Okay to have a drink, but not to have a pick-up point?

Are pick-up points preventing you from sleeping?

Pick-up points (PUPs) from marketplaces and warehouses for processing and fast delivery of online orders (dark stores), which have become widespread in residential areas of cities, may be evicted from the first floors. Senator from Bashkortostan Oleg Golov has taken up the preparation of a federal bill prohibiting the placement of distance selling facilities inside residential buildings. Head of Russia’s consumer rights protection watchdog Anna Popova received a notification about this, Izvestia reported on 24 July.

The reasons for the radical measures are “numerous complaints from residents who are bothered by loading and unloading operations and the presence of couriers. “The problem becomes especially acute in old residential areas with dense development, where courtyard areas were not initially designed for intensive movement of freight transport,” the senator specified.

He sees the activities of dark stores as a major threat to favourable living conditions for citizens. In his opinion, up to 15 lorries end up in close proximity to residential buildings, which “often leads to damage to residents' personal transport and elements of building facades, and also creates obstacles to the free movement of pedestrians, especially children and people with limited mobility.” In addition, approaches to residential buildings are blocked by freight transport, which, among other things, makes it difficult for emergency services to access them.

The senator is determined to give a clear legal definition of the concept of “dark store” in order to close bypass routes for placement inside residential buildings. No specific claims were made against the pickup points, but they, along with the “dark stores,” were blacklisted for eviction. According to the senator, the ban on placing warehouses and pick-up points in residential buildings will require sellers to adapt their business models. That is, they will have to look for alternative premises, which will lead to “a temporary increase in logistics costs and a revision of delivery schemes.” It is not specified when the bill will be ready.

Profitability of points — from 40 to 100,000

Kazan is one of the leaders in the number of pick-up points. Their total number reaches 1,500, according to market players. “On some streets you can even find two WB and Ozon points — every 100 metres. All street retail has changed to purple and blue colours,” said Kazan developer Konstantin Ivanov.

Due to the rapid growth of pick-up points, they stopped bringing in good income. “The number of points is huge, the profitability has decreased significantly. Monthly income is from 40 to 100,000 rubles, but it all depends on traffic. Profitability can differ from each other four times,” the interlocutor noted. “Often they are run by married couples. They work in turns — hiring staff is expensive. This business is not at all marginal, but only to keep the pants up. But for users, their services create convenience, because the goods can be picked up near home,” says one of the market players.

According to them, the pick-up point market has now stabilized. New points are opening in the area of new buildings, and in the inhabited microdistricts the most passable locations are occupied, there is high competition there.

The initiative of the Bashkir senator has caused bewilderment among the republican authorities.

“Pick-up points are much less of a concern than drinking establishments on the ground floors. There are no mice or cockroaches here, since perishable products are not sold, but the shawarma places emit such a smell that you want to run,” said the office of the deputy of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan, member of the Committee on Housing and Public Utilities Dmitry Anisimov.

According to the assistant, they have not received any complaints from residents on this issue. “It would be better if they took on shawarma places,” they noted there.

In Tatarstan, not a single complaint about noise and disturbances of the peace from pick-up points has been recorded, the press service of the State Housing Inspectorate of Tatarstan confirmed to Realnoe Vremya. According to the owners of pick-up points, following this logic, it is necessary to close both pharmacies and pubs, which have long been registered on the ground floors. Drinking places take up even more space — 80 square metres, while pick-up points — from 20 to 40 square metres.

Ozon against

Ozon was critical of the idea.

“According to recent studies, 80% of Russians want to see pick-up points right in their own or neighbouring block of flats. This is the opinion of the majority, which cannot be ignored. We constantly monitor our customers' reviews. Complaints about noise and transport in the adjacent areas come extremely rarely, their number does not exceed 4% of the total volume of questions about pick-up points. We promptly resolve all situations that cause dissatisfaction among residents together with entrepreneurs — the owners of the points. We increasingly hear customers' wishes to open new points closer to their home: every fifth buyer expects the opening of a new pick-up point in their area. Pick-up points are not just marketplace points, they are small private businesses and often family businesses that create jobs and support the local economy. The restrictions proposed by the senator can seriously affect both them and the availability of online shopping for millions of Russians,” the company told Realnoe Vremya.

“What SES standards can we talk about if all the goods are packaged, and products with a limited shelf life are not issued at the pick-up points?” Konstantin Ivanov is surprised. “Most likely, they can tighten fire safety regulations. But before banning them, they can be given the opportunity to free up emergency exits, and perhaps it is worth limiting the supply of explosive goods.”

In general, businessmen do not believe in prohibitive sanctions. “They will not close them, because it is nonsense. It seems that a wave of insane initiatives has begun, as if a gold medal was promised for the most absurd bill,” the interlocutor grins.