United Kingdom -- 26 May 2006 - Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services (BVCPS), global leader in consumer product testing, inspections and auditing services, has introduced an innovative shoe-fitting package for importers and retailers who need to make sure that their shoes fit properly prior to selling. BVCPS’s new shoe fitting service ensures correctly fitting shoes through solutions such as basic and intensive shoe fitting training and professional fit assessments with user-friendly reports. If the last on which a shoe is originally built is wrong then the shoe will not fit correctly. With this new service, BVCPS can assess the last for correct length, width, joint and instep girth in order to determine if it is correct for size, fitting and style type. BVCPS can also create prototype shoe models specific to customer requirements.
It is essential to ensure that every shoe fits comfortably in order to maximise sales. Shallow toes, low back height, tight instep, high quarters, incorrect heel pitch or just an incorrectly positioned seam can all create a poor fit, loss of sales, high returns rate, unhappy customers and injured feet. BVCPS’s accredited shoe fitters can complete fit assessments on shoe prototypes/samples and report their findings prior to the bulk production of the shoe, therefore ensuring importers and retailers do not spend money on a batch of shoes that do not fit correctly. In addition BVCPS provides emailed reports, user-friendly advice and specific recommendations in a maximum four-day turnaround from receiving the first shoe sample.
BVCPS’s shoe fitting training is available on site, at the customer’s premises or at BVCPS’s recently opened shoe testing laboratory. Flexible training sessions are available for buyers, selectors, merchandisers, quality managers and footwear technologists. BVCPS trains all attendees on how to fit a shoe, what comfort criteria to look out for and the relationship between the last and the foot.
As certain types of shoes are particularly difficult to fit, BVCPS provides a number of specific services. For example, the comfortable fitting of children’s shoes is essential as bones are softer and the whole structure of the foot is still developing, making it very vulnerable to deformity due to ill-fitting shoes. BVCPS’s accredited expert shoe fitters can ensure all sizes of children’s footwear are designed to fit correctly. Ensuring ladies high leg boots fit correctly, particularly around the instep and calf region, can also prove troublesome. BVCPS’s shoe fitters can assist its customers in ensuring ladies’ boots are fitted correctly and sales are maximised.
Jack Brown, Footwear Manager at BVCPS, comments: “Shoe Fitting is often a neglected quality property by many retailers but its importance is not to be under-estimated – in order to successfully sell shoes they must fit the customer. An ill-fitting, uncomfortable shoe will not sell and could cause serious injury to the wearer leading to claims for damages. This new service gives retailers the opportunity to learn about how to fit a shoe correctly.”
For more information on BVCPS’ shoe fitting services, please email bvsales@uk.bureauveritas.com
For further press information contact: Rachel Carney/Charlotte Culley, The Scott Partnership, The Old Barn, Holly House Estate, Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire CW10 9LT, United Kingdom Tel: + 44 1606 837787, Fax: +44 1606 837757 E:pr@scottmail.co.uk
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