Jun 23 - Jun 25
DM is Europe’s largest drugstore, and they wanted to transform their digital presence into a true growth engine, so we focused on designing onboarding, retention, and referral experiences that turned strong brand love into measurable outcomes, ultimately driving the app to rank among Germany’s top 5 shopping apps.
Full breakdown of the case study available on request
Context
dm-drogerie markt is Europe’s largest drugstore chain, with a strong reputation and millions of loyal customers: when they reached out, the challenge was about turning that loyalty into measurable digital growth. The team I led was asked to design features for the dm app that could drive activation, retention, acquisition, and monetization, effectively transforming it into a true growth engine. This is project lasted 2 years and is one of the longest I have ever worked on.
Goal
Our main goal was to make the app not just a shopping tool, but a habit. We started by focusing on onboarding, making it simple, guided, and personalized so new users would activate quickly. From there, we looked at ways to keep people engaged, like cart sync and live features that connect online and offline shopping. We also explored referral rewards and viral loops to fuel acquisition, and subscription bundles plus repeat-purchase flows to drive monetization.
Impact
Team
Product discovery
I needed to understand where the dm app was falling short, so I mapped the entire customer journey, simply by using the app, from download to repeat purchase, and then I worked with their PMs to uncover the biggest friction points: abandoned carts, slow onboarding, and very little incentive to come back after the first order.
To validate these pain points, I ran workshops with my team and stakeholders, where we reframed them into hypotheses, such as: what if onboarding felt more personalized? Could a cart sync feature connect online and offline shopping? Would a live feature give users more reasons to return?
We then translated these hypotheses into quick prototypes that we tested through user interviews and the results helped us build different small-scale pilots for each one of the growth pillar. In Germany and Austria, I ran usability sessions with 20 participants, combined with A/B testing in Mixpanel, which allowed us to measure the effect of each change on actual behavior.
Activation
One of the biggest hurdles was getting people to move from downloading the app to making their very first purchase: to tackle that, we redesigned onboarding into something more personal and useful. Instead of dropping users straight into a generic home screen, we asked them about their interests.
That simple step gave us the signal to customize their experience right away: targeted coupons, relevant product recommendations, and invites to live shopping events that matched what they cared about. The result was an onboarding flow that felt less like filling out a form and more like getting a tailored welcome package.
Activation → Acquisition
Once we made onboarding smoother, the next challenge was bringing in new users without relying only on ads, and that’s where referrals came in. We designed a program that rewarded both sides: if you invited a friend, you each got a €5 voucher to spend in the app.
The key was making it simple, as users could send invites directly, track who had signed up, and instantly redeem rewards once their friends completed a purchase. Instead of a clunky or hidden perk, referrals became a clear, easy-to-use growth lever built right into the app. This encouraged not only word-of-mouth but also created a natural incentive loop where loyal users became advocates.
Activation → Acquisition → Retention
We launched dmLIVE, a series of interactive product streams that mixed inspiration, exclusive deals, and direct shopping. Now, instead of static product pages, users could tune into live sessions where they discovered new products, grabbed special offers, and purchased directly within the stream. It blurred the line between entertainment and shopping, giving users a reason to come back regularly. By turning product discovery into a social and engaging experience, we kept retention strong while also boosting direct sales.
Activation → Retention → Acquisition → Monetization
We focused on turning engagement into sustainable revenue through cart synchronization, which allowed users to move between online and offline shopping without losing their baskets. A cart started on the app could be picked up in-store and vice versa, creating a flexible experience that could fit naturally into daily routines.
We validated this through pilots with selected user groups, and the results showed smoother checkout journeys, higher average order value, and a clear foundation for subscription bundles and repeat-purchase models.
Product subscriptions
Closing notes
This project was about transforming dm’s app into a growth engine that could scale across generations of customers, and we tried our best ensuring that new features weren’t just nice to have but directly tied to business impact.
The changes drove measurable improvements in activation, retention, acquisition, and monetization, but more importantly, they set a new standard for how digital can complement dm’s strong offline presence.
To me, this project proved that brand loyalty can translate into digital growth when the experience feels personal, seamless, and valuable at every step.