Russian tech firm Yandex has entered the UK's super-fast delivery market with a service called “Yango Deli”.

The new service aims to deliver a selection of 2,500 goods to customers in London within 15 minutes.

Yandex, founded in 1997, is Russia’s largest technology company.

Their flagship browser is the second most popular search engine in the nation, with a market share of over 42 per cent, which has led to the company being called “Russian Google”.

Yandex said it has opened four London “dark stores” — miniature warehouses designed to fulfill online grocery orders — in Bethnal Green, Battersea, Bermondsey, and Acton.

The firm said their service will be able to serve 1.4 million London-based consumers from these stores.

Deliveries will be available from 7am to 11pm daily and will have no delivery fee or minimum order requirement according to Yandex.

The firm’s “Yandex Lavka” rapid grocery delivery service has been active in Russia since 2019, and has already been expanded internationally to Israel and France.

Yandex said it aims to rollout the service to other European cities soon.

Competition is heating up as more players enter the rapid delivery space; Deliveroo announced earlier this month it is set to enter the market with its ‘Deliveroo Hop’ service, delivered in partnership with Morrisons.

Deliveroo said the new service will allow customers in Vauxhall and Battersea in Southwest London to receive groceries in under 15 minutes.

Yandex is expanding rapidly as a company; its revenues rose 54 per cent in the first half of 2021 to £2.1 billion, according to the company’s latest report.

Yandex is not the only Russian firm making a move into the UK retail market; discount grocery chain Mere announced in June it is set to open 300 stores in the UK over the next eight to ten years.


“The UK, and London in particular, is an exciting new market for Yango Deli, as the city is especially well suited to the dark store model,” Evgeny Chernikov, UK general manager of Yango Deli. “The densely populated capital is full of busy professionals, young students and many others who appreciate the convenience of a fast, stress-free shopping experience.”

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