H-E-B Digital aims to create products that help improve customers’ lives
How Tech Helps Take Care of Texans: Here at H-E-B, we work together with one main underlying goal, “to become the World’s Greatest Retailer.” The mantra you’ll often hear in our halls and zoom calls is “relentless dissatisfaction.” This mantra is our way of saying that we never settle and always look for new ways to serve our customers better. But how does a century-old company stay fresh and modern in the fast-paced world of retail?
Well, one way, we asked the people closest to the work – our Partners! H-E-B Digital hosted its first hackathon! A hackathon [ hak–uh-thon] is a design event where computer programmers and software designers collaborate intensively to create a solution to an existing problem in a short time frame, or sprint, using technology. These interactive events are great for team collaboration and innovation.
The goal of H-E-B Digital’s first hackathon was to make a final product that is relevant, simple, and high-quality – something Texans would be delighted to see offered from H-E-B. Teams from across H-E-B Digital were invited to submit design ideas for consideration in the competition. A panel of judges then made a final selection of entry designs. A total of 20 projects were accepted, and the teams got ready to hack!
Beyond creating new products, this hackathon was implemented to spur future innovation and provided a creative outlet for our Partners to experiment and collaborate through their initiatives.
“This is just the first of what we hope to be many, H-E-B Digital Hackathons,” said Gavin Gallagher, COO of Digital at H-E-B. “Collaborative team events are key to utilizing our talent in Digital to help us remain competitive in an ever-changing retail market. Plus, they’re a lot of fun.”
As H-E-B continues to strive to become the world’s greatest retailer, events and creative thinking like this hackathon help us imagine new ways to delight our customers and push the boundaries of what a people company that happens to sell groceries can do!
