The short answer
Russians mostly do not get parcels at the door. They order on Wildberries or Ozon and collect the order a few minutes' walk from home, at a pickup point (PVZ). By 31 March 2026 there were 231,100 of them across the country, 25% more than a year earlier, according to Yandex Maps. Wildberries and Ozon each run roughly 90,000, more than all the post offices in Russia.
More pickup points than post offices
The annual ranking of physical outlets compiled by DNS founder Dmitry Alekseev puts Ozon (91,972 points) and Wildberries (91,713) at the top in 2026. Russian Post is third with 40,505 branches. The supermarket chain Pyaterochka has about 25,000.
Growth in 2025 came mostly from small towns and villages, often through franchise owners and points opened inside post offices. In Moscow and St Petersburg the market is close to saturation; growth there was about a quarter a year.
How it works in practice
You order in the app, pick the nearest point and get a code. At the counter you show the code, try on clothes in a small fitting booth and return what does not fit on the spot, without packing anything up. For many items that is the whole return process.
That is the main difference from Amazon-style shopping: the pickup point, not the courier, is the centre of the system. Same-day and courier delivery exist, but the walk to the PVZ is the default.
Robots in the snow
Yandex says its fourth-generation delivery robots work in rain and snowfall and travel up to 70 km on one charge. In October 2025 the company announced plans for 20,000 robots by the end of 2027, with launches in St Petersburg and Kazan alongside Moscow.
They carry food and grocery orders, not marketplace parcels. Still, a six-wheeled box waiting at a pedestrian crossing has become an ordinary sight in some districts.
What it means for a foreigner
The apps are in Russian, payment needs a Russian card or SBP transfer, and sign-up requires a Russian phone number for SMS codes. A foreign card will not work. Once those three things are in place, the system is among the most convenient you will find anywhere.
For a student or newcomer, a marketplace order is often the cheapest way to furnish a room or buy winter clothes in the first weeks.
What we can and cannot claim
- Confirmed: 231,100 pickup points in Russia on 31 March 2026 (Yandex Maps via RIA Novosti).
- Confirmed: Ozon 91,972 and Wildberries 91,713 points in the April 2026 ranking by Dmitry Alekseev.
- Not claimed: guaranteed 15-minute delivery. Speeds depend on the service, city and district.