Oxxo corner stores are cashing in on Mexican e-commerce

Stroll the aisles of any Oxxo in Mexico and you will find the staples of convenience store sustenance: beer, cigarettes, enough candy to keep dentists at full employment.

Look closer and you will see this old-school chain is a linchpin of the country's e-commerce. The retailer, with more than 17,000 locations throughout Mexico, has cracked two of the biggest barriers to online shopping in the developing world: payments and pickup.

Shoppers lacking bank accounts - more than 60 percent of Mexico's population - can plunk down cash at their local Oxxo to make purchases from more than . . .