Russia’s Ozon has opened a new fulfilment centre in Novosibirsk, at the PNK Park Tolmachevo logistics complex.
The fulfilment hub is the e-commerce company's largest logistics centre in the Siberian Federal District and the group hopes its establishment means that local sellers will find it easier to access the platform's marketplace.
Ozon Fulfilment Centre
Ozon's fulfilment centre will have a floor area of 14,000 square metres, with the possibility of expanding it to a maximum of 64,000 square metres in the future.
The fulfilment centre can process more than 85,000 parcels per day.
Ozon invested RUB 600 million into the first construction phase of the fulfilment centre and plans to invest a total of almost RUB 3.5 billion (approx. €39 million) into the facility within four years.
A majority of the funding will be used to purchase high-tech equipment and create proprietary IT systems to automate operations, Ozon said.
Job Creation
The opening of the fulfilment centre will create around 1,000 new jobs in the Novosibirsk region in the logistics hub alone, as well as attracting new couriers and partners to Ozon’s network of delivery pick-up points.
Mikhail Chebotnikov, director of logistics in the Siberian region, Ozon, said "Ozon’s mission is to support entrepreneurs who want to develop their online sales. This support is particularly needed in the regions where small and medium-sized businesses dominate, and by support we mean comprehensive assistance.
"Logistics hubs play a key role in this support network. They ensure that sellers no longer need to incur costs for transportation to central warehouses. At the same time, they enable goods to appear on the site much faster and be delivered with greater speed, making it easier and more profitable to sell online.”
E-Commerce Growth
The group hopes the arrival of a large logistics facility will increase e-commerce activities in the region, which accounted for only 8.1% of the total retail market in 2020.
At the end of 2020, Ozon's turnover in the Siberian Federal District grew by 3.5 times year-on-year.
Sellers from the region earned RUB 1.3 billion with the help of the Ozon marketplace and currently more than 1,600 entrepreneurs from the region sell their goods on Ozon, which recently enhanced its financial services functions.
To make deliveries more convenient, Ozon is developing a last-mile network in the Siberian region that already includes more than 1,000 Ozon-branded parcel lockers and in-person pick-up points.
The fulfilment centre is being opened in partnership with PNK Group, a Russian developer of industrial facilities, which carried out the project on built-to-lease terms at the PNK Park Tolmachevo industrial grounds.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Conor Farrelly. For more A-Brands news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
