Is There Noticeable Price Differentiation of Identical Products between Different Retail Formats?

The goal of this economics project is to see if various retail formats actually show a difference in their pricing. To execute this project I selected a product category that the many different retail formats carried, and compared the prices of identical products sold in this category between the different retail formats. The product category I chose to research was women’s fragrances. Identical women’s fragrances are sold by supercenters, drug stores, department stores, off price stores, discount stores, promotional stores and by Internet retailers. A consumer could save a considerable amount of money if they knew which retail format generally charged the lowest prices for fragrances. This issue should be of particular interest to men, men often purchase perfume for their significant others for holidays and special occasions such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and birthdays. Knowing what retail format tends to have more reasonable prices will lower men’s search costs and will also leave the men with additional money to spend on themselves.