shopping at the 'dm' varmacy market... a different shopping experience

In Germany exists a variety of pharmacy markets which all differ from the American once in size, store layouts, products and pricing. But one of those is different than all the others... the dm farmacy market. Back in Germany I have always been a loyal customer at dm, avoiding all other pharmacy markets. My friends and a lot of other people I know feel the same way: dm only! But why are dm customers so loyal to the market, even if all pharmacy markets basically offer the same or similar products?

To answer this question for myself... I like dm the most, because I feel comfortable shopping there, it never feels super crowded in the stores, even if there are a lot of people in it at the same time, dm supplies my favorite products, and I think I get everything for a really good to low price.

Quite a while ago, I found a more scientific answer to the question... One of the German public TV channels called ARD has a documentary show in which anchors with the support of specialists analyse different popular brands, such as fast food and other restaurants, clothing shops, grocery stores and many more. The other day, this show examined the mystery of the dm pharmacy market. What is the secret of dm having the most loyal German customers, even if they do not have the most stores of all pharmacy markets?

The company was tested in 4 categories: (1) Mere advertisement, (2) Price Advantage, (3) Quality, and (4) Fairness. The analysis of all categories is quite interesting, but in particular for people purchasing at dm stores on a regular basis with a high loyalty. Not everything is how it seems to be... But anyway, at this point I want to show you the biggest secret what dm stores differentiates from all other pharmacy stores... the Stores' Interior Furnishing

A dm store is different... all alleys are wider (that is quite typical in America, but not in German stores), more space at the check out points, all shelfs are just as high as the average human shoulder height, the shelfs in the store's center are all rotated through 45° and the light in the store is a comfortable yellow instead of a usual white. All these factors change the atmosphere in the store and change the purchasing process in a dm store into a whole different shopping experience. The stores' Interior Furnishing as well as a the customer service all regard the human natural feeling of comfort.
    

              

The rotated shelfs facilitate the view into the alley to easily spot the product one's looking for. The widen alleys give a feeling of space, privacy and feedom of movement. The lower shelfs facilitate a better overview of the whole store and eliminate the feeling to get striked to death by a shelf. The dimmed light increases the general comfort as well as pleases the colors of the packages and so the perception of each product. The documentary shows, that customers at a dm store focus more on the product itself, than on the lowest price in the shelf like in other companies' stores. Customers spend more time in a dm store than in any other pharmacy market's store. This all is arranged on purpose: A dm store is supposed to become a place, which invites to look at, test and touch products, to amble around and take ones time either by oneself or with the whole family.

All this is based on a customer-oriented store interior and service.The company's slogan translated: dm - here is were I am a human, here is were I buy

Take a look at the documentary (unfortunately in German): the dm check
scip to min 6:45 - 8:00 and 9:20 - 10:30 to see the change from a normal pharmcy store layout to a dm store layout!