The Drugstore Retail Format in Europe: Market Dynamics, Consumer Needs and Competitive Evolution

This thesis examines how the drugstore retail format has evolved across Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, and why similar consumer needs are organized through different national retail configurations. The topic is particularly relevant because, despite the economic importance of retail, the development of retail formats has received comparatively less attention than upstream industries, especially when factors beyond demand are considered. To look after these differences, the thesis compares five countries around five key factors: path dependence, institutions, market structure, competition and demand. The analysis adopts a mixed approach, combining quantitative evidence from several database and qualitative evidence from historical development, institutional conditions and market evolution, Quantitative data include company and store network information, market data and Eurostat and OECD indicators, while qualitative evidence is shown by historical, regulatory and documentary sources. The comparison shows that there isn’t one single European drugstore model, instead, different countries have developed similar but at the same time different specialist formats. Germany is the most consolidated broad specialist configuration, Italy combines large domestic networks with stronger cross channel competition, France is more strongly organized around beauty and perfumery, Spain is undergoing consolidation and foreign format entry, and the United Kingdom retains a health beauty pharmacy logic. The development of retail formats is a complex process that cannot be explained by a single determinant. National retail configurations emerge from the interaction of several factors, whose relative importance and effects differ across countries and over time.