Aetrex Launches New Platform Designed to Help Retailers Improve Shoe Fitting Services & Reduce Returns

Aetrex has launched a new personalized footwear recommendation platform designed to help retailers improve their shoe fitting service for shoppers, reduce returns and increase customer satisfaction.

The foot scanning tech company said in a statement on Tuesday that the new platform, called FitStarter, was developed with shoe fit testing company Heeluxe and is designed as a “turnkey starting point” to Aetrex’s AI-powered shoe match-making platform, FitGenius.

According to Aetrex, the new FitStarter program aims to provide in-store shoppers with personalized fit recommendations, which works with FitGenius’ capability to provide footwear recommendations to consumers both in store and online.

After a shopper completes an Aetrex 3D foot scan at a participating retail location, FitStarter will rank the retailer’s footwear inventory based on the likelihood of a good fit for that individual from excellent to poor, the company said. It will also display a graphic of the consumer’s selected shoe, highlighting areas that fit well and potential areas of pressure. FitStarter also considers the shopper’s preference for shoe fit, ranging from snug to roomy.

Retailers will be able to add FitStarter to their existing Albert 3D foot scanner (Albert 2 Pro or Albert 3DFit) software, Aetrex noted.

To support FitStarter, Aetrex said it is establishing multiple Fit Labs to analyze shoes submitted by participating retailers each season. A member of the Aetrex Technology team will then analyze the shoes using the patented Hank Jr Shoe Fitting SmartLast system developed by Heeluxe, which leverages pressure sensor technology.

Within days, retailers will have footwear and fit recommendations available within their Aetrex Albert software. Once Aetrex collects shoe data within the Fit Lab, the FitStarter platform will analyze each customer’s unique 3D foot scan data collected in store alongside the Fit Lab data to provide immediate, personalized fitting recommendations.

Larry Schwartz, CEO of Aetrex, said in a statement that FitGenius remains the company’s “gold standard” fit recommendation offering for retailers, but admits that not every retailer has the capacity to quickly collect the required 5,000 foot scan data points necessary to feed the AI platform.

“With FitStarter, retailers can provide accurate shoe fit recommendations from day-one of installation while also collecting the foot scan data points needed to upgrade to the premium FitGenius AI,” Schwartz said.

FitStarter will be available to existing and interested Aetrex foot scanning partners on Jan. 1, 2024, on a service subscription model.