that allows consumers to scan their feet at home using their mobile phone camera to find the right shoe size when making online purchases.
SafeSize not only has data of consumers’ feet and preferences but also has data of all the 3D inner dimensions of all shoes in the market. The company has developed a technology that scans the insides of all shoe models and brands, capturing the inner 3D dimensions of all shoes. Over 2 million shoes are scanned every year across the company’s 9 facilities in Europe, Asia, and the US.
This year, the company celebrates ten years of operation in the business environment, both within and outside Greece. The idea behind SafeSize originated in Greece and later ‘traveled to the Netherlands’, where the company secured its first funding. Currently, it has expanded to five offices in the Netherlands, Greece, Slovenia, China, and Australia. SafeSize is composed of a team of 65 individuals from 19 nationalities, distributed across its five offices worldwide. Estimates suggest that the company will soon surpass 100 employees, with various job openings in all offices, with a focus on the technological sector and customer service and support. Soon, the company will also open their new office in the United States. Two years ago, the SafeSize Innovation and Development Center was established in Athens, investing in the talent available in the Greek market and creating new job opportunities.
According to Mr. Stavrakis, “2022 was an exceptional year for SafeSize, maintaining an annual growth rate exceeding 50%”.
In 2023, SafeSize expanded to Estonia, Croatia, Colombia, Turkey, Bahrain, South Korea, and Australia, while establishing new partnerships in the Netherlands, England, China, and Japan. Some of the new clients include global brands such as Puma, Adidas, Nike, Hoka, as well as retail chains like SportsDirect, Marks & Spencer, SportVision, RackRoomShoes, and HighWaveSports.
You can read the original article in Greek in Euro2Day HERE
Journalist: Maria Moschou
