It’s the day after Labor Day, meaning all across America people are coming into work with sore feet and strained backs after a long weekend of hiking.
Labor Day weekend, after all, is always a great time to land an end of summer deal on a pair of hiking boots and to break them in for the fall hiking season. But even the best boots still require proper support, and using cheap foam inserts can make for a brutal excursion through the back country. Unfortunately, poor experiences can lead to injured and unhappy customers and negative reviews.
Many injuries, however, are more structural in nature and can be easily prevented by using a pair of custom, pain-relieving orthotics. This is especially true for older customers. About half of people over the age of 65 in North America, after all, are listed as occasional sufferers of osteoarthritis and more than 30 million people have been diagnosed with the condition in the U.S. Research shows that altogether, up to 15 percent of the North American market could benefit from custom-fit orthotics.
Recent advances in the custom orthotics industry make it easy and profitable for retailers to offer this service for customers. Now it’s possible to measure and fabricate custom orthotics by working with a company like Amfit, which is leading the field with its Contact Digitizer, a product that you may have recently seen on display at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Denver.
As Amfit Retail Director of Sales and Marketing Tom Garlock explained, fall is a great time to offer custom insoles for consumers.
“Fall and spring are the busiest insole seasons as people shift away from sandals and put their boots back on,” Garlock said.
Available in a portable or permanent model, the Contact Digitizer electronically scans the entire plantar surface of the foot in order to register its precise contour. The Digitizer can generate impressions from both standing or non-weight bearing positions, and gives customers the ability to experience the feeling of support before fabrication. Customers can also see an image of their own contour from a computer screen.
Amfit gives you the option to fabricate your own custom orthotics, or outsource the operation to its Vancouver, Washington facility. The company also offers off-the-shelf orthotics and custom-tailored A5513 diabetic inserts.
To see Amfit’s product in action, check out the company’s recent IO TV feature from the Outdoor Retailer showroom floor in Denver.
