Recently, the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA) officially announced the 2025 Best Innovation Practice Cases in Chinese Consumer Goods, and Zuliz’s core elderly footwear product, the “Zuliz Quick Walk Shoes,” was successfully shortlisted.
Following the honor won by the “Mint Summer Shoes” in 2024, this marks the second consecutive year Zuliz has received this industry recognition, highlighting its ongoing innovation strength in age-friendly consumer products.
As an authoritative selection covering retail, manufacturing, technical services, and more, the CCFA Best Innovation Practice Cases span eight major categories, including brand building, product innovation, and user engagement. Zuliz’s consecutive recognition confirms the industry’s strong endorsement of its demand-driven innovation approach.
From the 2024 Mint Summer Shoes, which focused on summer breathability needs, to the 2025 professional footwear designed for fast-walking scenarios, Zuliz’s innovation path has consistently centered on the real needs of the elderly.
The shortlisted Zuliz Quick Walk Shoes exemplify this scenario-based innovation. The R&D team conducted in-depth research on the physiological changes in seniors’ feet, collecting data across seven dimensions—including foot length, width, and arch height—and customized professional shoe lasts to precisely fit the unique foot shapes of elderly users.
What’s even more noteworthy is that these Quick Walk Shoes create a full-scene protection system covering “walking putting on/taking off – adapting to different environments.”
Zuliz’s back-to-back innovation breakthroughs come from its systematic innovation strategy. As the primary drafter of the national standard for elderly shoes, the company has secured a total of 458 patents related to elderly footwear. It has built four core technology systems: foot shape adaptation, arch support, pressure relief, and walking safety.
On the R&D front, Zuliz uses a “production-academia-research collaborative innovation” model. It co-established a Nano New Materials Application Center with Suzhou University and partnered with Xi’an University of Electronic Science and Technology to create a Smart Wearables Lab, turning cutting-edge tech into functional, age-friendly products.
On the management side, Zuliz’s innovation is equally impressive. Building on nearly 3,000 offline stores, the company has created a seamless traffic loop combining online short-video marketing with in-store experiences. At the same time, it has upgraded its stores into “Love for Seniors Hubs,” establishing an operating model that balances commercial success with social value. Founder Zhang Jingkang’s core value—“Users are like parents and friends”—has been transformed into an innovation guideline spanning the entire chain from product development to service experience.
As China’s silver economy moves toward an estimated market size of 30 trillion yuan, the age-friendly consumer goods sector is entering a critical phase of quality-driven transformation. Consumers are no longer satisfied with basic functionality; they expect products that combine safety, comfort, intelligence, and thoughtful design. Zuliz’s innovative practices demonstrate that genuine product innovation is not built on marketing hype or superficial features. Instead, it is rooted in a deep, empathetic understanding of elderly users’ real-life needs, backed by solid research and development capabilities. By effectively applying technology to practical usage scenarios, Zuliz sets a benchmark for sustainable growth, industry advancement, and long-term value creation in the silver economy.
Being shortlisted for the CCFA Best Innovation Practice Case for two consecutive years reinforces Zuliz’s position as an industry leader in the silver economy. This recognition highlights the company’s consistent focus on innovation and provides a clear, replicable model that integrates demand exploration, advanced technology research and development, and practical scenario-based implementation to effectively address the needs of an aging population.
Looking ahead, with the deeper application of technologies like smart wearables and new materials, Zuliz is poised to continue leading innovation in the elderly footwear industry.
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