The Store of the Future

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is just passing the time. Action with vision is making a positive difference." Jack Welch

By Moisés Galindo, Published Grupo Reforma March 4, 2019

The first store of the future in Latin America was presented at the ANTAD Expo, on February 28, 1994; after another invitation to give a conference, I shared with the event organizers that technology is always easier to understand if you are allowed to play, touch and see it in action, than to explain in words how it works.

Optionally, instead of a conference, I proposed setting up a store using the most advanced technology available at the time, to be exhibited during the three days of the event. At that time, conferences were presented at the Fiesta Americana Hotel.

Seeing, touching and playing became a reality for those who attended VER2000; developing this idea took us a semester, with an investment of US$100,000 dollars to design, set up and dismantle it.

Imagining something different requires a different vision. This is how this project began, researching, evaluating and integrating the available technologies, prototypes of products and above all a great teamwork of those who joined financially and technologically.

Living this experience of collaboration between such different companies allowed us to reproduce the complex reality that a commercial chain lives. Definitely without the support of AC Nielsen, Almor, American Refrigeration, Berkel, IBM, Monarch Marking Systems, Unimicro/Telxon and Versatil The IT Company, who participated presenting innovative concepts, without mentioning their brand or their products, this dream seemed impossible.

Experiencing this moment again led me to review memories and videos of this event. There Saúl Cantú Saldaña shared with us the importance of making a balance between Consumers, collaborators and shareholder satisfaction when unifying the criteria for adopting technology https://youtu.be/cTbku0kNmqU.

Achieving successful changes demands asking: What should your business gain when it includes technology in its processes? a) Having clearly identified the benefit of adopting it, b) Complying with the cost and deadline, c) That managers and collaborators are involved in the process, d) Directing efforts to improve the process, so that it is consistent, lean, reducing the consumption of resources, and e) Identifying the impact of cultural changes.

The success of VER2000 is incredible, getting managers, suppliers, federal government secretaries and participants in Expo ANTAD to reserve time to visit the store. Fourteen days later Mauricio Castro Wright, participant in the first presentation, called us to design the future of www.corporacionfavorita.com; back then they sold for US$150, today they almost reach US$2,000 million.

I briefly share that the store was presented annually for a decade, allowing both merchants and suppliers to learn from each other.

I remember that nothing is free, one day we migrated to the Expo Guadalajara facilities, where we also pay for each square meter we use.

As time went by, more suppliers participated, thus showing different ideas for the same process, such as sales operations.

Delighting the Smart Consumer with incredible and magical shopping experiences requires that your commercial establishments adopt the use of innovative technologies in each of their processes. IIIy. "Carpe diem".