Wants online sales

Drugstore giant attacks pharmacy monopoly

The Group further increased its revenue in the 2024/25 financial year.(Bild: Lutsenko Oleksandr stock.adobe)

The drugstore chain dm wants to put a stop to the pharmaceutical monopoly in Austria - and launch its own online pharmacy, for example.

For years, dm has been trying to be allowed to sell non-prescription medicines in bricks-and-mortar stores. In the past, however, the group has failed with several constitutional lawsuits against the existing legal regulations. The chain now wants to launch its own online store for non-prescription OTC products (the abbreviation stands for "over-the-counter"). The Chairman of the dm Management Board, Harald Bauer, promised customers price advantages of 20 to 30 percent compared to stationary pharmacies at the annual press conference on Thursday.

OTC mail order: added value and jobs flow abroad from
"More competition would clearly be in the interests of consumers," emphasized Bauer. A reorganization of OTC sales would also have great economic relevance. In 2024, OTCs worth EUR 246 million had already been shipped in Austria - 30 percent more than in the previous year. "Foreign providers account for 75 percent of this. It is incomprehensible that legislators are continuing to transfer value creation and jobs abroad."

However, before customers in Austria can order medicines online from the drugstore chain, the dm online pharmacy will first be introduced at dm in Germany. "However, the system is designed so that it can be quickly rolled out to other countries," emphasized Bauer.

People are becoming aware that tempting offers do not ultimately lead to cheaper purchases.

Vorsitzender der dm-Geschäftsführung Harald Bauer

Price level for dm products remained constant in the previous year
Despite rising energy prices and salary costs, dm once again succeeded in curbing inflation in the financial year ending September 30. "While general inflation averaged three percent over the past twelve months, the dm basket of goods became 0.3 percent more expensive over the same period. The price level has remained practically constant," says Bauer.

In general, high inflation in Austria has led to a noticeable restraint in the drugstore business. "There is hardly any growth in terms of volume, customers are looking for cheaper alternatives and are increasingly questioning promotional prices," says Bauer. "People are realizing that special offers don't ultimately lead to cheaper purchases." dm, on the other hand, has grown both in terms of turnover and sales volume - and gained market share.

The number of locations in Austria has remained fairly constant for ten years, falling by one store to 381 in the previous year.(Bild: Heorshe - stock.adobe.com)

Every second product sold in the previous year was a private label
On average, more than 230,000 people shopped at dm Austria every day in the past financial year - 9,000 more per day than in the previous year. In addition to the brand products and the regular customer program, Bauer cited the "consistent permanent price concept" as the reason for the chain's attractiveness. The 16,000 products in the dm range in Austria had not been increased in price for 23 months on average.

With very low profit margins in the single-digit range, there is generally little potential to reduce prices. This has been achieved with volume advantages, the conversion of work processes, synergies through cross-border logistics and a high proportion of private labels. "Every second product sold last year was a dm own brand."

Country-specific price differences
In the discussion about country surcharges in retail, Bauer spoke out against political intervention in prices on Thursday. "We are working stringently to reduce price differences." In Germany, however, the general conditions are different - in Austria, for example, significantly more stores are needed to reach the same number of customers. Another step is intended to ensure greater price transparency. In future, every item will be recorded centrally in order to make price differences and differences in packaging sizes or product quality between countries visible. "Where country-specific differences cannot be explained, we will seek discussions with the industry."

The number of stores in Austria has remained fairly constant for ten years, falling by one store to 381 in the previous year. Together with the associated countries in Central and South Eastern Europe and Italy, however, the number of stores increased slightly by 24 to 1,971. As of September 30, 2025, 29,120 people work for the dm Group, slightly more than in the previous year. In Austria, the number of employees fell by 111 to 6844.