Venture Building Excellence: A unicorn for the Otto Group
Starting point
With Etribes, the Otto Group brought in external support to generate higher digital sales and gain access to a young target group for the Group. Our approach is corporate venture building. After we designed and tested a number of new business models, one has established itself for the long term, the online retailer ABOUT YOU, which is now valued in the billions. After just 4 years, the startup achieved unicorn status, subsequently went public and is now one of the most important fashion platforms in the world.
Result
The starting point was “Get us on the Internet, Mr. Hillebrand!”
At the turn of the millennium, Hamburg-based retail giant Otto is facing a massive challenge. Although online retail is still in its infancy, individual players such as Amazon and eBay are picking up more and more steam. At the same time, future retail giants such as China's Alibaba are being born. This new generation of retailers is skipping the traditional retail store and the traditional catalog. They sell online first and have a lasting impact on the expectations and user behavior of end customers.
The Otto Group, too, cannot and does not want to escape this development. Michael Otto, then CEO of the family company, says a momentous sentence to his youngest executive. “Get us on the Internet, Mr. Hillebrand.” Rainer Hillebrand, who will later become the company's CDO, then embarks on the Otto Group's incredible digitalization journey. Etribes was also able to contribute to this by supporting the conception of the initial business model and the process leading to the founding of ABOUT YOU.
Let yourself be inspired by the ABOUT YOU success story
and start your own path to digital success
Takeaways
Personalization. ABOUT YOU uses data-driven algorithms to suggest products based on past purchases and preferences. That strengthens loyalty and conversion.
Social first. Social media, influencer marketing and user-generated content built ABOUT YOU a large, engaged audience.
Mobile first. As early as 2014, ABOUT YOU saw that mobile devices would become the main channel. The entire e-commerce strategy was built around them.
- 0 → 1
- a new digital business model for the Otto Group
More cases
From our other projects.
- Services and platforms
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Services and platforms Karls Erlebnis-Dörfer: The digital evolution of a strawberry empire
~10 % e-commerce share of annual revenue of over €150m - Consumer goods and brands
Building a digital unit & D2C brand
Next step
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