De-escalation training with a game-like experience

How ROSSMANN is using interactive training to prepare their employees for potential customer conflict.
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Rossman

Interactive de-escalation training at ROSSMANN

As the pioneer of the drug store format in Germany, Dirk Roßmann opened his first “market for drugstore goods” in Hannover in 1972. Today, ROSSMANN (headquartered in Burgwedel near Hannover) is one of Europe’s largest drugstore chains, with 65,500 employees across 4,966 stores. In Germany alone, more than 2,311 ROSSMANN branches serve over 1.84 million customers every day. 

THE PROJECT
THE CHALLENGE

Handling customer conflict in day-to-day retail life

In retail, conflicts between customers and staff can arise all too easily – for example, when customers test products without permission, disturb others with their behaviour, or attempt fraud. Working at ROSSMANN saw employees regularly encounter these situations.  

 

“These instances have only increased in recent years,” explains Christina Hennings, elearning consultant at ROSSMANN. “Some customers have a short fuse, and conflicts can escalate quickly – sometimes involving insults or even physical aggression. Naturally, we want to protect our staff from this.”  

Bildschirm vom Rossmann Training im Einsatz

There is also the company’s image to consider: through social media, dissatisfied customers have access to their own wider platform – even if their original complaints are unjustified or the conflict was triggered by their own behaviour. De-escalation training is therefore essential to avoid conflicts in the first place or at least prevent them from escalating.  

 

Up until now, ROSSMANN relied on classic, linear training courses – mostly produced in-house and partly purchased. While these provided a good foundation, interactive formats promised stronger learning outcomes.  

 

Store managers also had access to two-day classroom training, but their teams only benefited indirectly through what these individuals shared afterwards. This led to a growing desire to try something new: an interactive training format that all frontline employees could access.

THE SOLUTION

Gamification as a key success factor

ROSSMANN has successfully used the imc Learning Suite as its learning management system for several years. For this project, the company partnered with imc Studios to design and implement the new de-escalation training. This ensured seamless integration with the existing learning platform while drawing on Scheer IMC’s extensive eLearning expertise.

  

“It was important to us that the training was interactive and incorporated gamification elements to motivate employees and achieve better learning outcomes,” says Christina Hennings. “We also chose to use voice-over narration to make the content more accessible and to help reduce potential language barriers.”  

Bildschirm vom Rossmann Training im Einsatz

Working closely together, the teams developed a training course that guides employees through a variety of realistic scenarios that they frequently encounter in-store. Learners choose between different responses, leading to a variety of outcomes – from escalation through to a successful resolution. Additional learning nuggets provide background knowledge, while narrated dialogues bring the scenarios vividly to life.

 

ROSSMANN provided the subject-matter expertise for the training “Dealing with challenging customer situations”, while Scheer IMC handled the implementation. Extensive decision trees were used to map out the different choices and their consequences.

 

The project also involved ROSSMANN’s sales, audit, and customer service departments (with their wealth of de-escalation experience), alongside the design team to ensure corporate branding was applied consistently.

RESULTS AND OUTLOOK

A training format that resonates – and can grow

The resulting final training solution fully met ROSSMANN’s expectations: an engaging, interactive format that employees enjoy and that helps them manage their daily challenges more effectively. Feedback from stores has also been overwhelmingly positive. Staff particularly appreciate being able to test out different options and explore alternative outcomes.

 

“Our goal is for employees to repeat the training and try out new reactions each time,” says Christina Hennings. “This way, the learning really sticks.” 

 

All 33,000 frontline employees are completing the eLearning programme, strengthening their de-escalation skills.  Looking ahead, Christina Hennings sees the potential to expand the training by adding further scenarios over time. 

 

The training was awarded the eLearning Award 2026 in the “Web Based Training” category, with a focus on conflict management. Particular praise was given to the combination of clearly defined learning objectives, technical robustness, and didactic innovation.

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY
The e-training is fantastic and really fun. It’s just something completely different.
Christina Hennings
eLearning Manager
ROSSMANN