Otto withdraws from Eastern Europe

Fashion platform Otto closes its online shop in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. On the 29th of February, the end of the current 2019/2020 financial year, the shops will be discontinued. This reports the Unito Group, which is responsible for the operation of the three Otto shops in Eastern Europe. On top of that, it is decided that there will come an end to Otto's shipping activities "Otto-Versand" in Eastern Europe as well.

The measures are taken so that the Unito Group can concentrate more on its core markets, reports neuhandeln.de. These markets include the German, Austrian and Swiss market. Here the Otto subsidiary from Austria is active in retailing with brands such as Ackermann, Quelle and Universal. The company offers third-party services, such as logistics, in these markets too.

Bonprix as alternative

Otto Group itself will remain active in Eastern Europe, despite the exit if Unito Group. In the future, customers from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia will be able to buy from fashion retailer Bonprix, which as part of the group. According to the group, Bonprix is extremely successful on the move in Central Europe and Eastern Europe. This means that the Otto webpages will link to the Bonprix online shops in the selected countries.

It means that the brand Otto will disappear from the Easter European market. This is due to the online shop in Germany, which is more and more transformed into a marketplace. The group considers the investment in the Eastern European market too high to take that risk. For this reason, the group closed its activities in the Russian markets in 2018.