One of Russia’s most successful technology companies, Yandex, has launched an online grocery delivery service in Israel as part of its international expansion program.
The service, which has expanded greatly in Russia since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, will operate in Israel under a new brand, Deli, according to the company’s statement.
The grocery delivery is run by Yango, an international arm of Yandex Go, the company’s taxi aggregator and food tech branch. The express delivery service will be initially available to customers in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, and Givatayim from Tuesday.
“Seeing the consumer changes following the new situation worldwide, Yango decided to support and promote the extremely fast delivery services and deal with the complex situation and new consumption habits,” the statement said.
The service will reportedly use so-called dark stores – warehouses catering only for online clients, allowing for fast delivery and lower rental costs.
Food and grocery delivery platforms across Russia and abroad have seen an unprecedented increase in earnings as millions of people were forced to stay home and order online during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Yandex reported $32.9 million in profit during the pandemic. The corporation launched the service in Russia in 2019, taking over a million orders every month.
The Russian online giant has recently been ranked as the country’s best employer, according to Forbes, outpacing the world’s top diamond producer Alrosa and Russia’s biggest private bank, Tinkoff. Yandex employs more than 74,000 workers.
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