Platform-based digital shoe retail (DigitalRetail)

Research Project, 2018 – 2020

The objective of the DigitalRetail project is to introduce a digital product fitting platform across a network of retailers to revolutionize the physical retail business model. The project’s two overall tasks are (1) to design, finish and test a prototype of a shoe-and-feet matching database for multiple retailers, both the technology and business model; and (2) using scientific methods to conduct digital product testing and analyse its effects for improving business model design. The digital shoe fitting solution combines an extensive database and a matching algorithm allowing customer feet to be digitally matched to shoes. In the retail store, the shoppers’ feet are three-dimensionally scanned and stored in the database. The feet models are then matched to the shoe models in the database and the result is which shoe model that would make the best fit. Shoppers can make recurrent purchases, configurations, etc. and the retailers will order shoes that will fit. A prototype-app enables retailer, shopper and producer communication. The long-range vision of the project is that every produced shoe will have a foot it fits on. This new operational model for shoe supply chains and sales will simultaneously contribute to retailer profitability and shopper satisfaction, supply efficiency and responsiveness performances and dramatically reduce the waste in shoe retailing that today is immense.