Sometimes, one technology must wait for others to develop. Salomon Mishaan founded OXXO Care Cleaners more than 15 years ago with new, innovative ideas about dry cleaning. Not only did he want to make the process greener, he also thought that the 24-hour drop-off and pickup doors he’d seen in Europe would make sense in the U.S. They were a hit-the first such to be avail­able at dry cleaning franchises-but not until Skyping and mobile apps became available could he offer his customers a communication method that matched the convenience of the 24-hour doors.

To complete his customer service vision, Mishaan stuck with the same developer that had produced his point­of-sale software. The resulting app al­lows customers to use their phones to retrieve their clothing and receive notices tracking the status of their garments throughout the cleaning process. The app also allows OXXO to send custom­ers coupons and for customers to share their comments online.

The app is still in its beta phase, but Mishaan knows customers are happy to trade their OXXO card for a smartphone app. And he’s not finished innovating. For example, drones could make deliver­ies-OXXO drones, he jokes. But maybe it’s not so wild an idea. “When we talked about the 24-hour door all those years ago, people said, ‘Wow,”‘ he recalls. Now they’re in all 50 of OXXO’s stores.