OREANDA-NEWS. June 27, 2012. The Internet-store E5.RU, which launched X5 Retail Group at the beginning of 2012, is the largest retail sales company (in terms of sales volume) in Russia. It works on the basis of the SAP for Retail system. This system (which was created and put into operation in record time) supports key business processes focused on electronic trade for the Moscow supermarket chain “Perekrestok” and allows this type of business to develop rapidly by expanding into Russia’s regions and other X5 format stores.

E5.ru functions as an electronic ordering system and currently offers about 400,000 non-grocery product items. The internet store assortment contains books, electronic devices, household appliances, dishware, houseware, instruments, tools, gifts, souvenirs and others. The assortment is constantly growing (with a projected increase of up to 1 million goods by the end of the year). Upon selecting a product on the site (www.e5.ru) a customer can pick it up in a convenient “Perekrestok” supermarket. As of now, there are over 150 such stores in Moscow and in the Moscow region. Additionally, delivery is available to Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and numerous other Russian cities. X5 is looking to expand its influence in other regions. E5.ru’s success can be attributed to its smooth networking logistics, brand recognition and customer loyalty (people trust our products and have been using them for many years).

Kirill Grodinsky, the E5.RU General Director noted that “in an effort to maintain and strengthen X5’s status as a leading Russian retail chain, work on creating our internet store started back in February 2011. In July of that same year we chose the SAP for Retail system for automatizing electronic trade processes. This system is already being successfully used as the main instrument for business management on the retail chain level”.

GMCS acted as the primary contractor. The system was unraveled and launched (within a 5 month period) in the pilot region (Moscow and Moscow region) for the “Perekrestok” format. Provision management (including good acceptance at the warehouse) project capacity already started functioning in November 2011. In December 2011 the “Sales” project capacity with business processes for sales, flows and payment was launched. Currently, about 100 people are using the SAP for Retail system on E5.RU.

By the end of April 2012 the average amount of processed orders in the system amounted to a few thousands daily and this number is only growing with each passing day. The customized GMCS company  service bus SAP PI combines SAP ERP, an internet display case, Unishop BackOffice and the X5 Retail Group warehouse system on the basis of Infor solutions provides one with a timely and reliable exchange of master data along with data about product distribution and sales. Data from 150 store terminals are collected in the SAP PI system which allows one to track products and inform clients about their delivery status.

“A powerful and reliable technological platform for supporting and developing electronic trade (taking into consideration the retailer’s future development plans in this area over the next few years) has been created on the basis of SAP solutions”, states Andrei Sapozhkov, SAP Solutions Department Director at the GMCS company.

Headquartered in Moscow, X5 Retail Group (LSE: FIVE, Moody's - "B2", S&P - "B+") is Russia's largest retailer in terms of revenue. The Company operates several retail formats: the soft discounter chain under the Pyaterochka brand, the supermarket chain under the Perekrestok brand, the hypermarket chain under the Karusel brand, the online retail channel under E5.ru brand and convenience stores under various brands.

As at 31 March 2012, X5 had 3,139 Company-operated stores. It has the leading market position in both Moscow and St. Petersburg and a significant presence in the European part of Russia. Its store base includes 2,643 soft discounter stores, 337 supermarkets, 77 hypermarkets and 82 convenience stores. The Company operates 29 DCs and 1,392 Company-owned trucks across the Russian Federation.

X5 is run on an SAP platform.

As at 31 March 2012, X5’s franchisees operated 434 stores across Russia. For the full year 2011, net sales totaled USD 15,455 mln, EBITDA reached USD 1,130 mln, and net profit amounted to USD 302 mln. 

X5 Shareholder structure as of 31 March 2012: Alfa Group – 47.86%, founders of Pyaterochka – 19.85%, X5 directors – 0.12%, treasury shares – 0.11%, free float – 32.06%.