[500 Best] Dario Klemar (dm): We Center Our Business on People’s Needs

For Croatian entrepreneurs, this has been the best year in history, but they have faced new challenges such as stagnation in the eurozone and Germany entering recession… Leaders of the largest companies claim that this does not affect revenue and has not delayed investments in new technologies, especially in artificial intelligence, as well as in environmental protection. What are dm’s plans was explained by the procurator and head of the Department of IT, Finance, Accounting, and Controlling at dm, Dario Klemar.

– The foundation of dm’s leading position in the Croatian drugstore market is the relationships we build with our customers, employees, and partners, and during 2023, we continued to place people’s needs at the center of our business. This has allowed us to successfully adapt to two major changes that have occurred in our market, namely the introduction of a new official currency and the enactment of the Law on Amendments to the Trade Act.

During the adjustment of our business to these changes, we primarily had our employees in mind, who are the backbone of our success, and of course, our customers, to whom we always strive to adapt and maintain their trust. We justified customer trust by earlier introducing dual price display, joining the Ethical Code of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, and the concept of Good Price at all times, under which we further reduced the prices of 700 products on January 1 of this year and guaranteed that their prices would not change for at least four months.

Every company that puts people first must follow trends and have a responsible relationship with the community and the environment. Therefore, investments in the digitalization of services are an inseparable part of dm’s business development, as evidenced by innovations such as the smartphone application ‘Moj dm’ and the digital service dmLIVE, which allows app users to gain special benefits during live broadcasts and talk to experts. The fight against climate change at dm involves implementing technologies and programs and using available tools to reduce environmental impact in as many business processes as possible.

In the last business year alone, dm produced 588 MWh of electricity for its own consumption from solar energy at its Administrative-Distribution Center in Zagreb, reducing CO₂ emissions by 338 tons. This year, we continued investing in energy efficiency and joined the ZelEn program, thanks to which we cover the energy needs of the business from renewable sources, further reducing emissions.