Footwear Fit Categorization

Abstract

There is a growing trend to sell many types of consumer products through the web in order to maintain or enhance a company's competitiveness, and sometimes to establish a niche market. For products such as footwear however, manufacturers are facing quite a challenge to provide consumers with good fitting shoes. Footwear fitting is generally performed using the two variables of foot length and foot width (or girth), even though feet and shoes are three-dimensional objects. As a result, the matching between feet and footwear are quite variable and can be quite unacceptable even with the same brand of shoes. Footwear fitters speak of "perfect fit" and more commonly a "proper" or "correct" shoe fit even though the term "fit" appears to be nebulous. This chapter is an attempt to quantify and categorize footwear fit. Using digital manipulations, the foot shape was "adjusted" to the required heel height. The last and foot were then mapped to each other to determine the level of match and mismatch. The magnitude of the match or mismatch was color-coded and overlaid on the foot surface so that such color maps can be used to determine subjective preferences. The proposed footwear fit quantification can be used to predict potential discomfort and even fit-related comfort, if the material properties of the shoe are known. The method can also be used to rank different footwear lasts for any given individual. 28.1 (Mass) customization of footwear Research indicates that customer focus can influence today's business [1]. As a result, manufacturers attempt to meet the differing customer preferences through product variety [2]. With growing product variety and opportunities in e-commerce, the old paradigm of mass production becomes sluggish [3], especially, when there is a change of the business paradigm from producer-centered productivity to consumer-centered customization commonly known as mass customization [4]. Mass customization is an attempt to satisfy individual customer needs with near mass production efficiency [5]. By breaking down the product features into components and offering those components to the consumer as choices, customization of the whole or part-product is possible [6].