German e-commerce giant Otto has announced that it is outsourcing part of its own logistics. The group is building a forwarding center in Poland. From the new location, orders will be picked and shipped to customers in Germany.
Germany’s Otto Group recently announced that its 2023 revenues dropped by 9 percent, reaching a total of €10.8 billion. At the same time, online department store Otto increased its number of retail partners by 33 percent to over 6,500. The company also announced that it was opening its marketplace to European sellers.
Investment worth EUR 150 million
To fuel further e-commerce growth, the company has invested in its logistics business. The company recently invested over EUR 150 million in the construction of a 16,300 square meter automated shuttle warehouse in Germany. It is expected to be operational this summer. The company wants to fulfill orders within hours and offer same-day delivery from this warehouse.
“This summer, Otto Group will launch an automated shuttle warehouse.”
Otto’s logistics are handled by Hermes Fulfillment Group, which is Otto Group’s own logistics arm. It already has several locations in Germany, as well as in Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic and Poland.
New forwarding center in Poland
The Hermes Fulfillment Group is expanding with a new shipping center in Poland. For the first time, the Group is building a completely new location outside Germany. The logistics center will have a total area of 118,000 square meters and will start operating this fall. From there, as many as 1,900 employees will store, receive and ship Otto’s goods to German customers.
“Poland is very central for a European company like ours.”
According to the company, a strong European localization network, focused on Germany, is the basis for an optimal position for e-commerce in the future. “Poland is very central for a European company like ours. First of all, we will be able to deliver goods from Iłowa to a large part of Germany the next day after placing the order. Politics and administration supported us very well in our implementation. At the same time, we are expanding our warehouse logistics at locations in Germany,” he said Michael Otto, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Otto Group and former CEO.
