
Russian food retailer X5 Retail Group has opened a new 34,000ft² distribution centre (DC) in Yaroslavl.
The facility will serve more than 500 Pyaterochka stores of the company located in Yaroslavl, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Ivanovo and Kostroma regions.
It will be used to handle and store products from over 500 suppliers, as well as assist local suppliers to increase their sales, transport products to other regions and reduce delivery costs.
The facility will also feature six separate temperature zones to store products of any category.
In addition, X5 Retail Group unveiled Perekrestok online supermarket in St Petersburg as part of its omnichannel business development strategy.
Customers from St Petersburg and surrounding areas can now place online orders on perekrestok.ru. The online service is currently available in Moscow.
The company’s new format dark store will handle all the online orders. Dark store is only accessible to personnel responsible for picking and delivering perekrestok.ru online orders.
Perekrestok online store offers a range of products including 15,000 SKUs and employs around 200 people and a fleet of 20 delivery vans to serve customers.
Perekrestok eCommerce director Denis Vasiliev said: “E-commerce has significant growth potential both in Russia as a whole and in St Petersburg.
“Existing customers have been buying more, complementing an inflow of new patrons. Our online service has received high praise from our Moscow customers, with the average NPS reaching 82% in Q2 2018.”