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Our platform strategy
Company

Our platform strategy

We have shaped the mail order business in Germany like no other company. Today, OTTO is much more than just a retailer. Through our marketplace, we offer a product range that is as diverse as our customers. At the same time, we open up extensive opportunities for our partners to extend their reach via our platform and our services. A look at our business model reveals the benefits for everyone involved in this multi-sided ecosystem.

The digital transformation at OTTO

The days of the catalog are long gone, but our claim from back then remains unchanged to this day: We want to inspire our customers - with great variety, first-class service and the right pinch of inspiration. We ventured into the internet back in 1995 and are now Germany's largest online store. The decision to open up OTTO as a platform for partners was crucial to making our business model sustainable in the long term. With over 6,000 marketplace partners now selling their goods on otto.de and in the OTTO app, we offer our customers a product selection that leaves nothing to be desired: from fashion and multimedia to home & living, DIY items and much more.

Three key business areas for our success.

With our transformation into a platform, our previously linear business model has also changed. Today, we divide our activities into three core business areas:

  • The 'classic' retail business remains a central revenue stream for us in the hybrid platform model. Through purchased products and our popular own brands such as LASCANA, we ensure a high basic level of choice and close gaps in the product range in a targeted manner. At the same time, we ensure the overall satisfaction of our customers by providing range-related services, such as a set-up and connection service.
  • The marketplace business enables our partners to offer their goods on OTTO and thus reach over 11 million active customers. Our users also benefit from this, as the growing number of specialized sellers means that they can find a full range of products on OTTO that is as broad as it is deep, which we would not be able to offer in the same form as a retailer alone. At the same time, through careful onboarding, we ensure that all partners on OTTO offer the same high level of service and product quality that customers have come to expect from us.
  • Our range of services includes product-related services such as an assembly and connection service for technical devices on the one hand and our comprehensive B2B service portfolio on the other. This includes, in particular, our advertising solutions, which enable partners and advertisers who do not sell on OTTO to increase their reach in the relevant target groups - onsite, offsite and out of home.

Platform economy means growing together

The unique, circular growth dynamic of the platform economy is crucial to the success of our business model: more qualified partners ensure an ever better and larger offering, which in turn increases the attractiveness of the platform for customers. In turn, the higher number of active customers makes it interesting for new partners to sell their items and products via the platform. A win-win situation for customers and partners!

A people company. Driven by technology

The transformation to a platform was one of the biggest milestones in our company's history. In addition to advanced technologies, the people behind it were crucial. Today, a third of our workforce consists of tech experts - and the trend is rising. Because the digital transformation at OTTO is far from over. We are always on the lookout for new talent to help us shape the future of e-commerce and drive forward key technologies: for example, over 100 experts are already working on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Over 40 AI systems are already in use - in all value streams. These and other technologies form the basis for further scaling our marketplace business and offering our customers and partners an ever better range of products and services.