OXXO

Scaling Mexico's largest convenience store chain: How OXXO transformed property expansion through intelligent valuation management

When you're Mexico's largest convenience store chain with over 20,000 locations, every new store opening represents a calculated risk worth millions. For Coca-Cola FEMSA retail division, which operates OXXO, Caffenio, and Yza Pharmacys brands, the property valuation process had become a critical bottleneck threatening their ambitious expansion goals.


The answer came through a strategic partnership with LowCode Agency, resulting in a comprehensive valuation management platform that transformed how Coca-Cola FEMSA approaches retail expansion.

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The expansion challenge

As Mexico's retail giant, Coca-Cola FEMSA operates thousands of OXXO convenience stores across the country, with aggressive expansion plans requiring constant evaluation of new properties. Managing over 15,000 property valuations across multiple brands meant valuable time was lost to disorganized processes, which was a threat to any company moving at Coca-Cola FEMSA’s speed.

The real estate team's daily reality involved tracking dozens of external valuators working on hundreds of simultaneous projects, with no visibility into which valuations were on schedule, which were delayed, or which required immediate attention. Critical decisions about million-dollar properties were being made based on incomplete information scattered across email inboxes and personal spreadsheets.

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The stakes couldn't be higher. In retail, location determines success, and Coca-Cola FEMSA needed a system that could handle the volume and complexity of their property evaluation process while maintaining the accuracy required for strategic decision-making.

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Pain points threatening growth

• Fragmented communication channels: The communication between Coca-Cola FEMSA's internal real estate team and external valuators was scattered across emails, phone calls, and various document sharing platforms. Critical information was getting lost, duplicated, or delayed, creating bottlenecks in the valuation process.
• Lack of real-time visibility: With thousands of properties under evaluation at any given time, the real estate team had no centralized way to track the status of valuations. This lack of visibility made it impossible to prioritize urgent projects or identify bottlenecks before they became critical issues.
• Document management chaos: Property valuations generate massive amounts of documentation including reports, plans, legal documents, and analysis. Without a centralized repository, teams spent countless hours searching for specific documents, often requesting the same information multiple times from external valuators.
• Inconsistent reporting standards: Different external valuators used different formats and methodologies for their reports, making it difficult to compare properties or extract meaningful insights for strategic decision-making.
• Performance measurement challenges: Coca-Cola FEMSA had no systematic way to evaluate the performance of their external valuators, making it difficult to optimize their vendor relationships or ensure consistent quality standards.

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LowCode Agency's solution

We approached Coca-Cola FEMSA's challenge by designing a comprehensive valuation management platform built on Glide, chosen for its ability to handle complex workflows while maintaining the user-friendly interface essential for adoption across diverse user groups.

The platform architecture centered on five key modules that work together to create a seamless valuation management experience:

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Development process

Using Glide, we replaced manual, paper-based valuation workflows with a digital form that centralized data entry within the app, eliminating the need for external spreadsheets. Each valuation generates a standardized PDF via an external integration, ensuring consistency and easy sharing with stakeholders.

The interface was engineered for efficiency, so any property, applicant, or valuation can be accessed in under three clicks. Each request includes an interactive map pinpointing the property to be assessed, streamlining logistics for valuators.

A major challenge was migrating a legacy SQL database with thousands of records and ensuring complete data integrity. On the admin side, we developed intuitive dashboards with real-time filters, allowing the team to extract key information instantly.

Given Coca-Cola FEMSA’s scale, meeting strict security requirements was non-negotiable. Glide provided enterprise-grade security features, including:

• Encrypted data at rest and in transit (TLS 1.2+), 

• Role-based access control, user authentication via SSO

• Compliance with GDPR and CCPA. 

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All automations were handled through Make, a platform that follows strict international security certifications. This setup allowed the solution to pass Coca-Cola FEMSA’s security review with confidence.

In a platform where data is king, the app was built to make that data accessible, reliable, secure, and actionable.

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Results that drive expansion

The valuation management platform has fundamentally transformed how Coca-Cola FEMSA approaches property evaluation, delivering measurable improvements that extend far beyond operational efficiency.

• Immediate operational impact: The centralized platform reduced valuation processing time by 40% and provides complete visibility into all 15,000+ valuations through real-time dashboards. Streamlined communication eliminated coordination delays, enabling data-driven expansion decisions.
• Strategic competitive advantage: Faster property evaluation capabilities allow Coca-Cola FEMSA to secure prime retail real estate ahead of competitors. Standardized reporting ensures expansion decisions are based on complete, accurate information, reducing the risk of costly location mistakes.
• Scalable foundation for growth: The platform supports Coca-Cola FEMSA's continued expansion without requiring fundamental changes. Performance tracking enables ongoing optimization of external valuator relationships while maintaining quality standards.

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In Mexico's competitive retail market, this transformation from manual processes to intelligent automation provides Coca-Cola FEMSA with the speed and precision necessary to maintain their market leadership while scaling their operations efficiently.

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Conclusion

Coca-Cola FEMSA's valuation management platform demonstrates how focused technology solutions can solve critical business challenges while supporting ambitious growth strategies. By addressing the specific pain points in their property evaluation process, we delivered a platform that not only improves operational efficiency but also enhances Coca-Cola FEMSA's strategic capabilities.

The success of this project highlights the power of understanding complex business processes and applying the right technology to solve specific challenges. While the platform manages "just" property valuations, its impact ripples through Coca-Cola FEMSA's entire expansion strategy, enabling them to grow faster and more strategically than ever before.

For businesses managing complex operational processes that involve multiple stakeholders and significant documentation requirements, Coca-Cola FEMSA's transformation provides a compelling example of how the right platform can turn operational bottlenecks into competitive advantages.

Ready to transform your operational challenges into strategic advantages? Discover how a custom business automation platform can streamline your processes and accelerate your growth. Book a free discovery call with our team to explore what's possible for your organization.

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