SOLEPAD SYSTEM is a new tech device that aims to improve the shoe retailing experience. Read below to hear from the company behind the tool, R&D CORE.

Many shoe retailers offer a personal service but sometimes lack the necessary in-store theatre to keep customers engaged. Consumers are still opting to go elsewhere, often online, and end up buying ill-fitting shoes that get worn, left in a cupboard or returned, sometimes as an extra cost to the consumer.

But it’s not only footwear retailers that need help to improve the health of their business; consumers also need to understand the importance of keeping feet healthy. The College of Podiatry reports that the average shoe size of today’s adults is up about two sizes since the 1970s. Research among 2,000 adults found that 26% of men and 41% of women say their feet have got larger during their adult life. People have become taller and heavier causing their feet to splay. Nearly 41% attribute this to weight gain and 62% of Britons are not aware that shoes can come in different widths!

So just what can high street shoe retailers do to build a stronger business and help their customers maintain healthy feet?

SOLEPAD SYSTEM is a hi-tech, portable foot measuring and business analytics device that enables high street shoe stores to deliver a powerful one-to-one retailing experience and ultimately give shoppers a fast and fun way to measure their feet.

Produced by R&D CORE, a UK tech company, it is the first commercial retail product to utilise the company’s DRAS technology, a ground breaking sensor platform.

The SOLEPAD SYSTEM is designed to be fast and easy to use, enabling sales assistants to capture the foot length and width in a single second together with other variables. The shoe fitter or sales assistant is then able to recommend various shoe styles that are in stock and that suit the foot.

Along with measuring feet, the device captures powerful business analytics enabling shoe shops to better understand the entire sales cycle across multiple stores, including why a customer didn’t buy.

Its smart app approach is designed to work on a multitude of smart devices. Store assistants can also add a customer’s gender and contact info to the recorded data with a single tap. This approach is discrete and ensures shoppers don’t feel as if they are being monitored as is the case with video surveillance or mobile phone tracking technologies. Retail marketing teams can then access real time business analytics over the cloud from any location, analysing the performance of multiple stores, monitoring footfall and creating fine-tuned campaigns that give customers a reason to keep coming back.