Russia's Ozon partners with Chinese couriers to speed up deliveries

MOSCOW, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Russian e-commerce firm Ozon said on Tuesday it was expanding its partner delivery programme to China in a bid to speed up delivery times, joining a wider trend of Russian companies turning east as Western sanctions hit Moscow.

The programme allows sellers in China to send goods via Ozon's partner pick-up points, rather than third-party delivery firms, allowing Ozon to manage the shipment of items at every stage of delivery.

Ozon, one of Russia's largest e-commerce platforms, says the changes will cut average delivery times from China to Russia by half.

"Chinese goods are in high demand, accounting for about 90% of Ozon Global's total order share," Stepan Gusamov, the CEO of Ozon's foreign sellers arm said.

"By improving the service, we plan to attract new sellers from China and expand the range in various categories - from electronics and home appliances to clothing and children's goods," he said.

The couriers Ozon will use are GBS, Hecny, Unitrade, Cainiao, Eshun and Xingyuan Express, the company said. (Reporting by Olga Popova. Writing by Caleb Davis;Editing by Kirsten Donovan)