DPD Russia has signed an agreement with the national telecommunications company Rostelecom to open 50 new Pickup parcel shops at its retail outlets across the country with the aim to expand the number to 200 pickup points by mid-2016.
From March onwards, Russian online shoppers can receive their parcels at the sales and service centres of Rostelecom in 30 cities of the North-Western, Ural and Siberian macro-regions including St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk and Kemerovo.
All sales and service centres of Rostelecom where the service is available are located in convenient locations for recipients: in the central and residential areas near the metro stations or public transport. Customers can pick up their orders during the opening times of the centres. They can also check the content of the parcel on site and pay in cash.
In the second quarter of 2016, DPD plans to expand the number of Pickup parcels shops at Rostelecom’s retail outlets to 200, with plans to launch the parcels pickup service in all regions where Rostelecom is present by the end of this year.
At the end of last year, DPD Russia’s network of Pickup points amounted to around 800 collection points across the country. By the end of this year, the company plans to extend it to 2,000 as part of its company’s strategic goal to become a leading service provider for the B2C segment.
"Currently, we see how the preferences of online shoppers are changing: they are more sensitive to price and are increasingly choosing delivery to parcel pickup points. In 2015, the demand for getting online orders at pickup points among DPD customers has increased from 10% to 23%,” Anna Matveyeva, head of the DPD partner network in Russia, said. “We pay attention to the changing requirements of the recipients and develop convenient and affordable delivery options in the first place."
Marina Bibikova, commercial director of Rostelecom’s retail network, added: "The popularity and demand for shopping at online stores is constantly growing, with more and more customers preferring order pickup points – you can pick up an order at a time that suits you and without additional agreements. Moreover, this delivery method is usually more economical. The retail network of Rostelecom covers all regions of the country, so that the inhabitants of remote and small communities can make online purchases quickly and receive their orders close to their home or work, to which the residents of big cities have already become used to."
