Tesco is planning to hold a hackathon event in its head offices around the world simultaneously.

The grocery giant is planning to extend its use of hackathon events after success with the concept in the UK.

Hackathons are innovation events where software developers and other staff gather to think about and develop ideas to solve specific business questions or come up with new innovative new ideas. They have been used to develop new smartphone applications, for instance, or new web services for customers.

The events are seeping into retail after several years of popularity at companies such as Google. Tesco’s events – which have produced ideas such as its Tesco Discover app - have proven so successful that they are now held annually in the UK, while one hackathon has also been staged in India.

Tesco innovation manager Assunta Cucca said the next stage will be to extend the hackathon globally. She said all staff were encouraged to join in during the last UK hackathon, not just those with coding skills. “This not only helped different teams to work together, but also created a great environment for learning: some people built their first website at the hackathon,” she says.