How Olivetta built a premium retail experience with Tyro and Odoo

Tyro provides the integrated payments solution that helps power Olivetta’s day-to-day operations while supporting its long-term growth ambitions.

The business

When Karl Schuster opened Olivetta at Sydney Fish Market, he wanted to create more than a specialty food store. His vision was a premium retail experience inspired by a lifelong connection to olive oil -one that could eventually grow into a network of stores across Australia. 

To bring that ambition to life, Karl needed technology that could keep pace with his vision. Tyro powers Olivetta’s integrated payments, connecting seamlessly with Odoo to create a smooth checkout experience and a technology foundation designed to scale with the business. 

The idea for Olivetta had been taking shape for decades. Nearly 40 years ago, Karl’s mother moved to the southern Peloponnese in Greece and bought a small olive grove. Through regular visits, harvests and time spent caring for the trees, olive oil became part of Karl’s life long before it became his business. 

As one friend put it: 

“It’s like the olive has been tapping you on the shoulder for 40 years.” 

That lifelong connection, combined with Karl’s experience building marketing and loyalty programs for major brands, ultimately became Olivetta: a premium retail concept designed to change the way Australians experience olive oil. 

Creating an immersive in-store customer experience

Step inside Olivetta and it’s clear this isn’t a traditional retail store. Every detail has been designed to immerse customers in the world of premium olive oil – from handcrafted Mediterranean-inspired mosaics and a custom fragrance to birdsong and a central tasting bar. 

The store features handcrafted mosaics inspired by ancient Mediterranean artwork, including a four-metre-tall custom mosaic created in Lebanon that greets customers as they enter. The same design language flows throughout the store and even appears on Olivetta’s product packaging. But the experience goes beyond what customers can see. 

A custom fragrance fills the store every 30 seconds, designed to evoke the feeling of walking through a Mediterranean garden after rain. Soft birdsong plays in the background, creating the atmosphere of an olive grove. 

At the centre of the space sits a tasting bar where customers can sample olive oils, vinegars and infused products from around the world. 

Customers often arrive expecting to buy a bottle of olive oil and leave having discovered entirely new flavours, products and traditions. 

“We want people to leave with a completely different understanding of what great olive oil can be.” 

Today, Olivetta sources premium olive oils from Australia, Greece and South Africa, partnering with some of the world’s most respected producers and bringing their stories to Australian consumers. 

Building scalable retail systems from day one 

While the customer experience was front of mind, Karl knew that creating a premium brand required more than beautiful stores and exceptional products. Behind the scenes, he needed technology capable of supporting his growth plans. With a vision to expand to multiple locations across Australia, Karl wanted systems that would scale with the business rather than create operational complexity later. 

“I wanted to create a backbone for the business that was scalable.” 

After evaluating several options, Olivetta selected Odoo as its core business platform. Rather than managing separate systems for inventory, warehousing, accounting and point of sale, Odoo brought these functions together into a connected ecosystem. 

Today, Odoo supports everything from retail operations and inventory management through to warehouse integration and business reporting. For a growing business, that visibility is critical. 

“We’re building this business to become a network of stores. Having those platforms in place and set up properly really sets us up for growth.” 

The missing piece: integrated payments 

For Olivetta, payments aren’t simply a transaction at the end of a sale. They’re part of the overall brand experience. As a cashless business, every customer interaction depends on payments working seamlessly. Karl evaluated several providers before selecting Tyro as Olivetta’s payments partner. 

While pricing and functionality mattered, reliability quickly became the deciding factor. 

“My number one criteria was reliability.” 

Tyro’s responsiveness also stood out from the beginning. 

“Everything happened instantly. The responsiveness, the turnaround time, the support;  it was absolutely first class.” 

For Karl, choosing a payments provider wasn’t just about solving today’s needs. It was about finding a partner that could support the business as it grows. 

With plans to expand Olivetta across Sydney and eventually into other major Australian cities, Karl wanted confidence that his payments infrastructure could scale alongside the business. 

“We’re looking at opening another store and then expanding from there. Everything I’ve seen so far reinforces that it was a good decision.” 

How Tyro and Odoo support the retail checkout experience 

Integrated directly with Odoo, Tyro allows transactions to flow naturally through the point-of-sale experience. Customers see their purchase amount, tap their card or phone, and complete their transaction quickly. The process feels effortless, exactly as it should. 

This seamless EFTPOS integration with POS helps support the checkout experience customers expect in a premium retail environment. 

“If payments are difficult, clunky or failing, it destroys everything we’ve invested in.” 

Looking ahead: scaling the Olivetta experience 

Olivetta’s first store is only the beginning. Karl plans to expand across Sydney before taking the concept to other major Australian cities. 

“We’re looking at opening another store and then expanding from there. Everything I’ve seen so far reinforces that it was a good decision.” 

With Odoo providing the operational backbone and Tyro powering the integrated payment experience, Olivetta has technology in place designed to support its growth without compromising the premium customer experience at the heart of the brand.  

As Olivetta grows, the ambition remains the same: bringing more Australians into the world of premium olive oil – one beautifully designed store, seamless transaction and memorable customer experience at a time.