The Hut Group is offering a £100,000 prize to the developer who comes up with the most effective app for one of its health and beauty retail brands.
Its Game of Code competition challenges developers to build an app that improves everyday experiences for people with an interest in health, beauty or nutrition while also providing commercial value for one of its brands, which include Myprotein and LookFantastic.
The retailer, which operates 65 health, beauty and fitness websites across 19 brands using its own in-house developed platform, says the competition will give new talent an opportunity to show both creative and technology skills.
“The £100,000 prize shows how serious we are about investing in the young talent to help craft the future of the mobile commerce industry,” said Wing Yung Chan, group marketing director at The Hut Group. “We’re looking for the innovations that will bridge the gap between online purchase and offline consumption and we expect many of the top entries to be from teams consisting of not just coders but also writers, marketers, designers and entrepreneurs to develop a complete commercial offer.”
Entries are now open via GameofCode.io. The first stage will see entrants submit their idea by January 31. Teams with the best ideas will be invited to build a working version of their idea, which will be put to a public vote to find the finalists. The winner will be judged by senior Hut Group executives and industry specialists.
Our view: This competition, now in its second year, is part of a wider move by retailers to look for new technologies outside their own companies. John Lewis’ JLAB competition has also proved a useful way for large retailers to tap into start-up innovation.
