Boosting Shoe Sales: AR Virtual Try-On Success at Hockerty

At WEARFITS, we work with fashion brands to solve one of the biggest challenges in e-commerce: helping customers feel confident buying products they cannot physically try on. This challenge becomes even more complex when it comes to custom-made footwear, where fit, proportions, and design details play a critical role in the purchase decision.

In collaboration with Hockerty, we implemented a real-time AR shoe virtual try-on experience fully integrated with their shoe configurator backend. By enabling shoppers to visualize their exact custom shoe designs on their own feet before checkout, Hockerty transformed the online buying journey for footwear — resulting in an increase in conversion rate, higher engagement, and stronger purchase confidence.

The Challenge: Selling Custom Shoes Online Without Physical Try-On

Hockerty specializes in made-to-order fashion, offering customers the ability to fully customize their shoes—from materials and colors to patterns and finishes. While their shoe configurator was already powerful, customers still faced a common e-commerce problem:

They couldn’t see how their custom shoes would look on their own feet before purchasing.

For footwear brands, this uncertainty often leads to:

• Lower conversion rates
• Longer decision times
• Hesitation at checkout
  
  

Traditional product photos and standard 3D previews do not provide the realism or confidence customers expect when buying personalized shoes online.

The Solution: AR Shoe Try-On Integrated with the Configurator Backend

WEARFITS implemented a scalable virtual try-on solution for shoes, combining augmented reality try-on with a deep backend integration into Hockerty’s existing configurator.

Real-Time AR Shoe Try-On

Customers can now use their smartphone camera to try shoes on virtually in real time. The AR experience aligns the digital shoe accurately to the user’s foot, delivering a true-to-scale visualization with realistic proportions and detail.

This AR try-on works instantly from the product page, without requiring any app downloads.

Backend Integration with the Shoe Configurator

Every customization choice made in Hockerty’s shoe configurator—colors, materials, textures, and design details—is passed directly to the WEARFITS virtual try-on engine.

Shoppers see:

• The exact shoe configuration they designed
  
  
• A consistent experience between customization and try-on
  
  

This turns product configuration into a fully immersive shopping experience.

Results: Increase in Conversion Rate

After launching the AR shoe virtual try-on at Hockerty, the impact was immediate:

• Increase in conversion rate
  
  
• Higher engagement with product pages and configurator tools
  
  
• Longer session times and stronger purchase intent
  
  

The data confirms what many fashion brands are discovering: virtual try-on significantly reduces uncertainty and accelerates purchasing decisions, especially for custom footwear.

Why Virtual Try-On for Shoes Drives Higher Conversions

Footwear is one of the most challenging categories in e-commerce. Appearance is a critical factor in the buying decision. AR virtual try-on helps brands overcome this barrier by allowing customers to:

• Visualize shoes on their own feet before buying
  
  
• Confirm design choices with confidence
  
  
• Reduce hesitation at checkout
  
  
• Build trust in custom and made-to-order products
  
  

For brands like Hockerty, virtual try-on is not just a UX enhancement—it is a conversion optimization tool.

A Scalable Virtual Try-On Solution for Fashion Brands

This implementation demonstrates how WEARFITS’ virtual try-on platform can be seamlessly integrated into existing e-commerce workflows, including complex product configurators.

By combining:

• Real-time AR try-on for shoes
  
  
• Backend configurator integration
  
  
• High-performance, device-optimized delivery
  
  

WEARFITS enables fashion brands to deploy virtual try-on at scale without disrupting their current infrastructure.

Looking Ahead: The Future of AR Try-On in E-Commerce

As customer expectations continue to rise, virtual try-on for shoes and fashion products is becoming a standard rather than a novelty. Brands that adopt AR try-on early gain a measurable advantage in conversion, engagement, and customer trust.

The Hockerty case study shows how immersive technology, when implemented correctly, delivers real business impact.

Want to know more about WEARFITS x Hockerty collaboration? Feel free to read this article at WWD.