Change at the top at Bonprix

Until Dr. Nicolai Johannsen joins Bonprix, Dr. Torben Hansen's current responsibilities will be shared by the other members of the Bonprix Management Board, Carolin Klar, Matthias Wlaka and Dr. Kai Heck. From January 2026, the Bonprix Group will then be managed by all four managing directors together on an equal footing.

After studying engineering management and completing his doctorate on success factors in online advertising at the University of Kiel, Dr. Johannsen started his professional career at Aol and McKinsey. He joined the Otto Group in January 2011 and, as an executive at Otto Group Consulting, was responsible for a wide range of groupwide topics – from the development of new, innovative business fields to ambitious transformation programmes.

In 2016, Dr. Johannsen moved to OTTO to reorganize the sales division as Vice President for Sales. He achieved this most impressively by replacing traditional sales concepts such as the main catalogue and by successfully and efficiently expanding digital sales channels and online advertising. Dr. Nicolai Johannsen was also responsible for the launch and development of the “OTTO Up” customer loyalty programme. By making customer management more professional, resulting in a more efficient approach to target groups, Dr. Johannsen has played a key role growing the otto.de platform which currently boasts over 6,200 partners, 19 million articles and a gross merchandise volume of more than six billion euros.

Since 2022 as VP Consumer Interactions, Dr. Johannsen has been responsible for all marketing channels – including otto.de and the OTTO app – as well as CRM, the customer base and personalization. By building up statistical analysis and forecasting capabilities within the organisation, he has been able to further optimize the allocation and impact of the marketing budget in recent years. Particularly noteworthy here has been the development of the first conversational commerce capabilities for OTTO.

Dr. Marcus Ackermann, Otto Group Executive Board Member for Multichannel Distance Selling: “I am delighted to have Dr. Nicolai Johannsen join the Bonprix Group's management team. As a retail expert and given his extensive experience, he has just the right skills needed to make a significant contribution to the new management board and lead Bonprix back into a successful long-term future in these challenging times.”

Dr. Torben Hansen has held the position of CEO of the fashion and e-commerce company since spring 2024, after succeeding Dr. Richard Gottwald. He was also responsible for Brand & Content, Digital Marketing, European Sales Management and People & Organisation.
Dr. Marcus Ackermann: “I would like to express my thanks to Dr. Torben Hansen for his commitment and for all the work he has done. We wish him all the best in his private and professional life.”