Ownership of the PickPoint parcel terminal network, which went bankrupt in January, was auctioned. The first two lots with used parcel terminals pledged by Sberbank and Sovcombank were left without buyers. Experts believe it will be difficult to sell the devices due to obsolete equipment and potential software problems. Meanwhile, the amount of civil lawsuits filed against Network of Automated Dispensing Points LLC, which operated the network, exceeded one billion rubles.
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The bankruptcy trustee of Network of Automated Dispensing Points LLC, which was declared bankrupt in January (developed one of the largest delivery networks in Russia) Nabi Kurbanov put up for auction the first lots with PickPoint and Qiwi parcel terminals, pledged by Sberbank and Sovcombank. There are 289 devices for sale, about 700 more were included in the inventory lists, but the work continues, I discovered RB.RU.
In April 2023, when the Russian company PickPoint declared bankruptcy, the network was highly developed, there were around 6,000 parcel terminals and 4,500 collection points in large cities and towns, its value was between 500 and 1 billion rubles, according Strategy Director of Finam Financial Group Yaroslav Kabakov. Dear Data information, at the time of bankruptcy, there were around 5,000 parcel terminals on the network, including those acquired from Qiwi in 2019, but which continued to operate under this brand. PickPoint’s volumes are comparable to those of Russian Post, which has 7,000 devices. In total, in 2024, there were 38 thousand parcel terminals operating in Russia.
It was not possible to know how many parcel terminals could be auctioned at the time of publication of the article, the bankruptcy trustee did not respond to the request; RB.RU. It is possible that not all of the equipment was included in the bankruptcy estate. For example, one of the creditors, Sovcombank, tried to take away 98 parcel terminals in August 2023 under a compensation agreement, but the court, following a complaint, declared the agreement invalid and returned the equipment.
As can be seen from the Fedresurs materials, the first auction was already held in April and was declared invalid due to lack of applications. Buyers were offered two lots: 33 Qiwi parcel terminals and modules for 1.245 million rubles (Sovcombank guarantee) and 98 Qiwi parcel terminals for 11.28 million rubles (Sberbank guarantee). Parcel terminals made in China have different formats and geographic locations, but they work correctly. Now the devices are put on sale again, their price has been reduced by 10%, the new auctions will take place on June 6.
In addition, auctions of two more lots are planned for June 25: buyers were offered to purchase 106 parcel terminals with a starting price of 10 million rubles and another 52 pieces of equipment for 9.7 million rubles. The 158 parcel terminals put up for sale are pledged to Sberbank. On May 20, the bankruptcy trustee conducted an inventory of another 688 devices pledged to Sberbank and 8 parcel terminals pledged to Sovcombank.
At the time of this publication, Sberbank and Sovcombank did not respond to questions. RB.RU.
PickPoint Debts
According to the court file, the network’s creditors are more than 440 companies and individual entrepreneurs. As of August 2023, the debt of Network of Automated Dispensing Points LLC was estimated at 2.6 billion rubles. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the company is currently facing more than 500 lawsuits for a total amount of 1.2 billion rubles. The arbitration considers cases of debts arising from rental contracts.
In December 2023, the court included the company’s debt to Sovcombank in the amount of 210 million rubles in the list of creditors’ claims. According to Kommersant, the debt to Sberbank reaches one billion rubles. In addition to the banks, Ekaterinburg Apple LLC and Kupishuz LLC, for example, announced large debts claiming a total of 500 million rubles; Lawyers do not exclude subsidiary liability of PickPoint shareholders, including the structure of the French postal group La Poste and the Elbrus Capital funds, Kommersant reported. It is still unknown whether creditors will be able to return the money. In addition to almost a thousand parcel terminals, barcode readers and a Volvo car worth 2.8 million rubles were found in the debtor’s property.
Parcel machines are obsolete
According to experts interviewed by RB.RU, there is a demand for parcel terminals in Russia, but difficulties may arise when selling equipment to the PickPoint network.
as he believes Sergey Semko, Lead Logistics and Data Analytics AnalystWithout the IT component, the team has little value.
“If a buyer can integrate them into their network, then the acquisition makes sense for that buyer. If landlords can assign leasehold rights without charging vacancy fees or penalties, this could also be an interesting selling point. It seems that, due to the different status of parcel terminals and integration difficulties, PickPoint lockers may not be the most interesting acquisition,” commented Sergei Semko.
Another problem is that the technology could be outdated. According to inventory data, some parcel terminals are more than 10 years old.
“Even devices that are five years old are technologically obsolete. The peak production of PickPoint parcel lockers occurred between 2017 and 2020, which indicates the loss of competitive advantages of these parcel lockers in 2024,” Egor Shcheglov, owner of the parcel locker franchise network, told RB.RU. CDEK packages.
The expert agrees that when purchasing devices from different manufacturers, it is necessary to adapt the software for its correct operation, which is a complex and expensive iteration.
“If we talk about a small business, then in the parcel terminal market it can exist exclusively in a franchise format, since maintaining its own network of parcel terminals is extremely expensive,” Shcheglov concluded.
Yaroslav Kabakov suggests taking into account that parcel terminals were distributed throughout the country and were popular among clients of such large platforms as Avito and AliExpress. It can be assumed that there is demand for such assets in the market. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the current state of parcel terminals, their technological relevance and the possible need for modernization, which can reduce interests and, consequently, the value of assets.
Does the buyer prefer PVZ?
Shcheglov believes that the parcel terminal market has undergone significant changes in recent years, as evidenced by numerous bankruptcies of companies, including PickPoint. At the same time, interest in acquiring parcel terminals persists. The very fact of introducing parcel terminals makes it possible to reduce the commercial costs that the company will incur when opening a collection point.
“In my opinion, offers for the wholesale purchase of used parcel terminals may be of interest to large logistics operators or to retailers who already have experience in managing this type of business but want to expand their network. The introduction of parcel terminals makes it possible to reduce the commercial costs that the company will have to face, for example, when opening a collection point,” says the expert.
According Data information, the number of parcel terminals in Russia is approximately 38 thousand. The largest players are Sberlogistics, Cainiao, 5Post, Russian Post, Ozon and Halva. However, the growth rate of the number of parcel terminals has slowed down.
“The number of parcel terminals will grow in the coming years, but not at the same pace as before, when the main players announced expansion plans. At the moment, the growth engines will be “Halva” and “City Postamat” (Moscow). “Halva aspires to take Pick Point’s place, and the Moscow parcel warehouse is a city program with great deal potential and big plans,” Semko said.
The expert adds that the share of orders delivered through ticket offices is not as large as that of order collection points or by courier: it represents about 3% of the total number of orders in Russian online commerce, or 154 million of orders for 2023.
According to Data Insight estimates, self-pickup remains the most popular delivery method, however, only 4% of customers surveyed prefer to pick up at a parcel locker, as long as the online store can choose which delivery method to use. Analysts estimate that most Russians prefer to collect their products at a collection point in the market. The representative of one of the large markets with whom RB.RU managed to speak agrees with them. The company said that they have an excess of parcel terminals, new ones are not necessary, but they depend on the collection points.
Data Insight estimated the volume of the Russian online commerce market in 2023 at 7.9 trillion rubles and a growth of 48%. According to analysts, in 2024 sales in the Russian e-commerce market will reach 10.2 trillion rubles, an increase of 30%, and the number of completed orders will exceed 7 billion (+42%).
Author:
Ekaterina Strukova
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
