Otto GmbH & Co. KG is the Hamburg-based parent company to a group of multichannel retail, financial services and e-commerce-related businesses, including OTTO, Germany’s biggest online retailer. The Otto group operates in over 30 countries through its 123 companies.
Werner Otto founded the company in 1949 as a mail-order business offering footwear. The company’s product line was expanded, and by 1956, bicycles, porcelain and electric appliances were available through Otto’s catalogue. The company began international expansion throughout the 70s with acquisitions and partnerships such as 3 Suisses International, Heinrich Heine and Hermes delivery service. In 1987, under the leadership of Dr. Michael Otto, son of the company’s founder, the Otto Group became the largest mail-order group in the world. The group began its online business in 1995 and acquired a stake in American chain Crate & Barrel in 1998.
Throughout the 2000s, the company focussed on its e-commerce business, achieving approximately two-thirds of its retail sales through the format. In 2015, representing the Otto family’s third generation, Benjamin Otto, Michael’s son, became a managing partner of the Otto Group.
- Family name: Otto family
- Sector: Consumer Products & Retail
- Founded: 1949
- Founder: Werner Otto
- Country: Germany
- Company headquarters: Hamburg, Germany
- Revenue: 13.3
- Employees: 49,597
- Website: otto.de
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