At the Talkpush Americas Summit 2025, Gerardo Trejón from ICONN –the holding group that operates 7-Eleven México– shared a four-year transformation story: how they moved from fragmented, manual hiring to a scalable, data-driven, AI-ready talent acquisition model for high-volume retail.
His core message was simple: this is not only about technology. It is about culture, operational clarity, and discipline inside Talent Acquisition.
The context: hiring at scale in Mexican retail
Hiring in retail in Mexico comes with unique complexity:
- Some regions have plenty of talent and plenty of job options.
- Others have a large population but fewer qualified candidates.
- Turnover in retail can easily exceed 100%.
- 7-Eleven operates 24/7, with shifts, weekends and holidays that complicate staffing.
- Each store serves hundreds of customers a day, so staffing gaps are immediately visible.
With more than 24,000 employees across multiple brands (7-Eleven stores, fuel stations, warehouses and logistics centers), ICONN needed a hiring model that could scale, remain consistent, and still feel human to both candidates and store managers.
The starting point: fragmented processes and a first mistake
Four years ago, each brand inside ICONN recruited “the best way they could.”
There were flyers, posters, different messages per store, different criteria and little standardization.
The first attempt at fixing this was predictable:
“Let’s buy a technology and that will transform everything.”
As Gerardo candidly admitted: it was a big mistake.
The tool didn’t fit the operating model.
The culture rejected it.
The initiative stalled.
The key lesson: technology cannot lead the transformation.
The model, processes and people must come first; technology comes after.
The four pillars of the transformation
After that experience, ICONN rebuilt its Talent Acquisition strategy on four pillars:
1. Define the operating model before choosing technology
They first answered questions like:
- How do we want to work?
- What does “great” look like in Talent Acquisition?
- What experience should candidates have?
- How should the hiring manager be involved?
Only after having those answers did they choose Talkpush as the enabling platform.
2. Build the right team
Historically, recruiting roles were treated as “anyone can do this,” and TA teams suffered turnover above 60%.
Today, TA turnover is below 20%, thanks to:
- Clear role profiles and structure
- Better compensation models
- Formal training and tools that actually help
- Defined development and career paths
Recruiting is no longer “more art than science.” It’s a function with clear processes, metrics, and targets.
3. Invest in a strong employer brand
ICONN launched the “Tu éxito, nuestro objetivo” (“Your success, our goal”) campaign, aligned with its cultural DNA and aimed at both corporate and frontline audiences across stores, fuel stations and logistics nodes.
Their employer branding approach:
- Is multichannel (in-store, social media, digital campaigns).
- Uses current trends and formats, while protecting the corporate image.
- Leverages internal ambassadors through a “speakers” program of employees who voluntarily share their experience on social media.
The idea is that what a candidate sees in-store matches what they see on Facebook, Instagram and other digital touchpoints.
4. Choose the technology that enables everything else
Only after the model, team and brand were aligned did ICONN bring in Talkpush to:
- Centralize all multichannel candidate inflow.
- Standardize hiring workflows across regions.
- Measure every stage of the funnel.
- Improve the experience for recruiters and hiring managers.
- Prepare for deeper AI integration over time.
From tactical to strategic: the “multichannel” model
ION adopted a multichannel capture strategy:
- Everything candidates see offline (store signage, activations, job fairs) is aligned with what they see online (social media campaigns, job ads, landing pages).
- Recruiters split their time between field activities and digital sourcing.
- All channels lead into the same funnel, managed through Talkpush.
This provided an integrated view of the candidate journey and a strong foundation for automation and AI.
Process, metrics and operational discipline
Before discussing AI, ICONN focused on:
- Documenting processes and policies.
- Defining service standards and response times.
- Setting KPIs per region, per store cluster and per recruiter.
- Measuring continuously to know where and how to intervene.
As Gerardo put it, what you don’t measure, you cannot improve—and in convenience retail, both speed and precision are critical.
The role of Talkpush in the evolution
Over the past years, ICONN and Talkpush have collaborated in three main areas:
- Digital sourcing and Meta relationship
As managing campaigns directly with Meta became more complex, Talkpush’s support as a technical and strategic intermediary became a real advantage, helping keep a strong presence on social media and a steady candidate pipeline.
- Standardization and regional adoption
Some regions adopted the new model quickly (Matamoros, Reynosa, Tijuana, certain areas of Mexico City); others progressed more slowly.
Sharing best practices across regions has been key to reducing fear and normalizing the use of the platform.
- Data for decision-making
With Talkpush, ION can now see how many candidates enter, complete, advance and convert into hires, and adjust tactics in real time.
The results: digital hiring at scale
The numbers Gerardo shared are strong:
- 60% of all hires now come from digital channels.
- 80% of candidates who start the process on the platform complete the conversation.
- 30% of those completions convert into hires.
- More than MXN $4 million in recruitment cost savings.
- Historically low vacancy levels in critical points of sale.
In an industry where reducing attraction costs is notoriously difficult, this impact is significant.
What’s next: AI for convenience retail
The next chapter for ICONN is to fully integrate AI capabilities into its talent operation:
- Deeper automation of screening.
- Better prioritization of high-fit candidates.
- Decision support for hiring managers.
- Smarter, more timely candidate communications.
Expectations are high, and the learning will be mutual: Talkpush continues to adapt its solutions to convenience retail realities, and ICONN brings the on-the-ground expertise of a company that hires thousands of people a year.
A blueprint for the future of high-volume hiring
The 7-Eleven México and ION story shows that scaling convenience retail hiring with AI takes more than a tool:
- A clear operating model
- A well-structured and well-supported TA team
- A credible, attractive employer brand
- Disciplined processes and metrics
- Technology that supports the strategy
- And, increasingly, AI working in service of people
It is a roadmap that other retailers in Mexico and across Latin America can use as a reference to modernize their Talent Acquisition function.
