What is OTTO a cross-border e-commerce platform?

In Germany, Amazon, OTTO.de, and Zalando are the top three e-commerce platforms, with a total market share of 44%, leading the German e-commerce industry.

OTTO.deIt is a leading e-commerce platform in Germany and one of the world's largest e-commerce companies. In 2020, the platform's revenue reached 6.9 billion euros, with 9.4 million active users, covering 45% of German households. Most OTTO users are between the ages of 25 and 55, with 62% being married women with above average income. They have 6800 brands and 10 orders per second, and currently have 195 shopping centers in 17 European countries.

Germany is a populous and relatively wealthy country, with a per capita GDP of $45000 in 2020 (China and the United States were $10000 and $60000 respectively). Moreover, the internet penetration rate in Germany is relatively high, and even among elderly people aged 55 to 69, online shoppers account for 40%.

Interestingly, Germans love reading, and the hottest category for online shopping in Germany is not clothing and shoes, but books. On OTTO, clothing, books, and electronic products are the three most popular categories.

Entry requirements

OTTOCurrently, the invitation system is adopted, and the platform prefers Chinese sellers who meet the platform requirements to settle in:

oneBusiness license of a local company in Germany (legal representative is Chinese or foreign)

twoThe legal representative can be contacted and needs to hold a passport for KYC review

threeThe company needs to apply for VAT and have a Bescheinigung § 22f e-commerce certificate

fourDelivery from local overseas warehouses in Germany

fiveLocal DHL/Hermes delivery in Germany

sixGerman customer service (available for German communication on weekdays from 9:00 to 18:00 German time)

sevenProduct uses European EAN bar code

Entry fee

OTTOSellers preparing to open a store are required to pay a one-time registration fee of 10000 euros, with a commission of 15-50%.According to German law, the platform will also charge a 19% VAT tax on this commission.

It should be noted that German law allows consumers to return goods without reason within 14 days, resulting in a high return rate in Germany, ranging from 5-10% for electronic products and even up to 70% for fashion categories. So sellers must pay attention to not exaggerating the product description, try to match the actual product as much as possible, and reduce the return rate.