1. You Have Tried Half a Dozen Comfort Sneakers and Your Feet Still Hurt
You bought them because they felt soft in the store. Soft is not the same as supported.
Foam packs down flat inside a couple of months, and then your arch is standing on nothing. Press your thumb into the footbed you have on right now. If the dent stays, that is your answer.
These use a structured, multi-density footbed that holds your arch up under your weight instead of squashing flat under it. Whatever your shoes do not absorb, your knees and your lower back absorb instead.
You did not fail at picking shoes. The shoes failed at holding your foot up.