Group-shopping app is winner of Target’s Retail Accelerator contest

Minneapolis -- Target has announced the winner of the $75,000 grand prize in its Retail Accelerator contest: a mobile retail concept called “Divvy.” Jointly promoted by Target and Fast Company, the Retail Accelerator competition was designed to foster digital innovation in retail by challenging developers to build a new mobile experience for Target.



The Divvy concept is designed to improve the group shopping experience by allowing multiple users to update a shopping list in real time while making it easier to split the bill and distribute receipts. A group of New York-based digital developers and co-workers called Team Pilot submitted the winning application.



The Retail Accelerator drew more than 350 registrants and 76 completed entries between March and April 2013. Seven finalists were selected in May received $10,000 to build their concepts into functioning prototypes and then in June presented to a panel of Target executives.



“The Retail Accelerator set out to find fresh and innovative ideas for a new mobile experience for Target, and the developer community absolutely exceeded our expectations,” said Casey Carl, Target's president of multichannel and senior VP of enterprise strategy. “Selecting a winner wasn’t easy. But Team Pilot’s ability to make group shopping more convenient and seamless for guests made the project stand out above the others.”



Target is currently working toward a live rollout of Divvy.