Endless Aisle Live: Footasylum talks NewStore retail technology powered omnichannel transformation journey

At Endless Aisle Live, which took place in London last week, representatives from British sportswear retailer Footasylum and its private equity investor owner Aurelius Group shared how the company is embracing omnichannel. 

“We talk about change management, but this was really Footasylum starting over from scratch,” explained Richard Noon, Product Manager. 

In 2022, sportswear giant JD Sports was forced to offload Footasylum to Aurelius Group after the UK’s competition watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised concerns about the deal. It had originally been purchased by JD Sports for £90 million in 2019, but it was eventually sold to Aurelius Group for just £38 million following years of discussions with the CMA.

“It was lacking strategic direction,” added Philip Dixon, Senior Manager of IT Practice at Aurelius Group. “We knew we fundamentally needed to change stores.”

Dixon explained that it was important for Aurelius Group to hit the ground running with the transformation, wanting most of the work completed within 12 months of its acquisition, to prevent all the value of the new systems being passed on to the retailer’s next order. Aurelius Group bought Footasylum with plans to resell it within three to five years.

“We looked at IT models and ultimately came to the decision to stop building our own systems and start buying products,” Dixon said. The retailer has since chosen to work with a number of key software providers to transform its stores. 

Last year, Footasylum opened its first fully mobile PoS stores without any fixed till points, starting with its Bury store. “We did an overnight transformation,” Noon said, adding that the company transformed another three stores under this model before it was ready to transform its Oxford Street, London flagship, which is now used as a “blueprint” for all its other stores.

“We’re now using iPhone in stores for everything,” Noon said. In 2024, Footasylum secured a £35 million funding package from HSBC UK which is enabling it to open new stores and improve its omnichannel technology.

Since 2023, Footasylum has been working with NewStore on its omnichannel experience, making it easier for customers to shop in-store and online. It also uses NewStore’s technology to drive its loyalty offering. “We’ve found the data really useful,” Noon commented, adding that, as well as a promotional tool, they had been able to use this information to manage fraud.

Looking ahead, Footasylum is trialling the use of QR codes in store for customers to use to ask for shoes to try on in their size and is using cameras to monitor customer behaviour in its stores. “We’re able to do great things through this technology,” Dixon added. “It’s now refocused and enabled to deliver tangible benefits.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Omnichannel retail will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, which are now open for entries, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.