Ethical consumption: Focus on effective commitment

In recent years, ethical consumption has gone from being a trend to a demand. The Otto Group has driven this development for many years. In 2007, we commissioned our partner Trendbüro to conduct the first “Trend Study on Ethical Consumption.” Four further surveys followed (in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2020). We see it as our obligation to raise consumer awareness of this issue and respond to their wishes and needs. And our studies show that consumers consider environmental and social responsibility issues increasingly important when it comes to purchasing. In 2020, 70 percent of Germans said that ethical criteria played an important role in their purchasing decisions. That’s 6 percent more than in 2013. Further figures from the study (which surveyed 1,149 Germans between the ages of 14 and 70) show how much importance is now attached to sustainable business and conscious consumption.

The data clearly shows that ethical consumption has become mainstream. More and more consumers want to buy responsibly and are demanding that policymakers and companies create sustainable framework conditions. This encourages us to continue on the path we have been pursuing for a long time.

“In the Otto Group, we want to make a difference because we have believed for generations that, in the end, the economy must serve the people, not the other way around. For that to happen, however, we all have to change. Away from a throwaway society, toward sustainable and recyclable products and resource-efficient production methods in which more consideration is given to human rights and in which respect and mindfulness toward nature are more highly valued,” says Otto Group CEO Alexander Birken.

In this way, we are continuously reducing our CO₂e emissions, supporting the cultivation and use of more sustainable grown cotton, and ensuring fair working conditions throughout our supply chains. Here are a few examples from across the Group:

As an online retailer, OTTO cannot completely avoid packaging in its business area, but it can reduce the amount of waste and increase the recycling rate. To this end, the company is involved in numerous projects, such as using dispatch bags made from recycled plastic or cardboard boxes also made from recycled material.

Our consumption is always sustainable when we are not tempted to replace goods we already own with new ones, disposing of them because they are broken, because we no longer like them, or because they no longer meet our needs. Manufactum has always made sure that it sells products that are sturdy, perfectly designed, easy to repair, and that become lifelong companions for its customers. The company’s ambition is that every product sold has been manufactured in a resource-efficient and socially responsible manner and is durable and of regional origin.