Specsavers brings in Fujitsu on its digital transformation journey

Specsavers has signed a 17.6 million transformation deal with Fujitsu that will see the vendor revamp the optician's digital infrastructure.

Focusing on using data to improve customer experience by tracking orders and incidents, Fujitsu aims to give Specsavers staff across the company's 1,179 European shops better access to information in order to serve customers more effectively.

"Fujitsu is a great partner in helping us with our international journey owing to its extensive global retail capabilities and consulting expertise," said Phil Pavitt, global CIO at Specsavers.

"We are more than just about selling glasses; we want to change lives for the better. To do that we need to continuously adapt how we best serve customers. With Fujitsu, we are excited to be partnering with a company that shares our passion for putting the customer first."

Fujitsu claimed its "end-to-end intelligent services" would reduce Specsavers' cost of delivery of new customer services, with bolstered security measures.

In an interview with IT Pro's sister title Cloud Pro last year, Pavitt said customer data provides a "rich seam that we can actually use to help those customers have a much better experience with us".

"Like any organisation we have lots of customer data that you don't necessarily join up or use as well as you could," he said at the time. "We are discovering that for ourselves like everybody else is. We're trying to work out how to organise it and systemise it."

Specsavers is already trialling 'magic mirrors' to measure glasses frames on customers' faces without using rulers, as well as iPads, and Fujitsu would underpin other in-store technology innovations.

Pavitt recently revealed on LinkedIn that he plans to step down from his role at Specsavers at the end of June after three years at the company.

He said: "An incredible amount has been achieved and the revolution has now been turned into a funded activity plan globally led by a new, strong technology leadership team.

"This being the case, John and I agree that now is the right time to put in place the leadership that will build on this strong platform and focus on execution and rolling out of our plans. It has been a fantastic experience for me and now it's time for the next and probably final chapter!"