Champs Taps Aetrex to Power a Digitally Enhanced In-Store Experience

Tech Tactics is Sourcing Journal’s series with brands and technology companies to discuss their latest innovations.

Champs Sports is upgrading its retail experience with support from Teaneck, N.J.-based footwear company Aetrex.

Last week, the apparel, footwear and accessories retailer—part of Foot Locker, Inc.—unveiled its new “Reimagined” store concept, aimed at delivering an enhanced customer journey through an immersive shopping environment. The initiative launched at shopping centers in two key markets—Brandon Exchange in Tampa and Washington Square in Portland—with redesigned stores that reflect Champs Sports’ commitment to “blending sport and lifestyle for a more engaging in-store experience,” according to Champs Sports.

The updated locations include family-friendly zones with dedicated footwear sections for women and kids, encouraging full-family shopping, as well as curated visual displays that spotlight featured brands. One of the most notable elements, however, is the digital integration powered by Aetrex, which includes advanced 3D foot-scanning technology designed to deliver precise fit recommendations. This innovation, along with other omnichannel touchpoints, supports a more personalized and seamless shopping experience from start to finish.

“The Champs Sports Reimagined store concept introduces features intended to enhance the customer journey for head-to-toe shopping, including measuring tools with [Aetrex’s] 3D scanning technology that help achieve a precise fit for shoes in a fun, immersive way and interactive screens for omnichannel exploration of extended product options,” Tony Aversa, senior vice president and general manager at Champs Sports, told Sourcing Journal.

To help consumers and retailers like Champs Sports find the right-fitting footwear, Aetrex offers 3D scanning technology like the Albert 3DFit Scanner. This tool combines precise 3D foot measurements with AI-driven footwear matching to recommend the best fit across fashion, sport and everyday styles.

In addition to enhancing the customer experience, the Albert 3DFit Scanner also provides retailers with valuable data to optimize marketing, store performance and product planning. According to Aetrex, this data can be used to deliver personalized digital marketing based on individual foot profiles, driving higher engagement and conversion rates.

“Studies have shown that…consumers would like to experience a fit technology when shopping for footwear, [and] Albert 3DFit helps retailers of all sizes address this need,” said Kumar Rajan, vice president of technology at Aetrex. “Having the industry’s largest technology development team, we were able to use our vast experiences, coupled with our ability to engineer our own hardware and software, to develop an innovative 3DFit experience that’s affordable for all interested retailers.”