Ulmart, Russia’s leading online retailer, plans to focus its near-term growth plans for the Moscow region on the development of areas adjacent to the city’s airports. These plans are part of Ulmart’s strategy to create a high-tech e-commerce base, an integrated system combining an online retail platform and proprietary multi-level logistics infrastructure.
As part of the near-term plans, Ulmart plans to build a regional fulfillment center with a total area of over 60,000 square meters in the Moscow region near one of the airports. The company also plans to build 13 new suburban fulfillment centers in the Moscow region by 2021. The average area of one center will be 25,000 sqm. Four new fulfilment centres will be developed in the St. Petersburg region.
A total of USD1 billion will be invested in new facilities in both the Moscow and St Petersburg regions until 2021, with a total construction area of about 1 million of sqm.
The development of fulfillment centres near the Moscow airports and the creation of innovative products such as an online marketplace are aimed at advancing the company’s logistics and enhancing the shopping experience for passengers. A suburban fulfillment centre in the town of Mytishchi – Ulmart’s first project in Moscow – is currently at the final stages of construction.
Commenting on the company’s strategy in the Moscow region, Dmitry Kostygin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ulmart, said: “The Moscow region is strategically important to Ulmart as it enables us to further solidify our market leading positions. The development of attractive areas close to the airports including the construction of logistics parks of new format and the creation of an online marketplace is an important stage in the implementation of our growth strategy in the Moscow region. Our presence in these areas enables us to complement and further develop our logistics. It will further reduce the time of product delivery and make the shopping experience more convenient for customers who are becoming increasingly mobile and appreciate an easy access to goods and an opportunity to save time.”
Ulmart has been exhibiting at MIPIM for the third consecutive year. This year the company has showcased its new fulfillment centres, held numerous meetings with representatives of the global investment community, Russian and international experts in commercial real estate development, as well as representatives of the Moscow Government and the St Petersburg Administration, and organized two discussion sessions.
The session held on March 14, the first day of MIPIM, was focused on the prospects for the construction of multifunctional logistics retail centres in Russia, evolving consumer preferences, and the existing legislative framework for the execution of such projects.
Sergey Fateev, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ulmart; Sergey Riabokobylko, Managing Partner of Cushman & Wakefield Russia; Egor Dorofeev, Partner at Cushman & Wakefield Russia; Karina Chichkanova, Partner at Dentons, and Andrey Postnikov, Managing Director of Logopark Development, took part in the discussion. The participants noted the current demand for the reformation of warehouse facilities, the integration of online commerce into urban logistics, and the impact of the distance from the city and the availability of the road infrastructure on the development of new logistics centres. The panelists concluded that Ulmart already has a ready-made platform integrated into the modern architecture of cities and noted the opportunities for further development of new retail formats.
The focus of the second session, held on March 15, was on the integration of online and offline retail and the impact of both formats on each other. The participants noted the development of convenient and accessible logistics, the implementation of innovative technology and the improvement of shopping experience, including providing an opportunity to see and touch the items before purchasing them as important factors for the success of online commerce in Russia. The panelists included Dmitry Kostygin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ulmart; Tom Devonshire-Griffin, Managing Director of JLL in Russia and the CIS; Andreas Schiller, CEO of Schiller Publishing House, Alexander Bosak, Head of Research at Otto Immobilien; and Georgy Kachmazov, CEO of Tranio.
