RED WING, Minn. — Taking the safety footwear shopping experience to the next level, Red Wing Shoe Company has launched an AI-driven Ultimate Fit Experience for customers across all 500-plus retail stores.

Red Wing's priority has always been to provide the best fitting work boots that reduce fatigue and protect feet, and the new in-store technology makes it even easier. The Ultimate Fit Experience, only available in Red Wing stores, provides the most customizable, premium and efficient retail experience in the category.

“We saw an opportunity to advance the Ultimate Fit Experience to provide an even more personalized fit for our customers,” said Mike VanGoethem, vice president and chief services officer, Red Wing Shoe Company. "Our previous experience focused on standard 2D measurement and foot pressure points, and now we are enhancing that, adding in gait assessment and whole foot volume 3D measurement. We’re excited to merge the art of our purpose-built shoes, with the science of this new dynamic, tech-driven approach to ensure the best fit for worker comfort and safety.”

Finding the Ultimate Fit

In the new Ultimate Fit Experience, a Red Wing Certified Fit Specialist will help customers build a customized fit system (boot, insole and sock), starting with a personal assessment of their work environment conditions and safety requirements. This is combined with new state-of-the-art foot scanning technology by Volumental. Customers first step onto a 3D scanner that assesses 16 foot measurements in less than five seconds. They then walk across a pressure plate for a dynamic foot scan, which provides a visualization of their gait and pressure points.

This customized technology creates a digital 3D model of the customer’s feet, which is used to recommend their ideal work boot size and any additional foot support with incredible accuracy. In a partnership between Red Wing and Superfeet, stores will also offer insole recommendations and the ability to purchase custom 3D printed footbeds that are designed and printed for their unique foot shape and movement patterns, then mailed directly to the customer. These custom footbeds help reduce fatigue on feet due to a combination of custom arch support, flex zones and flex lines, designed to enhance natural motion and help feet move more efficiently. 

Data collected from the personal assessment and foot scan is combined with retail purchase data and custom AI-driven technology to provide tailored recommendations across Red Wing’s catalogue of footwear styles. Shoppers will leave inspired by the experience and confident in their work boot purchase. 

“I hear positive feedback of the Ultimate Fit Experience process nearly every day from at least a customer or two,“ said Branden Rion, Virginia Beach Red Wing store associate. “Once customers have a better visual understanding of things like sizing, arch height and foot pressure distribution, they're more liable to make purchases based off of that.”

When it comes time for a customer to make their next work boot purchase, their personal profile, including work requirements and fit history, will be easily accessible across Red Wing’s store ecosystem to help match the individual to the perfect fitting boot again and again.

Learn more about Red Wing’s Ultimate Fit Experience here. To find your nearest retailer, visit redwingshoes.com/stores.