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bne Tech
July 26, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 23
Russian second tier food retailer Vkusvill launches click and collect service
Russian second tier food retailer Vkusvill has launched a click and collect service for all its outlets and assortments through a mobile app, the company said on July 23.
Online retail is growing in leaps and bounds in Russia even if traditional retail is in the doldrums on the back of six years of real income wage increase stagnation. As reported by bne intelliNews, at the beginning of 2019 Vkusvill was reportedly meeting potential investors ahead of a possible IPO.
Vkusvill already cooperates with a number of express-delivery services such as iGooods, SaveTime, and Golama, and full integration of a click and collect purchasing option would give it
an edge on the fast growing delivery market.
Analysts surveyed by Vedomosti note that large Russian food retailers so far have only tested click and collect solutions. Vkusvill had an advantage as penetration of its mobile app among the clientele is the highest. X5 Group tested click and collect in four Karusel hypermarkets, one Perekrestok, and several Pyaterochka format stores.
12.16% of LLC Vkusvill is owned by Russia’s leading private equity investor Baring Vostok funds. Another 1.76% belongs to the founder of the network, Andrei Krivenko. The remaining 86.08% of the company
is held by Project Izbenka LLC and Evolutionary Target JSC that belongs to Evgeny Lisitsyn.
Poland’s H88 buys up Croatian hosting company Avalon
H88, a subsidiary of Poland’s R22 Group, has wholly acquired Croatian hosting provider Avalon, Jutarni List reported.
The deal, which follows several months of negotiations, helps R22 Group towards its goal of becoming the leading provider of hosting services in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 500,000 users by 2020.
Avalon contributes to that goal by adding its base of over 20,000 users, around 17% of the Croatian web hosting market. It was founded in 1997 by two entrepreneurs, Damir Mujic and Dražen Ferencic, who remain shareholders.
Following the deal, the new owner plans to invest in raising the quality of services as well as further expansion in Croatia and the region.
Mujic told Jutarni List that it was time for a new era at Avalon. “I am sure that the new owner with fresh capital will accelerate the development of the company and will rapidly further strengthen the position of Avalon on the market,” he said.
“We decided to sell the following trends of consolidation of the hosting market on a global scale. We have had many offers in the last few years and we carefully selected the best possible partner so that our customers can be sure that the service will remain at the highest level.”