Visiting your LBS like you did was what I would have recommended
BurningLegs 👍.
Saddles can be very personal to each rider, one may swear by a saddle that another may swear because of it! Ladies specific saddles are generically slightly wider with a shorter nose section, although many saddle designs have evolved along those lines so often they can used be by both sexes providing the size and shape is relevant to each user.
Generally there are a few pointers:
Sit bone width, many quality bike stores have a simple device to measure sit bone width similar to that shown below. Often this simple device is accurate enough to make sure the saddle is wide enough to support your sit bones; slightly wider than required is normally OK, so if a bike is being used by more than one rider you would make sure the person with the wider sit bone requirement has enough support. If it 's the front area of the saddle that is causing an issue this can often be helped lowering the nose of the saddle slightly.
Posture rating, in the pictures below that same rider will need a variety of saddles that matches the relevant riding position. You no doubt will have a rough idea of what posture you have on the bike and many brands will list a relevant saddle, again a quality bike store will be able to advise.
The correct bike fit is also a consideration, if that's wrong the rider may compensate by shifting to the wrong section of the saddle; that alone cause discomfort. It's not unusual that a rider will come in for a bike fit and reference that they are having saddle issues and as such they expect a different one is needed, only to find that when their bike fit is optimised the saddle that wasn't working for them now does; vice versa can apply of course.
With or without a centre channel, like lowering the nose of the saddle as I referenced earlier this relates to the mid to front end of the saddle; ladies will also often desire a saddle with a centre channel to reduce soft tissue contact. A male may also choose one, the older we get as a male the larger our prostate will often become and saddle pressure can result in numbness, a centre channel or in the case of the saddle shown below a hole can help reduce that pressure.
Ticking all those boxes will normally be of value, although understandably saddle manufacturers are well aware that there is only so much analysis that it is appropriate any bike fitter or store will do; I am not medically trained Doctor after all. As such there are quite a few brands that have a comfort exchange option.
