From a position of strength the Otto Group is investing in the further development of the OTTO,Baur and Schwab brands with its future-orientated Project FOKUS.The current status of the project shows clearly what shape the future brand profiles,investments and organisational structures will take.
As announced back in spring this year,the Otto Group intends to set the course for the future direction of the OTTO,Baur and Schwab brands with Project FOKUS.To assist with this,a dedicated Management Board has been appointed solely for the single company OTTO.The aim is to position the brands more aggressively in an increasingly important online market.
The centre of interest lies on the OTTO brand.With a turnover of 2.1 billion euros and an online turnover share of around 75 per cent,OTTO is currently the leading online retailer for fashion and lifestyle in Germany."In the medium term we will set OTTO on a clear course for growth.The brand's strength,the generalist business model and its size provide the best basis for this",emphasises Alexander Birken,Member of the Executive Board,Multichannel Distance Selling Otto Group and responsible for FOKUS.
In terms of brand profiling,a clear emphasis will be placed once again on current fashions for the modern woman.At the same time,OTTO will continue to invest significantly in even more attractive assortments and will offer all the appropriate brands and own-brand products.As an inspiring platform with fashion and lifestyle offerings with a personal and feminine brand DNA,otto.de will put up an even greater challenge to the competition than before.In the coming season,online and offline marketing will also help raise the company's profile further.
As specialised online retailers,over recent years Baur and Schwab have already carved out a path with clearly defined target groups and will continue to keep to this rigorously.With its key assortment segments of fashion,footwear and home-furnishing,Baur is focusing successfully on customers with rather more conservative values.Schwab's assortment is also clearly tailored to its target group.With its Sheego brand,the management has established an extremely successful concept for plus sizes that is being further developed to a high level.
All three brands consider themselves as retailers with a human face.This means they offer personal customer service,advice and make a personal effort–whether on the telephone,by e-mail or through social media.This personality starts right from the way the assortment is composed,as customers find a skilfully and carefully arranged offering at OTTO,Baur and Schwab instead of an unfiltered mass of individual articles.
Under the Project FOKUS leadership of Birken,further specific investment measures have already been defined over the past few weeks."More than ever before,multichannel expertise goes hand in hand with Internet-technology expertise.This is why we will develop a new software solution for otto.de ourselves in the next two years and in doing so completely renew the heart of the platform.Furthermore,we are confident that e-commerce will become'everywhere-commerce'.Our stated aim is to offer our customers the best possible shopping experience on each particular device",Birken affirms.Over the next three years OTTO will receive an overall investment in the three-digit millions.
"We are a family company and are committed to the values associated with that such as reliability and loyalty.That is why,just as with previous projects,we will go about things in a socially acceptable way and do everything conceivable to avoid business-related redundancies.We aim to secure the long-term future viability of our companies and brands for our customers and our employees",says Schrader.
