HALF OF THE UK PUTTING THE WRONG FOOT FORWARD WITH SHOES THAT DON’T FIT

Around 30 million Brits are suffering from damaged feet by wearing ill-fitting shoes.

One third of men and nearly half of women admit to purchasing footwear they find uncomfortable.

Research compiled by Hotter Shoes, an Unbound Group Company, reveals nearly half of adults knowingly wear the wrong sized shoes despite, them feeling uncomfortable, because they like the style.

Looking good in a pair of shoes is the main reason behind four in ten purchases while ten per cent of women say they buy shoes that make their legs look nice.

Just under 20 per cent say they couldn’t find a better fitting half size or a different width fitting option, when choosing a shoe.

Not wearing comfortable shoes not only gives rise to the agony of hammertoes, permanent damage and general pain, but poorly fitted footwear can also cause headaches and back issues.

The research* from Hotter Shoes, which includes paediatric and scientific studies as well as customer habits, reports that 15 million people in the UK suffer from problems with their feet, while 2.5 million regularly deal with blisters and around 25 million, at some point, have had callouses.

The studies show that only ten per cent of adults check their size when buying shoes, with many saying the last time they had their feet measured was upon at school.  

When asked about the shoe sizes people wear, six out of ten said it varied – showing that millions don’t know what their true size is.

Three quarters admitted to owning different sized shoes while four in five confessed to not having their feet measured in the past ten years 

The issue is cross generational, with up to 50% of older people wearing shoes that are either too short, too narrow or too large.

“Sadly, our research shows that ill-fitting shoes seem to be commonplace – especially, as we know at Hotter, that this doesn’t need to be the case. We are on a mission to get the British public to put their best foot forward and to get their feet measured. What we also know is that comfort doesn’t have to be at the expense of looking great,” said Victoria Betts, Chief Commercial Officer at Hotter.

Hotter Shoes is launching a campaign to encourage customers to get their shoe size checked. 

The retailer offers four different fittings, including Slim, Standard, Wide and Extra Wide, plus UK whole and half sizes, which amounts to over 40 fitting combinations across their whole shoe collection.  

Recognising that every foot is different, Hotter also offers precision 3D foot-scanning technology in-store that calculates foot size, fit, arch height and shoe shape – all with the aim of providing the perfectly fitting shoe.

Hotter, in addition, offers an online digital true fit service, which takes factors like, gender, height, weight, style and age into consideration to find the best fit.