Leadership Final Project — April 2026
The augmented dispatch engine for specialty retail
Yehuda Moskowitz  ·  Department of Business Administration, Saint Peter's University  ·  BA282-02: Leadership, Professor Guterman  ·  2026
Platform

Shelah

The dispatch dashboard

Driver App

Spanish-first · Multi-language

Next.js · Supabase · Vercel
01 / 19
The problem

Specialty grocery delivery runs on fragmented tools and undocumented knowledge.

A big challenge that independent retailers are facing is fragmented tools, because these systems do not communicate with each other, leading to expensive mistakes and double the work expended on tasks. Altogether, fragmented tools contribute to 20–30% loss in operational expenditures for retailers. This can be a substantial concern for business owners, especially considering that even the most successful grocery retailers operate on a 3.28% EBITDA margin with 25.8% of net sales allocated toward expenses, making every operational incident affect the owner's bottom line. There is a 57% employee turnover rate in the grocery industry, meaning that undocumented knowledge learned on the job is lost when employees leave. Furthermore, redeliveries and resolving customer delivery complaints cost retailers an average of $17.20 per failed delivery.
CURRENT STACK
MercatoScanovatorCompuDimePhoneClipboard
STORE OPERATIONS Mercato online orders ✕ CompuDime POS system ✕ Scanovator dispatch ✕ Phone calls ✕ Clipboard manual notes ✕ Fragmented · Siloed · No unified context
02 / 19
The problem

Six points leading to delivery failures.

Siloed order sources

Orders arrive from Mercato-hosted ecommerce and CompuDime POS. There is no unified view. Both systems require separate logins and training.

Fragmented communication

The communication between online order picking and delivery departments is conducted via radio, WhatsApp, and phone calls. This leads to inefficient and siloed messaging across the store.

Lost delivery context

Delivery context such as gate codes, bag types, and timing is inputted in a free-text note field typed by a cashier at the completion of purchases. This can cause the notes not to stand out on the delivery label, causing employees to miss important information at crucial points in the delivery process.

Tribal routing knowledge

Routing decisions live entirely in the delivery manager's head.

Staging blind spots

Missing bag at scan time: drivers know a box is missing, not what it is or where it is.

No unified order type view

Delivery, FedEx orders, pickups, and Grab & Go do not share a common system. Everything is managed manually.

03 / 19
Market opportunity

The demand is real, the tools are just broken.

$253.6B
U.S. independent retail grocery annual sales
$2.53B
Processed via online transaction — 1% of total
45%
Of all online grocery sales fulfilled via delivery
56%
Of online shoppers aged 18–34 expect same-day delivery as an option
U.S. independent retail grocery does $253.6B in annual sales with a total of $2.53B being processed via online transaction. As a derivative of that, 45% of all online grocery sales are fulfilled via delivery. We can determine the need for an intelligent delivery system by looking at the figures for total same-day deliveries in the United States, with 56% of all online shoppers aged 18–34 expecting it as an option for online purchases. As we can see, the opportunity for retailers to differentiate themselves from the competition by offering same-day delivery is decisive, considering strong customer demand for quick delivery fulfillment. Despite that, omnichannel grocers find it difficult to implement and to keep their customers satisfied because of siloed systems that do not communicate with each other effectively.
Initial target: Kosher stores doing 50+ deliveries per day.
Expanded: Specialty retail and ethnic grocery offering both in-store and online shopping share the same fragmentation problem nationwide.
04 / 19
The solution

Shelah, the dispatch dashboard that keeps humans in the loop

Unified order context MVP

In-store POS transactions and online Mercato orders in one queue. The pipeline strip shows incoming orders before delivery labels print.

Augmented routing engine MVP

The system is neighborhood-aware, weather-triggered, and packing-time-aware. The system suggests that the manager send a specific route sequence to a driver and the manager confirms.

Granular area codes MVP

BP1, BP2, FT, MAN, KEN, every order is tagged from address. For example, the algorithm treats deep Borough Park differently from surface Borough Park.

Spanish-first driver app MVP

The app uses turn-by-turn voice navigation, directs drivers to use a LIFO loading sequence, and interacts with drivers using gamified elements such as points for each scanned box and bonus points for routes finished quickly. Shelah is an app built for the actual workforce.

Proof-of-possession scan gate MVP

Vans cannot depart until every box and frozen bag is confirmed by scanning each box.

FedEx, Pickup, Grab & Go tabs MVP

Separate views for every order type. FedEx countdown clock. Pickup date filtering. Each category is managed without confusion.

Fun Fact: The name of our company is inspired by the Hebrew word "Shelach", pronounced with a guttural "ch", which means to "send". This makes it a very appropriate name choice for the platform, because Shelah's mission is to literally enable retailers to send deliveries in the most economical way possible.
05 / 19
How it works — Dashboard

The three-column mission control for delivery managers.

tap to explore
📦 Delivery
🏪 Pickup
📬 FedEx
🛍 Grab & Go
⛅ 84°FBP2 — add ice packs
PIPELINE — INCOMING BEFORE LABEL PRINTS
All
POS
Mercato
Urgent
ORDER QUEUE · 28 orders
Cohen, SarahBP1
6 boxes · by 2pm · ✓ Ready
Schwartz, MFT ⚠
12 boxes · by 1pm · Packing 65%
Goldberg, RBP2
4 boxes + 2 frozen · by 3pm
Levy, DKEN
8 boxes · by 4pm · Packing
Weiss, EMAN
3 boxes · by 5pm · Queued
+ 23 more orders
DELIVERY LANES · 4 active
Jorge · SprinterBP1 BP2
9/12 boxes · loading
Carlos · Cold vanMAN
5/12 boxes · loading
David · MinivanKEN FLA
11/12 boxes · ✓ Scan gate clear
Eli · ScooterBP1
2/8 boxes · loading
ACTIVE ROUTES · 3 drivers
Miguel · BP2ETA 2:50pm
5/9 delivered
Rafi · FT CHETA 3:30pm
3/10 delivered
Yossi · MANAll delivered
8/8 · returning to store
GPS gap — Shmuli
22 min · no signal
06 / 19
How it works: Driver app

Built for the actual workforce.

Mandatory daily login with personal credentials — every action associated to that driver. Tips, performance, and incentives tied to identity.
LIFO loading: boxes sequenced in reverse delivery order so the first stop is nearest the vehicle door. Frozen bags always loaded last in insulated carrier.
Scan gate blocks departure until all boxes and frozen bags are confirmed.
Alert banner shows delivery instructions upon arriving near the customer's address — voice readout in Spanish. Cannot be missed.
Silent dwell auto-mark: after 30 seconds within 50m and 5 minutes with no scan, system auto-marks delivered. No prompt — drivers cannot game the system.
Default dark mode to conserve the phone's battery throughout the day.
Collecting, scanning, and delivering are gamified for drivers, earning points for successful deliveries. This focuses their attention on the company provided (and owned) phones which encourages them to be efficient, as opposed to scrolling through Instagram or Tiktok on their own devices on self-allotted media breaks.
SHELAH DRIVER APP
tap tabs to explore
287
Points this week
94%
On-time
23
Deliveries
🔥7
Day streak
🥇 Jorge M.31 pts
🥈 Carlos R.26 pts
🥉 Miguel A.22 pts
Tips today: $14.50 →
07 / 19
Driver leaderboard

Daily performance scoreboard

23
Deliveries today
94%
On-time rate
287
Points this week
7-day delivery streak
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
Points are earned per delivery, on-time bonus, and customer rating. Tips flow directly to driver account. Per-box incentive tracking coming in V1.5.
TODAY'S LEADERBOARD
🥇
Jorge M.
31
+3
🥈
Carlos R.
26
+1
🥉
Miguel A.
22
—
4
David S.
19
—
08 / 19
Tech edge

Augmented dispatch. Not automated dispatch.

Serverless infrastructure

Next.js + Supabase + Vercel. Supabase uses WebSockets to provide instant real-time sync between the dashboard and the driver app.

Notes field NLP parser MVP

Converts cashier delivery remarks (unstructured data) into structured data the system can use, enabling intelligent delivery routing before the print module is built.

Shelah print module V1.5

Virtual printer driver intercepts CompuDime print jobs. Generates Shelah-formatted labels. Shelah owns the label, enabling refined staging intelligence.

Weather-triggered cold chain

OpenWeatherMap API. Alerts trigger above manager-set threshold (default 70°F). Cold van assigned to Manhattan first. Borough Park run — add ice packs to fridge boxes.

Pipeline strip MVP

Orders entering the system from Mercato or CompuDime appear in the pipeline strip above the dispatch queue before a label is printed. Once the label prints, the order moves automatically into the dispatch queue. The manager sees what is coming before it arrives.

i18n from day one

Spanish + English in the driver app and dashboard from day one. Yiddish, Hebrew, and Russian added to the manager dashboard in V1.5. Spanish and Yiddish are competitive differentiators, because Scanovator does not offer either.

Why augmented and not automated: at 3.28% EBITDA, a single wrong routing decision costs more than the entire margin benefit. Human oversight is a financial necessity.
09 / 19
Practicalities

Three physical spaces, one lean operation

1

Home office, Brooklyn — Development HQ

The founder will use a home-based office in Brooklyn to build the dashboard and app, and also to run routine business operations such as bookkeeping. He has chosen this space in order to keep expenses down to a minimum, especially for pre-revenue.
2

Pomegranate Supermarket, Brooklyn — Pilot Operations

We will use the building of Pomegranate Supermarket in order to test the software and its interactions with their CompuDime, their POS system and Mercato, their ecommerce host. Following that, we will test the dashboard with real orders and use it to send and manage deliveries. This space will mainly be used in the pilot stage of the business.
3

Brooklyn delivery zones — Field Operations

The driver vans and the roads in Brooklyn, NY will be used to test the driver app for bugs and other anomalies.
10 / 19
Leadership style

Visionary-Alchemist

"One who imagines possibilities that can benefit all members and brings them into reality."
— Archetypes of Leadership
I have applied the Visionary-Alchemist leadership style to this project by envisioning an advanced technological reality for hybrid grocery retail. This system helps independent stores empower their employees to perform efficiently, lowering total delivery costs, so that the businesses that pay their families' rent will have a fighting chance against AmazonFresh and Walmart and so retail employees will still have a job in five years instead of being replaced by robots.

Drivers

The app is a tool built for the driver's language and workflow. The inclusion of gamification elements instills a sense of pride and accomplishment in the drivers. The app also makes it easy for drivers to track their customers' tips and to transfer them to their bank account.

Customers

Deliveries will be on time with instructions reliably followed because the algorithm will use customer-chosen timeframes as a variable in suggesting routes to be sent to drivers. The alert banner that is triggered by geofencing ensures drivers see important notes before leaving the van, creating more satisfied customers and reducing their complaints.

11 / 19
Target audiences

Three distinct audiences, one platform

Primary — Kosher grocery owners (50+ deliveries/day)

Hybrid in-store and delivery operations using CompuDime POS and Mercato. Pain points: labor cost, delivery failures, manager burnout. Decision maker: owner or store manager.

Secondary — Ethnic groceries in the Tri-State area

Ethnic grocery stores servicing customers via 50+ deliveries per day with the same workforce demographics and tribal knowledge problem.

Tertiary — Specialty retailers in the United States

Specialty retailers nationally that share the same in-store and online delivery fragmentation.

PRIMARY
🏪
Kosher grocery
20–40 stores · Tri-State
SECONDARY
🛒
Ethnic grocery
Tri-State expansion
TERTIARY
🏬
Specialty retail
National
12 / 19
Marketing strategy

Primary & Secondary audiences

PRIMARY — KOSHER GROCERY OWNERS
1

Founder-led in-store demonstrations

The founder will solicit introduction from mutual contacts in the Kosher grocery community. Following that, we will pay direct visits to store owners and set up demonstrations using the store's order and delivery data, proving their current system is costing them real money in operational inefficiencies and redeliveries and showing them how Shelah does deliveries better.
2

Kosher Palooza trade event

Set up exhibitions at Kosher Palooza, an annual Jewish retail trade event featuring kosher food. This would allow us to connect with managers and decision makers in the kosher retail industry in a relaxed, out of the store, setting. One-pager with pilot metrics and QR code linking to this deck.
3

Mishpacha + Ami advertorials

Create an online and offline campaign using advertorials in the Mishpacha and Ami magazines to get people to vote for quicker deliveries from their local grocery store, making them more aware of the problem and also that an effective solution is available, if only the Shelah system is adopted.
SECONDARY — ETHNIC GROCERIES, TRI-STATE
1

Cold visits with live demos

Target ethnic grocery stores in the Tri-State area with visible delivery operations. The founder will pay cold visits to those stores, setting up impromptu meetings with managers and owners using the store's delivery data to prove operational savings via quick demos.
2

LinkedIn outreach + $15 gift card

Use LinkedIn for sending cold outreach messages to grocery operations managers and owners with a $15 gift card in exchange for a 5-minute call to understand their operation, helping them see where our product and their goals align.
3

Targeted email campaigns

Targeted email campaigns to grocery GMs using industry contact lists.
13 / 19
Marketing strategy

Tertiary audience & trial offer

TERTIARY — SPECIALTY RETAILERS, UNITED STATES
1

Ads on Faire and KeHE platforms

Placed on the Faire and KeHE platforms that specialty retailers already use daily to reorder product, reaching operations decision-makers in their existing workflow.
2

LinkedIn messaging campaigns

We will set up messaging campaigns on LinkedIn to target general store managers at specialty retail chains doing omnichannel sales and delivery across the nation.
3

B2B trade publication advertorials

Advertorial placements in publications such as Progressive Grocer and Specialty Food Association media, targeting the broader specialty retail operations audience.
30-day free trial
30-day free trial available on all tiers, no credit card required. This removes the "paying twice" friction for stores currently using Scanovator.
Launch tierPro tierEnterprise tier
14 / 19
Business model + pricing

Pricing

Flat-Rate SaaS. Augmented dispatch at every tier.
Launch
$299/mo
Up to 2,500 orders
POMEGRANATE TIER
Pro
$649/mo
Up to 9,500 orders
Enterprise
Custom
Unlimited · Regional chains
15 / 19
Competitive landscape

The only platform built for how specialty grocery actually operates

Feature
Shelah.ai
Scanovator
Onfleet
Market focus
Specialty/Kosher
Kosher only
Generic
Routing
AI-augmented
Manual sequence
Auto-dispatch
Driver language
Spanish
English only
Multi (generic)
POS integration
CompuDime native
Label pull only
API only
Staging awareness
Fridge/Freezer zones
Static only
None
Delivery notes
Alert banner + voice
Buried in text field
Notification only
Pricing
$649/mo flat
$95/driver/mo
$619–$1,349/mo
"Scanovator tells drivers they're missing boxes. Shelah tells them it's the frozen bag from Freezer Zone B."  ·  "Scanovator's app is a notepad replacement. Shelah is an intelligent dispatch engine."
How many drivers does your store have?
Drivers: 7  ·  ~3,997 orders/mo
Shelah.ai
$649/mo
Pro tier
Scanovator
$665/mo
$95 × drivers
Onfleet
$1,349/mo
AI tier, up to 5,000 orders
16 / 19
The Founder

Built by someone who lived the problem.

Yehuda Moskowitz
Founder, Shelah.ai
🎓 BBA Candidate, Saint Peter's
🏪 Director of Operations & Purchasing
👥 Oversaw 70+ employees
The founder of Shelah has 6 years experience managing grocery operations at Pomegranate Supermarket, an eight-figure Brooklyn retailer, as Director of Operations & Purchasing, overseeing 70+ employees across all departments. During his time there, he identified challenges with their operating systems — Mercato for online orders, CompuDime for POS, and Scanovator for delivery dispatch. The absence of full communication between these integral systems was directly responsible for employee overtime.
GROWTH
Achieved 6% revenue growth through strategic planning and vendor negotiations
TRANSFORMATION
Spearheaded digital integration of e-commerce and delivery operations
LEADERSHIP
Built high-performing teams, improving retention and organizational accountability
$175K
estimated annual
savings from process improvements
Following that recognition, the founder set up processes to increase interdepartmental communication, implemented cohesive organization goals, and reduced redundant work at the front-end — saving an estimated $150–200K annually before any new technology was in place. That is the baseline Shelah.ai is built to exceed.
17 / 19
Investors

Currently self-funded. Strategically positioned.

We are currently self-funded, but we have identified three potential investors should we decide to raise funds for quicker expansion.
1
Heshy Silberstein
Heshy Silberstein is an industry insider with over ten years' experience with retail operations. Heshy has liquid capital that he is actively seeking to invest in a venture and has already expressed interest in investing with us.
2
Clark Valberg
Clark Valberg is a VC with a strong interest in analytics automation. I have already connected him to my uncle in the past, following which he invested with him and is currently building a fast-growing tech company.
3
Reuven Moskowitz
Reuven Moskowitz is a former startup founder, having raised $50M for a venture, and a first cousin. He is currently serving as the COO of Morgan & Morgan, a top injury law firm in the United States.
18 / 19
The Roadmap

From dispatch engine to the operating layer for specialty retail

Startup

We have already purchased the domain name Shelah.ai through Cloudflare. Following that we need to setup accounts with Supabase, Vercel, Cursor, Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Google Workspace.

Phase 1

Build the system using vibe coding technologies such as Cursor. Pilot the system dashboard and driver app at Pomegranate Supermarket and in the roads of Brooklyn. Set up QuickBooks, a business account, Stripe for payment processing, and file as a C-Corp in New York State.

Phase 2

Onboard Kosher supermarkets in the Tri-State area.

Phase 3

Hire a salesperson to focus on support and onboarding additional stores including ethnic groceries in the Tri-State area.

Phase 4

Hire a developer to support the system and fix bugs as they occur. Target specialty and ethnic retailers located in densely populated cities across the United States.

19 / 19