https://shop.leftfootcompany.com [1]

The Left® Shoe company is a good example of a manufacturer who supplies their customers with a product, and also delivers a service because of process. The company provides custom footwear over the internet. The process begins with a detailed scan of the client’s feet. This must take place at a participating dealer, currently only available in Europe and Asia. Once the details and measurements of the clients feet are entered into the system, the customer can specify desired shoe design, color, leather type, outsole and lining via the website. The shoe is made to order, and the customers “signature”, name and customer number, are imprinted into the right shoe. The custom-made shoes ship 3-weeks from time of order.

Excerpts from the Financial Times Published: March 7 2007. The shoe that is sure to fit --By Peter Marsh.

Mr. Fonsen runs Pomarfin, a Finland-based shoe producer that is setting up a new line of business offering customized footwear over the internet.
Mr. Fonsen's vision is intriguing. In his plan, shoe shops around the world purchase or rent specialized scanners to measure customers' feet with great accuracy. The details are passed to Pomarfin's headquarters in Pomarkku, Finland, then sent to the company's main shoe factory in Estonia where the footwear is made to specification. Once a person's details are on file, any further orders are made according to their personal measurements.
"It would be too expensive to make each shoe as a one-off completely from new," Mr. Fonsen says. "So we have found a way to put together the shoe reasonably cost-effectively from a number of basic building blocks in an example of ‘mass customization'. The customer benefits from getting something that is made just for him."