The German drugstore market is on the rise. Over the past two years, drugstores have gained visit share from traditional supermarkets, and that shift is being driven by the two market leaders, dm and Rossmann, which keep pulling more of that share towards themselves.
Accurat analysed visit behaviour at German drugstores over the past two years, based on location-based market intelligence. The analysis shows how quickly shifts between retailers become visible today: within days after the end of the analysis period, rather than only after months of sales reporting or survey research.
In this article we look at one competitive set: the food & drug market, the complete set of food retailers and drugstores together. Within that market we analyse the visit share (share of visits) of the four large drugstore chains: national market leaders dm and Rossmann, and the smaller players Müller and Budni. We first look at drugstores as a whole, and then break the analysis down by chain to examine the differences between them.
Price consciousness and diverging investment strategies as the engine
This shift fits a broader picture of increasing price consciousness: consumers are more often looking to drugstores for sharper deals and better prices on their everyday personal care products, but increasingly for their food products as well.
Two diverging investment strategies also play a role. Over recent years dm opened relatively few new stores, but invested heavily in renovating its existing branches: since 2023/24 the company has been rolling out a new store concept, supported by an announced investment of more than one billion euros, with the aim of modernising the entire German network of roughly 2,100 branches by the end of 2029. Rossmann, by contrast, is betting strongly on network expansion and continues to grow both its revenue and its store count.
We're noticing that, as a food retailer, we find it hard to compete with the specialist drugstore chains."
What this means for the German drugstore market
Three structural observations stand out:
- dm and Rossmann show the strongest momentum, although the movement of drugstores as a category turned in 2026
- Growth is driven by more unique visitors, and higher visit frequency
- Regionally, the advance is broad but unevenly distributed
The German drugstore market remains in motion, but behavioural data already shows today which retailers are succeeding in pulling new consumers away from traditional supermarkets.
More importantly, these shifts become visible almost in real time. What used to require months of sales reporting or survey research can today become visible within a matter of days through real behavioural data.