Russia's X5 retail group has announced that its subsidiary Omni has entered into a partnership with customs broker Unitrade to provide transportation, customs clearance, and delivery services for goods ordered from international e-commerce businesses.
The collaboration with Unitrade will result in cutting the time required for customs clearance of goods shipped from the online stores of partner companies.
X5 will transport goods from customs to consumers through its existing network of distribution centres.
'A Comprehensive Solution'
Kirill Durnov, CEO at Unitrade, said, "Our foreign partners have expressed strong interest in a comprehensive solution for the delivery of orders from a warehouse in China to the end customer."
"The option to pick up online orders in our stores is a major competitive advantage of our turnkey service, as it is time-saving for our customers. They can pick up their online orders while buying groceries," Durnov added.
Commenting on the partnership, logistics and operations director at X5 OMNI, Artem Kholin, said, "Unitrade has extensive experience with customs clearance for online orders, especially from China, and a long track record of working with leading international online stores and marketplaces."
A Nationwide Network
X5 Omni aims to build a nationwide package delivery network by leveraging the potential of X5's network of retail stores and logistics capabilities.
Director for Strategic Business Development at X5 Retail Group, Igor Pletnev, said, "Over 1 million parcels reach Russia from abroad every day, and the majority of them are online orders from various international marketplaces."
"The key objective of the X5 OMNI technology platform is to make the Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, and Karusel stores the most convenient parcel pickup locations for our guests," Pletnev pointed out.
The retail group delivers around 7,000 parcels on a daily basis from its 2,500 stores that have been equipped with parcel lockers and pick-up points.
By the end of 2020, parcel delivery services will be available in most X5 stores.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
