The Otto Group’s fashion-startup relies on Open Commerce

The Otto Group’s corporation, founded by Tarek Mueller and Benjamin Otto, presents the first open business model on the German e-commerce market. In cooperation with creatives, developers, brand suppliers and retailers shops are being realized on the basis of a new infrastructure with integrated fashion-applications for the digital generation. The first Collins shop brands are ABOUT YOU and EDITED.

“E-commerce still stands at the beginning of a new digital era”, says Benjamin Otto, entrepreneur and Collins CEO. “Our goal is to create a shopping experience that will be as inspiring and individual as the digital world of today already is.” With this demand the first Open Commerce business model on the German market, the startup founded under the leadership of Benjamin Otto (38) and Tarek Mueller (25) set off. The Otto Group contributed a triple-digit million investment.

Collins replies on the democratization of e-commerce whilst it banks on and opens its doors to creative minds such as content suppliers, developers, brand suppliers and retailers. On the basis of newly developed technology and business platform, third parties cultivate new gateways for fashion in the form of content, social media and mobile applications. Tarek Mueller, Collins Co-chief and Managing Director of the shop: “In the long run, the best ideas don’t emerge from one corporation alone, but often originate from creative minds, with who’s help we are able to open new dimensions for online retail and make them accessible.”

The shopping brand ABOUT YOU was established based on this exact fundamental idea. Under the address ABOUT YOU” href=”http://aboutyou.de/” target=”_blank”>aboutyou.de young men and women, between the ages of 20 and 40 years old, will find a curated online shop that keeps expanding its fashion product range of over 50,000 articles via an app-portfolio with ideas from external partners. Even before the beginning of the official consumer communication in the autumn of 2014, creatives, developers and retailers have realized a colorful diversity of app-concepts just in time for the launch of the shop.

Celebrity looks, club-dress codes from German capitals and a peek into the closets of stylists, for young women to recreate the look only form the beginning: the seamlessly woven in web and mobile applications in the ABOUT YOU shop are supposed to open new gateways into fashion and the product range. Smoothly mixed in are also sought after special product-ranges such as “Pre-Loved” and customized offers. The growing variety is sorted in via intelligent algorithms. For more individualized suggestions, the users can create a personal profile. Data protection and contractual security for all products and apps, but also for substantial service elements such as a common shopping cart speak for the Otto Group’s high-standards.

The tailored IT-architecture behind this forms the backbone for the personal innovation of the corporation. An example of this is the sharply-orientated content and fashion brand EDITED. With this vertical, Collins addresses an even younger target group strongly devoted to fashion. Currently 100 brands, which partially consist of exclusive newcomers, melt together on edited.de with high-quality editorial and social media content. A further vertical is the lingerie and swimwear label Sister Surprise.

The open business model is reflected in the entrepreneurial model. “With Collins we have created an eco-system that offers young target groups new gateways into online shopping, and binds together the strengths of a startup with the power of the Otto Group” commented Benjamin Otto.

Links:

• www.aboutyou.de
• www.edited.de
• www.sistersurprise.de