John Kim Whether you want to accept it or not, size does matter. Wearing the proper shoe size is proven to optimize performance, but for the casual wearers and city commuters, rocking the incorrect digits can lead to long-term problems and some jacked up feet. According to Nike, 60% of people at any given time are walking around in the wrong shoe size, and half a million people complain about buying the wrong shoe size ever year – and that’s just in North America. There are a number of reasons why this occurs. Lack of access to shoes, lack of understanding of how fit can vary among different models, and even something as trivial as personal vanity contributes to why this persists in 2019.
Things are about to change with the debut of Nike Fit, a foot-scanning solution already integrated into the Nike app. Follow to very basic and easy steps to let Nike Fit scan your feet using your phone’s camera, and from the 13 data points it collects it delivers to you the exact shoe size you should wear per silhouette. Truth is, Nike’s sizing is not uniform. Retros run bigger, running shoes snugger. Upon your first scan, the app will deliver to you a range of sizes and when you select a specific model, it’ll tell you what size you should buy. Select Nike retail stores such as the House of Innovation locations in NYC and Shanghai will offer Nike Fit to customers with the help of sales associates.
The benefits are clear – consumers will be wearing the right size, and their customer service load should theoretically diminish. It will also shape the way the brand manufactures its product to tailor to the needs of the masses. It’s a win/win situation that fits today’s e-commerce landscape.
