Edinburgh IT specialist Opal ties up with footwear giant Schuh

An Edinburgh firm has clinched a major contract providing IT management services to Livingston-headquartered footwear group Schuh.

Michael Thomson, technical director at Opal, with Caroline Robertson of Schuh. Picture: Sarah Guilar

The six-figure deal will see Opal manage more than 2,000 mobile point-of-sale devices across Schuh’s footprint of 132 stores.

The shoe retailer recently invested in Apple operating systems, including the iScan app and mobile payment devices, designed to make it easier for customers to browse available stock and pay for items without queueing.

Opal is tasked with integrating the payment devices across Schuh’s business, which will allow the company to operate more efficiently and enable services such as delivering customer updates via the Schuh app. It also provided a platform to protect confidential company data and ensure that staff can remotely access information on each device when needed.

The firm, which also has an office in Newcastle, specialises in mobile device management, IT support and the deployment and integration of Apple and Windows products.

Caroline Robertson, head of store systems at Schuh, which began with a single Edinburgh outlet in the 1980s, said: “We’re trying to move away from physical cash desks so we can create space for additional products in our stores and deliver a more personal service for the customer.

“These devices are therefore really important to us so it’s vital we’re able to monitor and manage them effectively. We needed a robust software management tool which allows us to track the movement of these devices and how they’re being used.”

Opal MD Andy Metcalfe added: “Companies that operate across multiple sites in different locations need a solution that will enable them to manage all of their mobile devices.”