Footwear comfort
Comfort sells footwear. If customers do not feel your products are comfortable at the point of sale, they are less likely to make a purchase. SATRA has a wide range of comfort-related tests and assessments that might help to seal the deal.
Footwear comfort and fitting
Comfortable footwear generates brand loyalty and encourages repeat sales. Although comfort is dependent on a complex range of factors and is highly subjective, SATRA provides a range of services, including research, to quantify the comfort of products and assess how specific materials and constructions enhance comfort.
Our expert fitting staff provide a comprehensive fitting assessment service that involves trialling the footwear on a number of fitting subjects, who are measured and selected to be of the correct target size. Assessors then analyse the results to draw conclusions about how well the footwear fits the intended market and makes recommendations for any required modifications.
Fitting aids
In response to market needs we have developed our 3D printed fitting aids. These flexible, anatomically correct foot models are used to quickly and accurately check the fit of any complete footwear on an idealised foot of the intended size.
Each size of fitting aid has been carefully modelled based on the thousands of scans accumulated as part of SATRA’s Global Foot Dimensions survey, and represents just one use of our research data.
Last assessment
Well-fitting shoes start with well-designed lasts. The key dimensions of your last are measured and compared to our guideline values using our last assessment services. We can advise what alterations and adjustments may be needed to ensure that the footwear made on the last fits as many wearers of the intended size as possible.
Even if you don’t have a physical last, our Digital Last Assessment service allows an unparalleled opportunity to analyse and correct key dimensions of your CAD file, in order to optimise the fit of the footwear that will be made on it. Digital lasts can be compared against foot dimensions extracted from foot data from the Global Foot Dimensions survey, to gain an understanding of the population that footwear made on the last would fit.
Testing comfort
Comfort is not just dependent on fit. Feeling too hot, too cold, or having sweaty feet can make even the best fitting pair of shoes feel uncomfortable. We assess thermal comfort and moisture management by monitoring the in-shoe environment during testing with SATRA’s Endofoot. The same equipment can also be used to give footwear a thermal rating – aiding consumer purchases.
For measuring underfoot comfort, we can assess factors such as cushioning, shock absorption and energy return to provide data on this most important comfort factor.
Quantifying comfort
SATRA’s Comfort Index quantifies comfort by objectively comparing and assessing samples of footwear from a range.
Our consultants will select appropriate foot models to wear the footwear, which will be assessed dynamically under laboratory conditions according to the Comfort Index guidelines. Our report will highlight those aspects of comfort which add to, or detract from, the overall user experience.
Global Foot Dimensions
SATRA’s Global Foot Dimensions report is the culmination of a four-year research project utilising 3D scanning technology to capture and assess thousands of feet in different geographic locations. The survey began as an exercise to determine the characteristics of modern feet in UK, USA and China. The collated results of this survey are available exclusively to SATRA members in the form of a 300-page printed report priced at GBP 5,250.
This report aims to provide a core understanding of modern foot shape, and highlights some of the differences present between several demographics. It is hoped that the openness and systematic explanation of the subject matter will become a benchmark for the industry for years to come, enabling manufacturers of footwear to offer a greater degree of fit and comfort to the end customer.
