Footwear Testing Company

Meet tight launch windows with streamlined testing processes designed specifically for footwear development cycles.

Skip the shipping headaches with our turnkey logistics solution that delivers test shoes directly to your customers, eliminating warehouse costs and fulfillment complexity from your operations.

Avoid alienating loyal customers when updating popular shoes with testing that shows how design changes will affect customer satisfaction before launch.

How Hanes Brands Transformed Product Development Through Strategic Wear Testing

Accelerated testing timeline by 3+ weeks compared to previous vendors, with recruits completing in under one week versus industry standard of two weeks
Integrated wear testing as mandatory product development step, shifting from reactive to proactive approach with 33 tests completed in under 3 years
Eliminated product launch risks by catching and fixing critical product issues before market release, preventing potential revenue loss
Increased internal demand for consumer insights with product teams now proactively requesting wear tests instead of requiring persuasion from the insights team

Design Your Test

Define your objectives, create your survey, and set parameters for your ideal testers.

We Ship Your Products

We handle recruitment and distribution to get your products into the right homes.

Collect & Analyze

Gather feedback through our platform and transform data into actionable insights.

Performance Validation

Test how your footwear performs in actual consumer environments before committing to full production runs. Our in-home use testing with real product testers reveals authentic wear patterns and performance issues over extended periods, giving you confidence in durability claims and helping you avoid expensive recalls.

Customer Sentiment Analysis

Measure real customer reactions to your footwear through structured feedback sessions and sentiment tracking. Our analysis reveals what consumers love, hate, or feel indifferent about, helping you avoid design choices that could alienate your audience while amplifying features that create emotional connection.

Material Durability Assessment

Evaluate how different materials and construction methods hold up under stress testing protocols. You'll identify weak points in your design early, allowing for improvements that prevent field failures and protect your brand reputation.

Competitive Product Benchmarking

Compare your footwear's performance against leading competitors using standardized testing methods. You'll discover exactly where your products excel and where improvements are needed, informing strategic product development decisions.

What specific footwear testing services does your company offer for athletic and casual shoes? A: Highlight provides comprehensive footwear testing through our in-home product testing platform, where real consumers test shoes in their natural environments over extended periods. Our services include functional testing to evaluate performance, durability, and comfort, plus sensory evaluation to assess tactile qualities like fit, breathability, and material feel. We also conduct efficacy testing to validate specific claims about your footwear's benefits, whether that's enhanced comfort, improved performance, or specialized features. Our longitudinal studies track how shoes perform over weeks or months of actual wear, providing insights that lab testing simply cannot capture. This real-world approach delivers authentic feedback that accurately predicts market success, helping you avoid costly recalls and launch failures.

How reliable are your footwear testing results compared to traditional lab testing methods? A: While traditional quantitative surveys throw out 30% of data as junk, Highlight maintains only 1-2% unusable responses due to our rigorous community standards. Our Highlighter community has a selective 48% acceptance rate, meaning we filter out participants who don't provide thoughtful, thorough feedback through careful screening and "red herring" questions. We achieve 90%+ completion rates because our community members are genuinely engaged in providing quality insights rather than rushing through surveys. This high-quality data translates to more reliable results that you can confidently use for critical product decisions. Our approach eliminates the inconsistent results that plague traditional testing methods, giving you the accurate consumer insights needed to make informed development choices.

Can you test footwear with very specific target audiences or niche consumer segments? A: Highlight excels at reaching super niche audiences, with capabilities extending to audiences as low as 3% incidence rates within the general population. Whether you need feedback from trail runners, healthcare workers who stand all day, or consumers with specific foot conditions, our extensive Highlighter community can connect you with the exact users who matter most for your product. Our demographic and psychographic screening processes ensure we can identify and recruit highly specific consumer segments that traditional panels often struggle to reach. This precision targeting means your footwear testing results come from people who actually represent your intended market, not just general consumers. The ability to test with your exact target audience provides insights that directly translate to real-world market performance.

What types of footwear performance metrics can you measure through your testing? A: Our comprehensive footwear testing evaluates multiple performance dimensions through real-world usage scenarios that matter most to consumers. Key metrics we measure include:

Comfort and fit during extended wear periods
Durability across different surfaces and activities
Performance features like grip, stability, and support
Breathability and moisture management in various conditions
Style and aesthetic appeal in real-life settings

Our functional testing approach captures how shoes actually perform during daily activities, exercise routines, or specialized use cases rather than artificial lab conditions. This real-world data helps you understand which features truly matter to consumers and which claims will resonate in the marketplace.

Turn footwear testing into your competitive advantage

Interested in becoming a product tester?

Trusted by innovative brands across food & beverage, personal care, household products, and more.

Accelerate your development timeline without compromising on footwear testing accuracy.

We deliver precise testing results, capture authentic consumer feedback, and help you launch with confidence.

Real-World Consumer Validation

Rapid Turnaround Testing

Custom Testing Protocols

How Hanes Brands Transformed Product Development Through Strategic Wear Testing

Getting Started is Simple

Design Your Test

We Ship Your Products

Collect & Analyze

Validate New Footwear Products Before Market Launch

Performance Validation

Customer Sentiment Analysis

Material Durability Assessment

Competitive Product Benchmarking

See Highlight in Action

Get Footwear Testing Results That Meet Your Launch Timeline

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