Russian Post’s new service "Parcel Online" has generated strong shipping volumes exceeding one million parcels since its launch in the first half of 2015, with major internet shops such as Otto Group or La Redoute signing up for it.
Parcel Online has been specifically designed for e-commerce market players who ship more than 1,000 parcels on a monthly basis. Parcels weighing up to 5 kg are taken on in batches at Russian Post’s automated sorting centre in Podolsk near Moscow, and after priority handling, are delivered to 71 Russian cities. Russian Post guarantees on-time delivery at a fixed price of RUB 149 (€1.90) per shipment, VAT included.
"The main task of the new services for internet shops has been gaining back confidence of our corporate clients in Moscow and major cities in the country accounting for 70% of the e-commerce market. We not only offer clients favourable prices but also give them a guarantee of timely delivery. The results of the first months after the launch confirm that we have taken the right path and give us confidence that we will be able to regain the previously lost position on the delivery market,” Russian Post CEO Dmitry Strashnov said.
According to analysts, Russian Post’s share of the CEP market in Moscow and St. Petersburg didn’t exceed 4% in 2013. “Now, it amounts to 20-25%, according to our calculations”, Alexander Ivanov, President of the National Distance Trade Association, said. “I think this is due to various reasons including an increase in cross-border shipments, improved delivery times and the launch of services for e-commerce companies. The increase from 4% to 25% is great, it means that the confidence of customers in Russian Post comes back.”
Martin Schierer, CEO of Otto Group in Russia, said that the Parcel Online service is what the retailer needed for delivery in Moscow and the Moscow region. “The product was interesting, we decided to try it. We were surprised by the fact that Russian Post guarantees special delivery times and takes responsibility for it.” Russian Post has been cooperating with Otto Group for a long time and the two companies have partnered on several common projects.
Igor Gusev, CEO of major e-retailer La Redoute in Russia, commented: “The e-commerce market has been waiting for interesting products from Russian Post for a long time. We have been cooperating with Russian Post previously and then signed up to Parcel Online without interrupting our relationship. Thanks to close cooperation with Russian Post, we have reduced the delivery time of parcels and improved the service that informs customers about the status of their parcel. This has led to an increase in orders and reduced the number of unredeemed parcels.”
Zoran Vuksanovich, CEO of Studio Moderna, a leading multi-channel and direct-to-consumer electronic retailer in Central & Eastern Europe, went even further by saying that if Russian Post hadn’t invented Parcel Online, another company would have come up with a similar service due to the enormous e-commerce surge over the last few years.
“Certainly, the service is still new and market players are familiarising themselves with it, but we became interested in the service – our product fits in with weight restrictions and the geographical coverage of the service satisfies us.” Studio Moderna has a vertically integrated network reaching more than 300 million consumers across 20 countries.
