Oh Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven!®A success story fueled by customers’ needs “Give the customers what they want, when and where they want it.” Joe C. Thompson Jr. | 7‑Eleven Founder The 7‑Eleven brand is known and loved around the world, and our iconic products are a big part of the American culture. And although we’ve grown significantly over the years, our focus stays fixed on making life easier for customers. This simple idea is the reason we’re the marketplace leader. It’s also why our customers, employees, Franchisees and community leaders are proud to be part of the 7‑Eleven story. Nonstop Innovation & Customer Obsession We Did 7‑Eleven has a legacy of innovation. We were the first to provide to-go coffee cups, offer a self-serve soda fountain, operate for 24 hours a day, and yes, we even coined the phrase “BrainFreeze®” in honor of the world’s favorite frozen drink. Then came the innovation of some of our most popular menu items: the SLURPEE® drink, the BIG GULP® and then the BIG BITE®. Now, we continue our history of innovation and power it through digital initiatives. We Will From our humble beginning as the world’s first convenience store, 7‑Eleven continues its pursuit of innovative ways to cater to a new, digital-savvy generation of shoppers. As technology redefines how customers shop, we make sure to remain two steps ahead. At 7‑Eleven, we are customer-obsessed. We always poll customers to ensure we are bringing them solutions that they can’t even imagine. From offering convenient and user-friendly technology that earns our customers free products to having an ice-cold SLURPEE® drink delivered straight to their door, we are the leader in convenience and we constantly put our customers at the center of design and development. We Are It’s no secret: customers are starved for time as our world becomes increasingly connected and on the go. Our digital team strives to be at the forefront of innovation, providing effortless and convenient solutions for our customers’ needs before they even know to ask for them. We are committed to developing experiences of the future by bringing our stores to our customers wherever they are and whenever they need us. We are continuing our long-standing legacy of innovation through software and technology enhancements. We are transforming our business, one digital initiative at a time. We are redefining convenience. Learn More About Our Apps The best kind of neighbor Convenience may be our focus, but serving is our business. And that business extends beyond our stores into the communities where our customers, employees and Franchisees live, work and play. Being a great neighbor is all about investing and getting involved. It’s also about responsibility, which is one of our key business principals. That’s why we put such a focus on serving people, improving our products and protecting the planet. 7‑Eleven is proud to set the standard for responsible retailing in the convenience industry. Learn more Our Culture To lead, we serve 7‑Eleven has always been about serving the needs of our customers. This philosophy has also extended to our 7‑Eleven team, which is why our Leadership Principles play such a big part in our organization. To lead, we serve. It’s a big idea and it makes a tremendous difference in the lives of our customers, our Franchisees and our licensees. All kinds of people with one focus: making life easier We’re the convenience leader for a reason – and it has everything to do with our diverse and multi-talented team of men and women who are passionate about making life convenient. For decades – nine to be exact – we’ve counted on their unique perspectives to help us innovate and grow. They are the reasons we continue to lead in the industry. Room to move around and grow Cross-functional learning is not just allowed at 7‑Eleven, it’s applauded. We’ve got the size, stability and resources that make it possible for employees to find rewarding careers. People in all facets of our global organization discover opportunities with room to move around, try on new roles and discover untapped talents. We know that when people love what they do, everyone wins. A top-five franchisor 7‑Eleven is a brand that’s recognized worldwide. We’ve also made a reputable name for ourselves in the franchise business, and are consistently ranked as a top-five franchisor. A turnkey business model, world-class training, ongoing corporate support and special financing programs are available to increase the success rates of our Franchisees. The Store Support Center: the engine behind our stores If our stores are the fuel for busy communities, then our Store Support Center is the fuel for our stores. This is where the innovating, strategizing, forecasting, training and troubleshooting take place. From operations management and logistics to real estate, IT and human resources, our Store Support Center teams work hard to further our mission of convenience, not only for customers, but also for our Franchisees, employees and the communities we serve.

Oh Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven!®A success story fueled by customers’ needs “Give the customers what they want, when and where they want it.” Joe C. Thompson Jr. | 7‑Eleven Founder The 7‑Eleven brand is known and loved around the world, and our iconic products are a big part of the American culture. And although we’ve grown significantly over the years, our focus stays fixed on making life easier for customers. This simple idea is the reason we’re the marketplace leader. It’s also why our customers, employees, Franchisees and community leaders are proud to be part of the 7‑Eleven story. Nonstop Innovation & Customer Obsession We Did 7‑Eleven has a legacy of innovation. We were the first to provide to-go coffee cups, offer a self-serve soda fountain, operate for 24 hours a day, and yes, we even coined the phrase “BrainFreeze®” in honor of the world’s favorite frozen drink. Then came the innovation of some of our most popular menu items: the SLURPEE® drink, the BIG GULP® and then the BIG BITE®. Now, we continue our history of innovation and power it through digital initiatives. We Will From our humble beginning as the world’s first convenience store, 7‑Eleven continues its pursuit of innovative ways to cater to a new, digital-savvy generation of shoppers. As technology redefines how customers shop, we make sure to remain two steps ahead. At 7‑Eleven, we are customer-obsessed. We always poll customers to ensure we are bringing them solutions that they can’t even imagine. From offering convenient and user-friendly technology that earns our customers free products to having an ice-cold SLURPEE® drink delivered straight to their door, we are the leader in convenience and we constantly put our customers at the center of design and development. We Are It’s no secret: customers are starved for time as our world becomes increasingly connected and on the go. Our digital team strives to be at the forefront of innovation, providing effortless and convenient solutions for our customers’ needs before they even know to ask for them. We are committed to developing experiences of the future by bringing our stores to our customers wherever they are and whenever they need us. We are continuing our long-standing legacy of innovation through software and technology enhancements. We are transforming our business, one digital initiative at a time. We are redefining convenience. Learn More About Our Apps The best kind of neighbor Convenience may be our focus, but serving is our business. And that business extends beyond our stores into the communities where our customers, employees and Franchisees live, work and play. Being a great neighbor is all about investing and getting involved. It’s also about responsibility, which is one of our key business principals. That’s why we put such a focus on serving people, improving our products and protecting the planet. 7‑Eleven is proud to set the standard for responsible retailing in the convenience industry. Learn more Our Culture To lead, we serve 7‑Eleven has always been about serving the needs of our customers. This philosophy has also extended to our 7‑Eleven team, which is why our Leadership Principles play such a big part in our organization. To lead, we serve. It’s a big idea and it makes a tremendous difference in the lives of our customers, our Franchisees and our licensees. All kinds of people with one focus: making life easier We’re the convenience leader for a reason – and it has everything to do with our diverse and multi-talented team of men and women who are passionate about making life convenient. For decades – nine to be exact – we’ve counted on their unique perspectives to help us innovate and grow. They are the reasons we continue to lead in the industry. Room to move around and grow Cross-functional learning is not just allowed at 7‑Eleven, it’s applauded. We’ve got the size, stability and resources that make it possible for employees to find rewarding careers. People in all facets of our global organization discover opportunities with room to move around, try on new roles and discover untapped talents. We know that when people love what they do, everyone wins. A top-five franchisor 7‑Eleven is a brand that’s recognized worldwide. We’ve also made a reputable name for ourselves in the franchise business, and are consistently ranked as a top-five franchisor. A turnkey business model, world-class training, ongoing corporate support and special financing programs are available to increase the success rates of our Franchisees. The Store Support Center: the engine behind our stores If our stores are the fuel for busy communities, then our Store Support Center is the fuel for our stores. This is where the innovating, strategizing, forecasting, training and troubleshooting take place. From operations management and logistics to real estate, IT and human resources, our Store Support Center teams work hard to further our mission of convenience, not only for customers, but also for our Franchisees, employees and the communities we serve. Convenient Facts 7‑Eleven was the first convenience store to offer ATM services. The 7-Select brand was born in 2004. The #1 market in the world for Slurpee® sales is Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, followed by the greater Detroit, Michigan, area. When 7‑Eleven® started selling Slurpee® drinks they were called Icees. The 7-Eleven story in years 1927 The World's First To make life a little easier on his customers, “Uncle Johnny” Jefferson Green has the bright idea to start selling everyday staples from the dock of a local icehouse in Dallas, Texas. The world’s first convenience store is born. 1933 Drinks for Everyone Prohibition is repealed and the ice docks start selling beer and liquor, which dramatically impacts store growth. 1937 The Idea Spreads Southland Ice Company President and Founder Joe C. Thompson Jr. takes Uncle Johnny’s idea to other local ice docks. Within a decade, locations selling the new product line triple in numbers. The new “convenience stops” are called Tote’m Stores 1946 A New Name The name changes from Tote’m Stores to 7-Eleven to reflect the new extended hours – 7am to 11pm, seven days a week. 1950s Beyond Texas The one-stop shopping locations offer everything consumers need, including gas. New stores open in Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. 1963 Driving in Cars More and more people now own cars, which means the need for convenience is on the rise. 7-Eleven opens the 1,000th store – and counting. 1963 All Night Long A 7-Eleven location near a university in Austin stays open all night to accommodate students. The 24/7 idea is a hit and soon catches on in other locations. 1964 Franchise This 7-Eleven enters the franchising business with the purchase of several Speedee Mart franchises in California. 1965 The Drink Revolution It starts with the launch of the Slurpee® drink and the world’s first coffee to go. 1969 Crossing Borders 7-Eleven goes international and opens locations in Canada, bumping up the number of stores to 3,500. 1970s The Self-Service Movement 7-Eleven leads the way, offering self-serve gas and the first self-serve soda fountain. Americans are also introduced to the Big Gulp® fountain drink. 1980s World Traveler 7-Eleven continues opening new international locations, including stores in Australia, Sweden, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guam, Malaysia and the Philippines. 1990s Getting Healthy 7-Eleven starts shipping fresh food products daily to meet the needs of health-conscious consumers. Present No Signs of Stopping With 60,000 stores – and counting – located around the globe, we’re more determined than ever to continue innovating and delivering “what the customers want, when and where they want it.” Our leadership Demonstrating customer obsession to provide 21st century convenience. Ken Wakabayashi Senior Vice President and Head of International Ken Wakabayashi is the Senior Vice President and Head of International for 7‑Eleven, Inc. He also serves as a Board Director for 7‑Eleven Mexico. Ken began his career with Seven-Eleven Japan in 1994 and held positions in Operations and Corporate Planning before transitioning to Ito-Yokado Co., Ltd. in Overseas Finance in 2002. In 2004, Ken moved from Tokyo to Dallas and joined 7‑Eleven, Inc. as Director, Operations Support and was promoted to Vice President, Operations Support in 2006. After serving in a variety of leadership roles at 7‑Eleven, Inc., Ken went to Japan in 2014 for a one year assignment at Seven-Eleven Japan and returned to 7‑Eleven, Inc. in 2015 as the Senior Vice President of Planning. Ken has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Montevallo where he graduated Cum Laude in 1994. Ken is a collector of 7‑Eleven artifacts and memorabilia, and his favorite colors are Orange, Green and Red. He lives in Coppell, Texas with his wife Harumi and daughter Koharu.   Joseph M. DePinto President and Chief Executive Officer Joe DePinto is the President and CEO of 7‑Eleven, Inc. and leads the premier company in convenience retailing. Globally, there are more than 69,000 7‑Eleven stores of which some 11,800 stores are in North America. Before being appointed Chief Executive of 7‑Eleven, Inc. in 2005, Joe was President of GameStop Corporation. He has also held executive positions at PepsiCo, Inc. and Thornton Oil Corporation. Currently, Joe is a Board Director of 7‑Eleven, Inc., Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO: 3382), and is the Chairman of the Board of Brinker International (NYSE: EAT). In December 2017, Joe was appointed a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army. He also serves on the Board of the National Association of Convenience Stores, the Business Executives for National Security, the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, the UT Southwestern Medical Foundation, and the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation. Additionally, Joe is a Council member of the George W. Bush Presidential Center Military Service Initiative, the Kellogg School of Management Global Advisory Board, and the Dallas Stars Ownership Advisory Group. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Joe earned a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Management from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Stanley Reynolds Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Administrative Officer Stan Reynolds is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Administrative Officer for 7‑Eleven, Inc. He is responsible for the company’s Finance, Planning, Development, and Information Technology functions. Reynolds joined the company as Manager of Corporate Finance in 1997 and was named Assistant Treasurer in 2000. He was promoted to Vice President and Treasurer in 2001, added responsibility for strategic planning in 2005, and was named CFO later that year. In 2016, Reynolds assumed the additional role of Chief Administrative Officer. Prior to joining 7‑Eleven, Reynolds was Vice President in Corporate Banking at NationsBank and previously worked as a Staff Accountant at Ernst & Whinney. Reynolds was appointed to the Board of Directors of The Children’s Place, Inc. in November, 2014. He is a Certified Public Accountant and maintains professional memberships with Finance Executives International and the Association for Finance Professionals. Reynolds earned a MBA in finance from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree with summa cum laude honors from Henderson State University. Jack Stout Senior Vice President, Merchandising and Demand Chain Jack Stout is Senior Vice President, Merchandising and Demand Chain at 7‑Eleven, Inc. In this role, he is responsible for the company's merchandising operations, category management, new product introductions, new category and profit center development, store sets, marketing and merchandise communications, fresh foods and commissaries, as well as the combines distribution centers that serve 7‑Eleven, Inc.'s stores. He also is a member of 7‑Eleven's executive committee. Stout joined the company in 2003 as Operations Planning Manager. He went on to hold positions as Director of Store Development Strategy, Senior Director of National Franchise and Vice President of Business and Financial Planning prior to his joining the Merchandising Leadership team in 2015. Before joining 7‑Eleven, Stout served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, achieving the rank of Captain. He was awarded the Air Force Commendations Medal and selected as a Professional Performer by the Inspector General. After serving in the military, Stout held positions with TXU Energy and Booz Allen and Hamilton. He currently serves on the board of Café Momentum, a non-profit culinary and restaurant organization that provides mentoring, support and work experience to at-risk youth in North Texas. Stout Graduated from Duke University, Durham, N.C., where he studied Mathematics and earned his BS degree. He also holds a MS degree from Wright State University in Applied Statistics and an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Chris Tanco Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Tanco is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer for 7‑Eleven, Inc.  He leads all aspects of operations for 7‑Eleven’s stores and has the following functions reporting to him: Field Operations, Operations Support, Fuels, Franchising, and Canada Business Unit.  He continues to serve on the board of 7‑Eleven Mexico and represents 7‑Eleven, Inc.’s joint-venture interests there.  He is also a member of 7‑Eleven’s Executive Committee. Previously, Tanco was as an Executive Vice-President and led 7‑Eleven’s  International business that included the company’s global portfolio of more than 30,000 licensed, franchised and joint-venture stores operating in 18 countries. Before joining 7‑Eleven, Tanco was the Chief Franchise Officer for Pizza Hut. With nearly 20 years of experience, he served in various operations, international, general management, and franchise leadership roles with Yum Brands.  Prior to Yum, Tanco was a successful entrepreneur in the Philippines. Tanco holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Master’s degree from the University of Virginia Darden Business School.  Tanco speaks four languages and has lived and worked on several continents.  He serves on the boards of Catholic Charities of Dallas, 7‑Eleven Mexico, and Max’s Group Inc., the largest casual dining publicly traded firm in the Philippines. Rankin Gasaway Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Rankin Gasaway is senior vice president, general counsel and secretary for 7‑Eleven, Inc.  He leads the company’s legal, government affairs, compliance and asset protection teams. Prior to his appointment by Joe DePinto, president and CEO of 7‑Eleven, Inc., Rankin served as vice president and deputy general counsel for 7‑Eleven.  In this capacity, he was responsible for all legal support for human resources, merchandising, logistics, information systems, trademarks, environmental and general corporate matters. Rankin is a 25-year veteran of 7‑Eleven and has handled a variety of corporate matters during his tenure with the company.  He joined 7‑Eleven in December 1991 and served as senior counsel with primary responsibility for litigation and employment law. Rankin began his career as an associate at Gardere & Wynne.  He holds a bachelor's degree in government and law from the University of Texas, and earned a juris doctorate from Texas Tech University School of Law. Scott Hintz Senior Vice President, Human Resources Scott Hintz is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for 7‑Eleven, Inc.  He leads 7‑Eleven’s talent strategy including talent acquisition, talent management, training & development, total rewards, and employee relations.  He is also a member of 7‑Eleven’s Executive Committee. Scott has over 20 years of experience in compensation, benefits, international and HR business partner roles for industry leading companies including Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), Sabre, Essilor of America, and Maxus Energy.  He joined 7‑Eleven in 2005 and has served in a variety of leadership roles.  Scott has an extensive background in executive compensation working closely with Compensation Committees and Boards of Directors. Scott has a BA in economics from DePauw University and an MBA from the University of Illinois.  He lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife Lee and their three children.     Looking for franchise opportunities? Visit Franchising Want to start a career with us? Visit Careers Contact Us About Us Corporate Social Responsibility Media Contact Us Franchising Careers 7‑Eleven Consumer We are h

HOW 7 ELEVEN IS RIPPING OFF ITS WORKERS The lot of the average 7-Eleven worker in Australia is as simple as it is bleak: you get paid half the $24.50 an hour award rate - or less - and if you complain your boss threatens you with deportation. It’s highly illegal and goes against the Australian tenet of giving people living in this country a “fair go”. A joint investigation into 7-Eleven stores by Four Corners and Fairfax Media has found systemic underpayment of wages and the doctoring of payroll records within the country’s biggest convenience store chain. Politicians, lawyers and regulators all say something should be done to help these exploited and intimidated workers who are often are international students. Doctored time sheets and rosters, store financials with possibly understated wage bills, store reviews and explosive documents relating to payroll compliance from head office are further evidence that something is deeply rotten within the 7-Eleven Australia empire. Within days of the scandal breaking, the company is in crisis and has announced a “independent review” of wages and offered to buy out franchisees.

When 7-Eleven chairman Michael Smith bragged about the lengths the franchise giant had taken to compensate thousands of underpaid foreign workers, he failed to impress underpaid workers Manish and Anshu Mehra.7-Eleven's wage repayment program rejected the couple's $300,000-plus compensation claims on the basis of the "direct family relationship to the franchisees alleged to have been facilitating the underpayment".

Another 7-Eleven operator has been implicated in the convenience store chain’s “cash-back” wage exploitation scandal, in which workers were forced to withdraw and hand back part of their pay to their employer.The former operator of the 7-Eleven outlet in the heart of Melbourne’s legal precinct, near the corner of William and Little Lonsdale streets, has been found to have underpaid retail workers thousands of dollars throughout 2015-2016.

7-Eleven CDO And CIO Creates Experiences Of The Future For Customers Peter High Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Enterprise & Cloud Share to facebook Share to twitter Share to linkedin 7-Eleven is a big retailer. It operates 65,000 stores in 18 countries, has 55 million customers in stores on a daily basis, and conducts 20 billion transactions annually. Like most retailers, it is in need of transformation. Enter Gurmeet Singh. With a Ph.D. in Engineering from Rice, and stints with leading companies like FedEx, Intuit, and Capital One, Singh joined 7-Eleven in August of 2016 as the chief digital officer. He would add the chief information officer title in November 2017.  Singh joined the company with a mandate from 7-Eleven CEO Joseph DePinto to make the company a digital leader. Singh embarked on a multi-year journey to become a digitally-enabled organization, including a “full stack transformation” approach which encompasses consumer-facing technology, back-end technology, infrastructure, and the organizational stack. He also expanded the company's loyalty program from its initial focus on beverages to a full-fledged loyalty offering that is available on mobile, web, digital loyalty card, and even through chatbots. Singh notes that "the closest store to a customer today is in the palm of [his or her] hand," and he wanted to go beyond pushing customers from mobile into stores and allowing customers to interact with 7-Eleven on their terms, through the interface of their choice. To foster this, Singh's team helps the rest of the organization understand the art of the possible through constant experimentation with new technology. He describes his path to innovation in great detail herein.  (To listen to an unabridged audio version of this interview, please visit this link. This is the 38th interview in the CIO-plus series. To read the prior interviews with CIO-pluses from companies such as Intel, P&G, Biogen, Kroger, and Cardinal Health, please click this link. To read future articles in this series, please follow me on Twitter @PeterAHigh.) Peter High: You are the Chief Digital and Chief Information Officer of 7-Eleven. Could you describe your role? Today In: Tech Gurmeet Singh, Chief Digital and Chief Information Officer of 7-Eleven Credit: 7-Eleven Singh: I started at 7-Eleven as the Chief Digital Officer, with my primary responsibility being driving digital transformation. This company founded convenience at a global scale, with 65,000 stores in 18 countries, 55 million customers visiting the stores every day, and 20 billion transactions on an annual basis. You take that, and you overlay the consumer trends and the new technology trends like big data and digital payments, and you have the perfect formula for redefining convenience. PROMOTED Forbes Insights Deloitte BrandVoice  | Paid Program When It Comes To Readiness, The Fundamentals Still Matter .str-more-from-forbes .thumbnail-wrapper{margin:0 !important;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-opt-out{height:12px !important;width:12px !important;background-size:12px 12px !important;min-height:12px !important;max-height:12px !important;min-width:12px !important;max-width:12px !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-editorial-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-insights{display:inline-block !important;}.str-more-from-forbes h3.headline{font-size:0.7em;line-height:1.6em;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;margin:0.3em 0;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-bv{font-size:.9em;letter-spacing:0;margin-bottom:2px;} (function(){ var el = document.getElementsByClassName("ntv-ad")[0]; el.style.display = 'block'; })(); Forbes Insights Forbes BrandVoice  | Paid Program The Vizio D Is On Sale For $480 At Walmart .str-more-from-forbes .thumbnail-wrapper{margin:0 !important;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-opt-out{height:12px !important;width:12px !important;background-size:12px 12px !important;min-height:12px !important;max-height:12px !important;min-width:12px !important;max-width:12px !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-editorial-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-insights{display:inline-block !important;}.str-more-from-forbes h3.headline{font-size:0.7em;line-height:1.6em;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;margin:0.3em 0;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-bv{font-size:.9em;letter-spacing:0;margin-bottom:2px;} (function(){ var el = document.getElementsByClassName("ntv-ad")[0]; el.style.display = 'block'; })(); Forbes Insights Grads of Life BrandVoice  | Paid Program More Than What’s On Paper: Dedication Has Its Rewards .str-more-from-forbes .thumbnail-wrapper{margin:0 !important;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-opt-out{height:12px !important;width:12px !important;background-size:12px 12px !important;min-height:12px !important;max-height:12px !important;min-width:12px !important;max-width:12px !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-editorial-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-insights{display:inline-block !important;}.str-more-from-forbes h3.headline{font-size:0.7em;line-height:1.6em;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;margin:0.3em 0;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-bv{font-size:.9em;letter-spacing:0;margin-bottom:2px;} (function(){ var el = document.getElementsByClassName("ntv-ad")[0]; el.style.display = 'block'; })(); My role as the Chief Digital Officer is to make this happen for our customers, our franchisees, our store associates, and our employees. One of our strategic pillars is to become a digitally-enabled organization. In my role as the CDO, I set the strategy and the vision. We are developing new business models and new digital product experiences, which also includes establishing a product management discipline, user experience design, data scientists, digital marketers, and digital technologists. Technology is a key element of a digital transformation and it is also key to becoming a digitally-enabled company. Initially, we started off with what most companies have been doing and what most consulting companies have been citing as a strategic approach, which is building a two-tier architectural model. A two-tier architectural model means you have digital technology capabilities that are being developed at a higher speed, and then decoupled from that, you have your legacy enterprise systems which have longer release cycles at slower speeds. Additionally, enterprise and legacy work was being managed in long cycle processes as projects, not as products. Old models in any company are always changing, and they should be changing. They are a function of maturity of the company, the need of the hour, and the market factor. As we evaluated the speed of our transformation, we felt that we were not getting to the speed we needed. To get there, we needed what I call a full stack transformation. When I say full stack transformation, I am talking all the way from the consumer-facing technology to back-end technologies, all the way to infrastructure and cloud. It even goes beyond that to encompass the organizational stack. To bring more efficiency and effectiveness to our decisions, our prioritization, while driving the productization of IT, we decided to combine the CDO role and the CIO role. This allows us to drive vertical product slices while working on horizontal capabilities. If you are doing one after the other, you are taking too much time to get the business transformed. If you do not do a vertical slice, you do not know what customer problem you are trying to solve. Combining the functions gets us there faster. It is harder, but you end up driving more synergies. We drive higher team engagement. You speed up your transformation journey, and you end up creating a stronger pool of talent as one team. What we did was then combine digital and IT, which we call DIGIT, which is very much digital. High: You are clearly thinking multiple years out. The changes require hard work to be done in the near term to make the organization nimbler for the long term. How difficult was the process of selling this internally? Was it difficult in having your peers among the executive leadership understand the rationale behind all the hard work to be done in the near term for a better outcome for the long term? Singh: It was not that difficult, which is the great part of being at 7-Eleven. Our entire executive team meets regularly, and we often share our progress with each other. The key here was Joe DePinto, our CEO, and his vision and his desire to become a digitally-enabled organization and make it a strategic pillar. Joe is fully supportive of our full stack transformation. Once we realized that the change must be beyond our borders and immediate sphere of influence, it did not take long to gain executive buy-in. For us to move fast and drive the transformation we need, we can do both things together. It is all about talent. If we can get the right talent and the right people, we can make it happen. High: With so much technology change, people often focus on the technology. However, it is the people that are ultimately needed to drive that change. The skills necessary for this type of transformation are in great demand, and I am wondering how you attract top talent. How do you get top technical talent to come work for 7-Eleven? Singh: The talent needed to drive this kind of transformation is in high demand. However, based on my background at FedEx, Intuit, and Capital One, I am able to tell these talented individuals my story and show them what I can achieve at scale. Additionally, we have a great story and it is an incredible opportunity for anyone seeking out a problem who wants to be part of the solution. This story helped sell me on the organization, as I saw the company was sitting on such a strong infrastructure, and I knew we could do great things if we combined it with digital. Up until now, the success of 7-Eleven has been based on a strong operations team and a strong merchandising team. The success of the future is operations, plus merchandising, plus geeks. That is why we are looking for talent. We have been able to attract great talent, and as you start building momentum, it gets easier to attract more talent. That is why it is critical for us to go out and build stuff in the market and share the success. We want people to know what a huge opportunity we have. High: You have also set a goal to, "Redefine convenience with software." Can you describe what you mean by that and the methods of doing so? Singh: We have been a global leader in convenience, but just being physically convenient and having a store physically available, conveniently accessible, and open 24/7 is not enough for the future. The closest store to a customer today is in the palm of their hand. It is in their voices assistant, or their connected car, or their connected home. That is why I believe most retailers have struggled. Most of them do not think out of the box. They focus on creating the store of the future and driving traffic to the stores. At 7-Eleven we are focused on creating what I call “experiences of the future,” which are convenient and delightful. Our stores play an important role, but they are not the whole equation. When I talk about redefining convenience, I am talking about how we can be in the consumer's ecosystem of mobile devices and voice assistants and maps. We want to be wherever our customer is spending their time. When we bring the store to them, how will we bring it to them? We will bring it to them through partnerships, through delivery, and through APIs. To create these delightful experiences and in-store experiences, we require technology. We need to be acting like a software company, an API company, a big data company, and truly become a technology first company. For example, Airbnb, Amazon, and Uber are software companies at their core. Uber redefined convenience in the taxi business through software and ended up creating a new market. Another key element to redefining convenience with software is talent. We need to bring in the product management mindset to how we work, how we are agile, the design thinking, the technology to solve customer problems, and create a maker culture. High: You are also rethinking loyalty. You have the Seven Rewards programs. Could you talk about the evolution of that and the role that it plays in combination with some of the themes you have already discussed? Singh: At 7-Eleven, we want every customer interaction to be valuable and delightful. We can do this by building personalized connections with our customers. Loyalty becomes a key element of building those personalized connections. We have expanded our already successful loyalty program which is focused on what we call the cups program. When customers would buy six cups of our proprietary beverages, they will get the seventh one free. We have extended that in many ways. We give customers more ways to participate in the program. Before, it was only through the mobile app. We have since added mobile web, we added a loyalty card, and we added a digital loyalty card through our Facebook Messenger chatbot. That gives our customers more ways to engage with the program. We also give them more ways to earn and drive more engagement. Customers can earn points on most items they purchase and get bonus points. It creates this gamification aspect because they can earn points here and then they can earn more points when they buy more. It gets our customers more engaged with our program. They can choose to redeem these points through a menu of products in the store, which is something we have expanded as well. Think about the program going from only a cups program to more ways to engage, more ways to join, more ways to earn, and more ways to get value out of the program. We have 12 million users of our app, and our App Store ratings have increased substantially. We went from an iOS rating of 1.5 to 4.8. On the food and drink category in the App Store, we were as high as number four. If you look across all apps, we were at number 57 very recently. That speaks to the new user experience we provided in the app and all the new capabilities we are offering our customers. High: Customers have evolved to the point where they now expect mobile and digital technology to complement the physical experiences of traditional retail. Can you talk about the methods that you use to keep up with these evolving desires? Singh: Being usable is not good enough. You must create experiences that delight the customer and drive emotion. Users are expecting things to just happen for them. Customers expect recommendations, frictionless experiences, and for things to just happen. You have to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and be conscious of the customer journey. This includes not just the journey of today’s customer but the potential journey of the customer tomorrow. Additionally, being able to provide the customer more than what they expected, what I like to call innovating the customer, is critical. An example I like to use is the combination of user interfaces and new technologies. Specifically, voice search and voice technology is something I find quite interesting because it can really drive new user experiences. Data tells us that 50% of all future searches will be voice searches. This is an example of a frictionless experience because while a typical person can only type 40 words per minute, they can speak 150 per minute, which drives the new user experience. Technology has become part of the equation, but the number one thing is we want to look at what the journey is, where the pain points are, and what problems we are trying to solve. All that goes back to the methodology of design thinking, journey mapping, and the whole product management mindset. We do A/B testing and build minimal viable products. Doing this continuous learning helps you evolve. These are the types of combinations we are looking at when we think about the customer journey and friction points. We are focused on delighting them and anticipating what they want even if they did not ask for it. First, we think through the experience, and then we think about what technologies can drive that experience. These are the technologies we continuously test and make improvements on. High: You mentioned machine learning and voice-enabled technology. These are a couple of examples of a broader panoply of emerging technologies that you and your team are experimenting with. Could you talk about your thought process on engaging with some of these newer technologies? Do you have a portion of your team that is focused on the art of the possible or an innovation lab? Singh: To become a full stack technology organization and provide these experiences to the customers, a lot of the back-end technologies have to move from batch oriented to real time. Hence, the combination of transformation cannot be only on one layer. It must cut across all the layers. We are putting together an R&D center, but we already test new technologies. We have a CTO function that reports to me. Part of the purview of that CTO function is to test new technologies and conduct proof of concepts. The way we think about them is in two categories. One is technologies that are already proven and are ready to scale. Number two is what we call emerging technologies. We are building capabilities with production-ready technologies even beyond things like serverless microservices-based architectures, chatbots, big data, and AI. These are areas where we are looking to scale as we drive the business benefits back to our customers, back to our store associates, back to our franchisees, and even back to our internal stakeholders like merchandising and operations. For the emerging technology, what we do is closely watch and actively experiment. Today, a lot of software libraries are open-sourced, such as TensorFlow from Google. They allow others to experiment because they want companies creating proof of concepts (POCs) with them. Facebook Messenger is one example where we leveraged the chatbot for loyalty signup. That has not been done before. We were able to take the physical card and convert that into a digital card on Facebook Messenger. We are continuously trying to experiment with technologies like blockchain, and we are building POCs to validate and test in the market. We are going to formalize a full R&D group into an innovation lab, but while that is going on, that is not stopping us from testing these things. From an emerging technology and testing approach, the fact that we have a global scale and presence is a huge benefit. Not long ago, I wrote a blog post on LinkedIn titled “Thinking Glocally” which means think globally and act locally. The customer trends and technology trends that we are encountering today are global. I have visited Korea and China, and I see that all these countries are facing the same customer and technology trends. Of course, they may be at different stages of maturity, and some are leaping ahead. When I was in China, I saw the massive adoption of digital payments. I was surprised that the US is so behind with digital payments compared to what I saw in China, which is primarily driven by WeChat and AliPay. When I visited our South Korea team, they had introduced an interesting concept of biometrics and unmanned stores with pay-by-hand. What I learned was the veins in your palm are better for biometric authentication than your fingerprints. They are more secure and more sanitary. You end up registering your palm, link it to a payment method, and off you go. Our stores in Thailand just announced the launch of facial recognition. Beyond our labs, these stores give us a presence in the world and provide an opportunity to test. We do not have to prioritize them here, we can test them outside, bring them back, and vice versa. That has helped us in multiple ways on experimenting with emerging technologies and testing new concepts. All of this is in service to the customer experience and the store experience. Peter High is President of Metis Strategy, a business and IT advisory firm. His latest book is Implementing World Class IT Strategy. He is also the author of World Class IT: Why Businesses Succeed When IT Triumphs. Peter moderates the Forum on World Class IT podcast series. He speaks at conferences around the world. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh.