At present, there is an Internet celebrity product in the footwear market, known as “elderly shoes” or “walking shoes”. The merchant claims that this is a shoe specially designed for the elderly, which is more suitable for the characteristics of the elderly’s foot, and is comfortable and non-slip to wear. However, those “old man shoes” may well be unqualified!
Best-selling “Internet celebrity” shoes
Is it really more comfortable and safer?
When the reporter investigated in Beijing, Shanghai and other places, he found that many supermarkets, professional shoe cities and large shopping malls have counters selling so-called “old people’s shoes”, and the products are very popular.
Subsequently, the reporter logged in to some e-commerce platforms and searched for “old people’s shoes” and found that the prices of “elderly shoes” sold by these e-commerce platforms ranged from tens of yuan to thousands of yuan, and various brands were dazzling.
Most merchants claim that compared with ordinary shoes, the “old people’s shoes” they sell are specially designed products based on the characteristics of the feet of the elderly, which do not squeeze the feet and do not tire the feet, and are more suitable for the elderly to wear.
Comfortable fit, non-slip safety
, is the basic feature of “old people’s shoes”.
A few days ago, the Yangtze River Delta Consumer Protection Commission Alliance carried out a comparative test on the quality of “elderly shoes”. But in obvious contrast to the promotion of merchants,
In the general indicators for testing the basic performance of footwear, the “old people’s shoes” tested have repeatedly touched the standard red line.
Test outsole hardness, folding resistance, wear resistance
Are the “old man’s shoes” up to standard?
Of the 80 batches of samples purchased in this comparative experiment, 54 were collected from online e-commerce platforms, 16 from physical stores, and 10 from TV shopping.
Nearly 50% of the sample outsole hardness exceeded the standard “more comfortable” is just a gimmick
Since “elderly shoes” are emerging products and there is no special product standard, the vast majority of manufacturers currently express the implementation standards of tourism shoes or casual shoes. In view of the change in the foot shape of the elderly, the decline of physical function, and the current situation of children’s demand for shoes, in this comparative test, the testing agency adopted the children’s leather shoe standard officially implemented in 2017 to evaluate the hardness of the outsole of “elderly shoes”.
However, in the test, as many as 38 batches of “old people’s shoes” samples out of 80 samples were not within the standard requirements, accounting for 47.5% of the total number of samples. Among them, there are many products of more well-known brands. For example, Yisheng Walking in Beijing, Baibujian and Jianfukang in Shanghai; As well as Fujian’s Qianda, Budobang, Kanghuang, Jade Mouse and other “old people’s shoes”.
The comparative test of outsole hardness directly reveals the true situation of the functional gimmick of many merchants claiming that “old people’s shoes” are “more comfortable”.
14 models of folding resistance are not up to the mark, including Ogushiden, Elcon and other brands
According to the inspectors, durability is an important performance of shoes.
Flex resistance
is one of the most important indicators of it. If there is a problem with the folding resistance, the sole will break.
Experiments show that
There are a total of 14 “old man shoes” whose folding performance is not up to par
, cracks appear or the glue opening exceeds the standard requirements. In 14 batches of samples with glue opening or cracking after the flexural performance test,
Ogu Shiden
The problem of brand casual women’s shoes is the most serious, with a total of 3 rubber openings on the left and right shoes. In addition, tested
Elcon brand men’s single shoes, AuCom brand women’s single shoes
All appear different degrees of glue opening.
14 models of wear resistance are not up to par Including Yisheng Walk, Baibujian and other brands
Abrasion resistance
, is another important indicator to detect whether the “old people’s shoes” are durable.
During the test, samples whose wear resistance does not meet the requirements of the company’s express standards are
14 batches
, including quite a few best-selling brands, such as:
Yisheng Walker in Beijing, Baibujian and Jianfukang in Shanghai; and Qianda, Budobang, Kanghuang, Jade Mouse and so on in Fujian
“Old man’s shoes”.
The market demand is large, but there is no professional standard
In recent years, the number of elderly population in China has shown a rapid growth trend. The huge size of the elderly population provides a huge market space for “old people’s shoes” products, and the number of enterprises producing and selling “elderly shoes” has increased from more than 1,700 in 2014
More than 3,500 in 2018
。
But a problem also arises: that is, the products declared as “old people’s shoes” are selling well, but
In fact, there is no standard for “shoes for the elderly” in our country at all.
The reporter found an interesting phenomenon in the investigation: although most of the “elderly shoes” product labeling standards are tourism shoes or casual shoes, sales personnel almost all emphasize the concept of “elderly shoes” when selling products, and intentionally or unintentionally dilute its relationship with tourist shoes or casual shoes.
Of the 80 batches of samples in this comparative test, 47 batches implemented the travel shoe standard, 6 batches implemented the casual shoe standard, and 27 batches either did not label the implementation standard or were indiscriminately labeled.
There is no standard so-called “old people’s shoes”, and the quality of products is naturally uneven.
It would have been a good thing to have shoes specifically for the needs of the elderly, but the current state of the industry is clearly not satisfactory.
It has been a consensus to introduce a group standard of “shoes for the elderly” for special shoes for the elderly
。 I hope that the elderly can wear more comfortable shoes for the elderly as soon as possible!
Source: CCTV News
Responsible editor: Wang Zimo
Editor: Wang Yuanfang Wu Yaqi