Sears Holdings Corp. this weekend is hosting a hackathon in San Francisco, and hopes the event will attract candidates for the few hundred technology positions it is looking to fill. The retail holding company, which operates Sears and Kmart stores, is looking for software developers who can write the kind of applications it needs to entice customers to shop in both its physical locations and online stores.
"We're looking for great talent," said George Goley, who joined Sears as CIO of online business last September, after roughly six years managing software development at Amazon.com. "We have lots of ideasbut we don't have all the people we need yet to execute against the ideas."
Pressured by e-commerce companies, Sears and other traditional retailers are building mobile, social and loyalty applications to sell more goods online and attract more customers to its stores. Sears customizes promotions based on information collected from interactions customers have with its website and from mobile devices. Also, customers can order goods online and pick them up at many of the company's 2,500 stores. Such shopping tools are crucial for building loyalty at Sears, which Thursday reported $194 million in losses as overall sales fell 6.3%.
Mr. Goley, who is one of the hackathon judges, said programmers must show they can write applications that will entice customers to shop online from their computers and tablets, as well as in the company's physical retail stores. It will also allow Sears executives to network and build relationships with Silicon Valley talent, he said. The 200 attendees hail from local startups and universities, with a few individual developers mixed in.
Participants are being asked to write mobile commerce, payment and customer account management applications that address challenges Sears will present for a mix of merchandise, including fashion, auto, home appliance and consumer electronics. Apps will have to integrate with Sears' existing "Shop Your Way" loyalty program, which offers personalized deals, coupons and points redeemable for merchandise. Developers retain rights to the actual code they write during the competition, though Sears said it may use ideas developed by contestants during the event.
Assuming Sears hires some of the contestants, Mr. Goley said that some code developed at the hackathon could serve as the "core of something that is really exciting for our members." But he said the way developers build software is as important as the execution of particular snippets because it allows him to see how they solve problems. He said this is "fantastic for a company that is trying to grow its tech force as much as we are."
Startups can win $40,000 for a "test budget" and a commitment from Sears to get their product to market this holiday season. Developers can win up to $10,000 in cash and prizes and an opportunity to work with Sears on independent projects. Judges will score the top 20 applications.
Source:http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-308753/
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