The Hamburg-based Otto GmbH & Co KG has announced plans to become a connected company, according to a press release issued on Tuesday (September 1, 2020). The e-commerce company plans to merge stationary and offline trading and go from online retailer to platform. Otto also plans to set up its own payment company: "Following the automated partner connection, establishing our own payment service provider is now the next logical step on the way to becoming a platform," said Marc Opelt, Chairman of the Otto Divisional Board and Marketing Director. The platform is expected to launch in spring 2022.
The choice of payment services is crucial for both customers and partners on the market. A separate company will be set up to provide payment services from a single source. A workforce of 150 staff will be spread across production, management, finance, compliance and the risk divisions. The first vacancies have already been advertised. Otto's latest subsidiary will be set up in autumn pending the application to BaFin (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) in early 2021.
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