Magnit PJSC, one of Russia’s leading retailers, has begun testing its kiosk format.
The Company opened the first outlet under the new format in late 2020. The kiosk is located on the premises of Magnit’s headquarters in Krasnodar, has an area of 18 sq. m, and offers a range of 650 items with a focus on ready-to-eat and on-the-go food, drinks, snacks, ice cream, and confections. Besides the existing Kiosk Mini, the Company also plans to pilot a larger kiosk format as well as branded vending machines.
The goal of the pilot is to investigate the relevance of an ultra-small format with a lower ticket and a very high number of purchases focusing on impulse demand and located in high-traffic areas like office complexes, transport hubs, pedestrian-only streets, parks, sporting facilities, educational institutions, etc. Among the advantages offered by the kiosk format are lower investment threshold for opening, lack of nationwide competitors and cannibalization from the Company’s core formats, as well as independence from availability of commercial real estate.
“In the last several years, many Russian cities started cracking down on unorganized street retail, which substantially reduced the number of small stores and kiosks. However, the demand for food remains high, evidenced by the success of the Magnit City format, which we are going to roll out further. Our approach is centered around satisfying the needs of our consumers via various formats. We can see possible synergies between the kiosk format and our core business, and so believe that development of this new format can bring us additional value,”— said Jan Dunning, Magnit President and CEO.
