Page 18 - bne IntelliNews magazine February 2025

18 I Companies & Markets bne February 2025
More than 15,000 sellers from Kyrgyzstan are registered on Wildberries, generating sales of $115mn in 2023. In late 2024, Wildberries CEO Tatyana Kim announced plans to enter the Tajikistani market soon.
Warehouses and pickup points
What sets Wildberries apart from some local and global e-commerce platforms are several key features. First, the company has 75mn active users across six countries, offering local entrepreneurs access to a broad audience in the
region. Second, Wildberries is developing its own logistics infrastructure to ensure fast and convenient delivery, including warehouses and pickup points, to support its business growth.
Currently, Wildberries operates eight logistics facilities in Kazakhstan and 1,600 order pickup points. The company is building two large logistics complexes near the country’s major cities, Almaty and Astana, with a combined area of nearly 270,000 square meters, and plans to complete them by the end of 2025. In Uzbekistan, Wildberries is planning
to build a logistics complex of 150,000 square meters near Tashkent and expand its network of pickup points.
Wildberries started its business with clothing sales two decades ago. Its pickup points allow customers to try on clothing or shoes and return items that don’t fit on the spot. This format has helped the company gain consumer trust in Russia, where leaving packages at doorsteps is less common due to safety concerns in large cities and underdeveloped infrastructure
in remote regions. Pickup points are also seen gaining popularity in Central Asia, where people are accustomed to inspecting goods at markets before making a purchase.
In the coming years, the Central Asian market is expected to grow rapidly, catching up with developed countries in e-commerce penetration. All the pre-requisites are in place – a young and growing population, advanced mobile internet penetration, GDP and income growth, and active local entrepreneurs. Although local and regional companies have already emerged as leaders, it is clear that intense competition lies ahead.
Why pick-up points for online orders are
gaining popularity vs. home delivery
NEO
The share of European consumers preferring home delivery for online orders dropped from 73% to 64% over the past year, according to a Last Mile Experts study. At the same time, pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) points and automated parcel machines (APMs, or parcel lockers) are gaining popularity. The leaders in this trend are the UK and France, each with over 50,000 pick-up points, followed by Poland with nearly 40,000 lockers, and Germany.
Delivery methods beyond Europe
Since the 2010s, postal and logistics operators in Europe have actively developed new delivery methods. The UK’s Royal Mail launched Local Collect, France’s DPD introduced Pickup Points, Poland’s InPost established Lockers, and Germany’s DHL created Service Points. Collecting an order from a nearby pick-up point at a convenient time is often more comfortable for buyers than waiting for a courier at home. For e-commerce operators, consolidated delivery to
a single location is more cost-effective and reduces the carbon footprint compared to individual home deliveries.
China, with one of the highest e-commerce penetration rates globally and rapid urbanization, is a world leader in the number of lockers. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the country had over 300,000 lockers. Today, Alibaba and JD.com’s logistics divisions are expanding into Europe, actively developing local locker networks.
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In the United States, home delivery remains the most popular option for online orders. This is largely due to the country’s geography – many Americans live in suburban, single-family homes. However, delivering parcels to pick-up points or lockers is more convenient for e-commerce operators, who offer perks to encourage consumers to choose this option. For example, Amazon offers buyers a $10 discount if they collect their order rather than have it delivered to their home.
Use of pick up lockers for e-commerce deliveries is surging and proving particularly popular in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, where urban residents often live in large apartment complexes and delivery infrastructure remains underdeveloped in rural areas. / Image: Claudio Schwarz via Unsplash