Yandex Shop launches a darkstore franchise

Increasing competition in the express delivery of products is forcing market participants to look for quick ways to scale their business. So, “Yandex (MOEX: YNDX) Lavka decided to open dark stores in the cities where it operates through a franchising program. Large marketplaces and a number of offline retailers had similar projects, but did not receive serious development. Market participants believe that it is difficult for delivery operators to control the quality of goods and services provided by partner dark stores.

Kommersant learned about the launch of a darkstore franchise for the Yandex Shop express delivery service from Franshiza.ru materials, which say that the operator presented its affiliate program at the end of 2023. Yandex Shop confirmed the plans to Kommersant and added that this will allow them to scale up their presence in the regions. The first dark stores under the franchise are planned to open in Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod.

The presentation of the Yandex Shops affiliate program, which Kommersant got acquainted with, states that the volume of investment in opening one dark store, the area of ​​which should not be less than 250 square meters. m, will be from 2 million rubles, a lump sum payment – from 500 thousand rubles. in year. According to the service, these investments can be recouped in 18 months, with the turnover of one facility amounting to 10–15 million rubles. per month, and the royalty amount is up to 5% of turnover.

Yandex Shop adds that potential partners can purchase an existing dark store or open a new one. The service promises to assist franchisees in selecting premises and personnel.

In 2021, Yandex Shop has already tested the franchise model in Irkutsk. The local group of companies “Yanta” was transferred to manage dark stores, logistics, and work with suppliers and manufacturers.

Franshiza.ru expert Anna Rozhdestvenskaya notes that the new franchise conditions from Yandex Shops have become “more loyal to partners”; the company, in particular, has lowered the entry threshold in terms of investment volume. According to her, opening a dark store can also be attractive to entrepreneurs, as it requires less investment in the equipment of the premises than, for example, a classic retail store.

General Director of Infoline-Analytics Mikhail Burmistrov does not rule out that the launch of the franchise will allow Yandex Shop to accelerate the scaling of its business in the cities where it operates. But the main task, in his opinion, will be the need to ensure uniform coverage of own and partner dark stores within one city, so as not to potentially create internal competition between order collection points.

At the same time, none of the large federal retailers is yet offering to open their dark stores through a franchise, says Anna Rozhdestvenskaya. True, in the spring of 2023, Metro announced the development of several new formats for its “Fasol” franchise network, including dark stores with fast delivery. But since then there has been no information about the launch of the project. Metro did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Commercial Director of Ozon fresh Arina Knyazeva says that the marketplace tested the franchise model in the darkstore segment, but today it has no plans to develop this format. “In the end, we decided to concentrate on opening our own dark stores – this allows us to have more control over the quality of products and the level of service at each order collection point,” explains Ms. Knyazeva.

According to Infoline, in the first half of 2023, online food sales increased by 36.5% year-on-year, to RUB 404 billion. By the end of 2024, an increase of 44–48% is possible, to 900–925 billion rubles.

Alina Savitskaya, Anatoly Kostyrev