Fit-Any sensors measure your feet for your exact shoe size

Measuring your feet for shoe size is an archaic part of retail. Fit-Any wants to disrupt that process by using smart sensors and the Internet of Things to precisely measure your feet and get you shoes that fit the first time.

Palo Alto, California-based Fit-Any, which was incubated at Peter Relan’s YouWeb incubator, uses a 3D measuring bootie and user-generated content (UGC) platform. It could save retailers a lot of money, as many have had to adopt online retailer Zappos’ policy of letting shoppers try shoes on and send them back by mail if they don’t fit.

And it could take the frustration out of buying shoes for consumers. Right now, shoe retailing isn’t that fun for either side. Only 12 percent of shoes are sold online, in comparison with over 20 percent of other apparel and over 45 percent for electronics. Money-losing returns policies are the only solution.

“Retailers like Zappos recently have been shifting the cost back to the consumer: most of Zappos shoes that go on sale now are sold through Zappos’s discounted brand 6pm and there are no free returns,” said Katya Stesin, founder and CEO of Fit-Any, in a statement. “Women want perfect fitting shoes and we are bringing that value proposition through technology.”