Retail technology specialists One iota held a hackathon at The Sharp Project in Manchester.
The 30-hour event focused on the retail sector saw One iota team members work on a range of innovative products and solutions to enhance the shopping experience.
The organisation, which develops digital apps across mobile, online and in-store for leading retailers including JD Sports, Superdry and Shop Direct, gave team members creative license to collaborate intensively, with the goal of creating new product prototypes.
The individual teams produced prototypes, experimented with them then presented working solutions which could be used in future product maps to the entire team – all inside just two days.
They included an Olympic-themed lifestyle editorial app, an enhanced mobile POS shopping experience on a Windows tablet and a platform to improve website efficiency during flash sales.
“We are delighted to have hosted the One iota event, the first retail-focused hackathon to be held at The Sharp Project,” said Tom Clarke of The Sharp Project.
“Our passion here is creativity and innovation, exactly what the Hackathon is all about.
“We have seen some amazing work over the past few days and it’s inspiring to see the ideas come to life.”
A machine learning algorithm which could be used to improve performance won the recent Manchester City hackathon.
One iota CTO Dave Hague said: “The way we shop is changing and shoppers now expect a fully connected experience, wherever, whenever and however they choose to shop.
“At One iota, we spend every minute in the office ensuring our clients have the right technology in place to deliver world-class in-store, online and mobile shopping experiences, to meet the rising demands of their customers.
“We work in an incredibly fast moving industry, with innovation occurring at a rapid pace.
“Giving our entire team the opportunity to experiment with the latest technologies means that we are keeping pace and developing their skills for the future.
“We had a fantastic two days with some amazing prototypes produced, and we’re now looking forward to seeing how we can develop them further over the next 12 months.”
The Sharp Project is a 200,000 sq ft refurbished warehouse originally home to electronics giant Sharp and which now hosts over 60 digital entrepreneurs and production companies specialising in digital content production, digital media and TV and film production.
Research has found that shoppers are using their mobile devices to search for product and service information they normally would have sought in store.