Bottom Line

"We are almost a year into using Vori, and I cannot imagine ever going back the other way.”

^{Victor, Director of Operations at Talin Market} 

By switching from RORC + BR Data to Vori:

+12% basket lift among loyalty members

+62% order count lift among loyalty members

-95% less time executing a price change (from 5 minutes to 15 seconds)

-67% less time ordering product per week (from 3 hours to 1 hour)

Overview

For more than 40 years, Talin Market has served as New Mexico’s largest international grocery store and one of the region’s most culturally vibrant destinations. Founded in 1980 by the parents of Director of Operations Victor Limary, who immigrated from Laos, the store began as a small garage shop created out of necessity to get certain products. As demand grew, it evolved into a globally focused market, offering products from Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Today, Victor Limary and Jocelyn Chao continue to preserve Talin’s identity as a place where food builds connection. Customers explore aisles named after world cities such as Havana, Bangkok, Bombay, and Tokyo, and often spend hours discovering new ingredients and meeting fellow shoppers. Talin serves as a cultural bridge for foodies and remains a gathering place for a diverse and growing community.

Despite Victor’s technical background as an engineer, even he struggled to keep Talin’s legacy systems running. The tools were never built for the volume, complexity, or international assortment the store managed each day. Keeping everything stitched together took time, late nights, and constant workarounds.

To support the store’s next stage of growth, Jocelyn and Victor turned to Vori to modernize operations and simplify the complexity of a global assortment.

Challenge

Outdated and fragmented technology

Before Vori, Talin operated on a combination of RORC for point-of-sale and BR Data for back-office, pricing, and inventory, all originally built decades earlier. These systems slowed down workflows, added friction to everyday tasks, and required constant maintenance. They also made it difficult to adopt new workflows or respond quickly to changes in the business.

“It was all legacy software built for an environment that existed 30 years ago… so much of my time was spent maintaining hardware and software instead of running the store… I ended up spending a lot of my time just being an IT guy.”

^{Victor, Director of Operations at Talin Market} 

‍Slow and error prone receiving

Receiving demanded manual line by line comparisons of individual invoices against the back office receiving logs.  With shipments arriving constantly from dozens of regions, the process was difficult to keep up with and shortages were often discovered too late to request vendor credits. The lack of real time verification meant the store frequently lost time and money resolving preventable issues.

“It might take days before we realized we were short on something, because we had to pull up the physical invoice, compare it to the back office screen, and match every item line by line.”

^{Jocelyn, Accounting Manager at Talin Market} 

Labor intensive ordering and maintenance

Weekly produce ordering regularly took several hours. Meanwhile, system upkeep required late night updates and frequent troubleshooting, pulling Victor away from managing the store. These recurring tasks created constant disruptions and reduced the time he could spend on operations and coaching the team.

“I used to spend two or three hours consolidating movement data for produce just to build a single order that was spread across multiple vendors.”

^{Victor, Director of Operations at Talin Market} 

Inability to launch loyalty

Despite years of requests, their previous provider never delivered a functioning loyalty program. This left the store without an effective way to reward frequent shoppers or encourage repeat visits.

Solution

A unified modern platform designed for grocery

After meeting the Vori team, Jocelyn and Victor recognized a system built specifically for grocery operations. Installation was completed within two weeks, giving Talin one unified platform to replace multiple fragmented systems.

Talin no longer needs to operate and maintain on-site servers, freeing up valuable resources that weren’t directly tied to operating a grocery store.

“I was very impressed with the team that came and met with us. They were willing to take time out to talk to us, answer our questions, and even show us what they were working on right there on a computer. You could see the development happening in real time… all these things we had been trying to implement ourselves, you guys were already doing. I do not have to support this myself. This is awesome.”

^{Victor, Director of Operations at Talin Market} 

Faster and more accurate receiving

Vori transformed receiving from a slow, manual process into a fast and precise workflow. Staff simply scan items as they arrive, and discrepancies appear instantly. This improvement protects margins and frees staff for higher value work.

“When we receive, the system tells us instantly which items are missing or short… and with Vori I can verify a small invoice in less than 60 seconds. I can receive and verify a large quantity of items in a minute and be done with it… before, it might take days before we realized we were short on something, because we had to pull up the physical invoice and match it line by line with the back office.”

^{Jocelyn, Accounting Manager at Talin Market} 

Streamlined ordering

Vori organizes movement history, vendor catalogs, and past orders in one place, allowing Talin to build accurate produce orders quickly. Large produce orders spanning multiple vendors and shipments once took 2 to 3 hours and can now be completed in under one hour.

“I used to do my own consolidation of movement data for our large produce orders, and that used to take me a good 2 to 3 hours to do… now it can be done in less than an hour, and I do not even have to do it myself anymore, it is so fast and just works so much faster. It is just more natural in how things work.”

^{Victor, Director of Operations at Talin Market}

Instant price changes

Price changes that previously took several minutes per item now take seconds and can be completed from anywhere in the store and with electronic shelf labels, from anywhere in the world. This speed is critical for a global assortment with frequent vendor price updates and rapidly changing international costs.

“In the past, even a single price change would take five or six minutes because we had to sit down at a computer, import it, export it, and run through the whole process… now with Vori I can change a price in seconds with electronic shelf labels (ESLs), right on the spot, and it no longer interrupts the day.”

^{Jocelyn, Accounting Manager at Talin Market}

A loyalty program that finally works

With Vori, Talin launched its first effective loyalty program. Instead of relying on discounts, Jocelyn designed rewards around free discovery items that reflect the store’s international identity.

“A free new item builds a relationship. A coupon does not. Vori gave us the tools to finally do loyalty right.”

^{Victor, Director of Operations at Talin Market}

Results

With Vori, Talin Market significantly reduced labor time across receiving, ordering, and pricing. Tasks that once required hours now take minutes, and operational accuracy has improved across the board. The store has regained time for customer service, merchandising, and community engagement.

These improvements have also strengthened overall customer engagement and created a more consistent and enjoyable shopper experience.

The new loyalty program has driven higher customer participation and stronger revenue performance. Vori now provides the operational backbone Talin needs to continue expanding while staying true to its cultural mission.

Why It Matters

For Victor and Jocelyn, Vori is more than a software upgrade. It allows them to shift their focus from maintaining outdated technology to strengthening a community hub that brings people together through food. With a dependable and modern platform, Talin Market is prepared for its next decade of growth.

About Talin Market

Founded in 1980, Talin Market is New Mexico’s largest international grocery store. With globally themed aisles and a mission centered on cultural connection, Talin serves as a community hub where customers discover ingredients, share traditions, and experience flavors from around the world.

Visit Talin Market

📍 88 Louisiana Blvd SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108

🕗 Daily: 9 AM – 6 PM

🌐 https://talinmarket.com/

📸 @talinmarket