Hamburg-based retail group celebrates its birthday
The online store Otto celebrated its birthday at the weekend. As the long-established company announced on Friday, Otto turned 75 on Saturday, August 17, 2024. To mark this anniversary, Otto is organizing numerous campaigns over the coming weeks.
Catalog mail order company, online store, platform
In its press release, Otto emphasizes that it is now the largest German online store and part of an internationally operating group, the Otto Group. Otto's current business has little to do with its beginnings. In the beginning, according to the company, there was a 14-page catalog with 28 pairs of shoes. This catalog was hand-bound and was initially offered by Werner Otto to 200 households.
Today, Otto is not just an online store, but a platform or marketplace, as the press release states.
Marc Opelt, Chairman of the Executive Board at Otto, explains: "I know of no other German retail company that has achieved such an impressive transformation. OTTO has constantly evolved and reinvented itself: from catalog mail order company to online store, from online store to platform." Opelt continued: "As Germany's largest online store, we are playing a key role in shaping online retail in Germany - and are consistently focusing on new technologies such as artificial intelligence in order to remain fit for the future."
Birthday promotions
According to its press release, Otto will be organizing numerous special offers in its store and various birthday promotions for its anniversary. For example, there will be a sneaker in cooperation with Adidas.
Otto is also supporting an exhibition at Hamburg's Museum der Arbeit. It is entitled "Your parcel is here" and deals with the mail order phenomenon. According to Otto, it explores the mail order business as a complex network of customers, deliverers, logistics and companies. The exhibition runs from September 4 to April 28, 2025.