In the heart of Polanco, behind a discreet, signless facade, something happens that doesn’t resemble a supermarket, although, in essence, it is. There are no shopping carts, no cash registers, and no customers strolling through aisles; there is silence, concentration, and a precise choreography that begins with a sound : the sound of an order being placed on a cell phone.
There, in that dark store , begins the story of an alliance between Selecto Chedraui and Rappi Turbo that seeks to redefine how Mexicans shop.
What happens inside is designed to remain hidden. It’s part of a model that, as its name suggests, operates in the shadows of traditional retail .
But what is revealed upon entering is anything but opaque: compact shelves, routes calculated down to the millimeter, and a logistics system that responds not to display, but to speed .
The model has a physical base, but its logistics are entirely digital. These dark stores function as logistics hubs where inventory, data analytics, and last-mile delivery converge.
In other words, the store ceases to be a point of sale and becomes a cog in a network that responds in real time to demand.
There are more than 80 stores of this type planned in eight cities across the country: Mexico City, Querétaro, Puebla, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Saltillo, Mérida and Cancún ; with an investment of more than five million dollars (mdd) to strengthen technological and logistical infrastructure.
In each store, the selection can range from five thousand to seven thousand products, tailored to the specific micro-zone. Algorithms determine what sells best, at what time, and in which neighborhood. In this way, the supermarket becomes personalized without the user even noticing.
“We designed the assortment to sell, not to display,” summarized Dennys Espinoza, deputy director of Omnichannel at Chedraui.
The new promise of retail
For years, e-commerce has faced a dilemma: speed or price. Immediacy usually meant higher costs. This alliance seeks to break that trade-off .
“You can have a complete basket, at a competitive price, with the immediacy of Rappi,” Espinoza said.
The formula combines Chedraui’s more than 100 years of retail experience with Rappi Turbo’s technology and logistical capabilities . The result is a model that competes not only with traditional e-commerce , but also with convenience stores and, in some cases, with brick-and-mortar supermarkets.
And that is beginning to be reflected in consumer behavior.
“When you have this option, you no longer hesitate about going out or not. It starts to change the habit,” warned Andrés Palacio, director of Rappi Turbo for Mexico.
But behind the 10-minute promise lies a complex machine : artificial intelligence that predicts demand, systems that assign orders and routes in real time, temperature control to guarantee cold products, and a logistics network that is constantly adjusting.
Even the most everyday details are thought out: avocados at different stages of ripeness, already cold beer, or the development of a solution to deliver hot tortillas.
Everything happens in a space that isn’t in the city center, but on its strategic periphery. From there, the invisible store supplies entire neighborhoods.
The alliance between Rappi Turbo and Selecto Chedraui opened the doors of one of its dark stores to witness the active scene, which begins when an order comes in. Nayeli, who works as a picker, takes out her cell phone, follows the route indicated by the system, and in less than a minute, has a product ready.
The standard, the team explained, is around one minute and ten seconds. After that, the order is passed on to a delivery driver who is already on their way, because everything happens simultaneously here.
That is the heart of the alliance, an operation that promises to deliver a complete supermarket basket in less than 10 minutes, without sacrificing price or assortment.
“What we are building is the future of retail ,” Dennys Espinoza emphasized.
And it doesn’t present it as an incremental evolution , but as a change of logic: stop thinking about planned purchases and start attending to immediate, almost impulsive needs, but with the depth of a complete supermarket.
Because this isn’t just about “forgetting” items or last-minute purchases. The goal is more ambitious: to cover all consumption occasions throughout the day. From a missing breakfast, an unprepared avocado, a mid-afternoon craving, or even medication in the middle of the night.
Towards frictionless retail
The alliance, which has been in development for more than a year, comes at a key moment in an environment of high consumption and events such as the 2026 World Cup that will increase the demand for convenience.
The goal is to expand rapidly, cover more cities, and continue pushing a model that, for now, hasn’t reached its peak. “We continue to grow every day,” the team acknowledged.
Comment and follow us on LinkedIn: @Jennifer Galindo / @GrupoT21
