Russian e-commerce major Ozon Holdings is planning to launch 15-minute express delivery service by the end of 2021 and to compete with market leaders in e-grocery Yandex.Lavka of internet major Yandex and Samokat of O2O joint venture of Sber and Mail.ru, RBC business portal reports citing unnamed market sources.

Ozon is one of the top three Russian e-commerce marketplaces and pulled off a hugely successful IPO on Nasdaq at the end of 2020, raising $1.2bn from investors – more than twice the initial $500mn it had been asking for.

When Ozon has recently reported to be considering a white label video streaming service, bne IntelliNews has suggested that ecosystem model and integration of non-core services could open another stage of the race for leadership in Russia's booming e-commerce space. 

Reportedly, Ozon now plans to expand its Ozon Express e-commerce delivery service to overlap grocery and food delivery of up to 3,000 items packed and delivered from its own mini darkstores. The new format is to be tested in Moscow. It is estimated that the cost of one darkstore with a kitchen is about RUB7mn-9mn ($96,000-123,000).

Taking on additional costs in a non-core segment could be taken cautiously by investors, given that Ozon is expected to spend IPO proceeds on logistics that continue to put pressure on its margins.

Ozon posted revenues of RUB42bn in 3Q21, out of which 66% accounted for e-commerce sales, 25.6% on marketplace commission, and 7.7% on ad revenues, delivery services and others.

InfoLine estimates that in 3Q21 e-grocery and foodtech in Russia jumped 2.5-fold to RUB90bn, out of which express food and grocery delivery stood at over 55%. In 2020 the leaders on the market were X5 Group, Samokat, Yandex.Lavka, and VkusVill (over 90% share), but the market is highly competitive and X5 Group already lost its leadership.