Dr. Friedrich Baur established Germany’s first mail-order shoe business in 1925 in the Upper Franconian town of Burgkunstadt. Its spectacular success began with bulk ordering on an instalment plan. Today BAUR is incorporated into the Otto Group as a multichannel provider with approximately 3,900 employees and, in addition to its catalog and Internet business, it is active in the offline retail sector. In its mail-order business, BAUR concentrates on offering products in the fashion, footwear, and furniture categories. The Group’s sense of social responsibility is reflected in its selection of products and suppliers based on considerations of origin, quality, and environmental compatibility. More than 30 percent of all orders from its roughly four million customers are already coming in over the Internet, and baur.de is consistently among the top 10 German Internet shops.Its Internet business currently accounts for roughly 80 percent of its sales volume.