Hermes and DPD have launched a joint venture to develop a network of Parcel Shops throughout Russia, to be branded Hermes-DPD and run as in-store counters working closely with well-known Russian retail chains.

The network already has 300 outlets set up, the companies said, spread through Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Krasnodar and Rostov-na-Donu.

By 2014, the companies said their network would boast 1,500 shops in 44 of the country’s major cities.

Tatyana Yampolskaya, the CEO of the Hermes-DPD network, said the new Parcel Shops would offer Russians an “attractive delivery option”.

“Above all customers now have the possibility of collecting the goods they have ordered from distance-selling companies at an easily accessible location and at any time that suits them. Thanks to the reliability and efficiency of the Hermes and DPD network, they will also benefit from very attractive delivery times,” said Tamploskaya.

Partners

Hermes-DPD is aiming to establish 1,500 Parcel Shops in Russia in the next three years

Driven by soaring popularity in e-commerce, the Russian distance-selling market is currently growing rapidly, with estimates of a 30% annual growth rate from last year’s 330bn RUB ($10.7 USD) revenue.

Hermes Europe COO Marc Dessing said the companies saw “enormous potential” in the Russian market.

“Together with DPD as a partner, we are extremely well positioned to make a strong entry into this market,” he said.

The new joint venture will build on the strengths of the two companies involved.

Hermes brings to the table its existing experience in running consumer-facing Parcel Shops around Europe, including 6,000 in Germany, to particularly push for business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer business in Russia. Its ownership by e-commerce and catalogue retail corporation Otto Group also gives it close ties to the distance selling market, with Otto Group already one of the major players in the Russian market.

DPD, part of La Poste’s GeoPost European parcel subsidiary, said it will provide the “operational backbone” in the joint venture, establishing a depot network in all of Russia’s regions.

Arnold Schroven, the DPD CEO said his company already provided a high-capacity network in Russia, covering 4,000 destinations in 70 of the country’s regions.

“With extraordinary growth rates such as 50% achieved in recent years, DPD has developed into the market leader in express shipping in Russia,” he said. “This strong position is not to be reinforced by expanded operations in Russia’s fast-growing mail-order segment.”

Source: Post&Parcel/DPD/Hermes

Tags: B2C parcels, DPD, Hermes, Parcel Shops, Russia