International Brand Ferrari Black

The Ferrari line of perfumes are sold at a premium as compared to most of the other brands in the shelves of the stores we visited. The perfume comes in only two pack sizes 125 ml and 75 ml. The smaller SKU is 33% costlier per ml. Also, the perfume costs 10 times more than the national brand (Denver) we surveyed. We believe that though the perfumes are costly without a significant (or none whatsoever) better smell than the moderately priced perfumes (Ulric de Varens), they are successful because of the value of the brand. It gives the user the feeling of owning a merchandise from a world-famous luxury brand, and for most such users the cars would be financially out of reach. The brand was available only in two of the shops we visited, and the prices were common. The product is sold at MRP but, at an online retailer the product was discounted by 27%. This was not strange since many international brands are heavily discounted on online shops possibly due to the efficiencies of the e-commerce model. The difference in per volume cost of the perfume was as per expectation since the lower volume product ensures that customers were able to afford it but the margins were higher for the company. At the shop, we experienced that the salesmen were unwilling and unpassionate to show the brand. This, we believe, was because they did not see a purchase intent and rather construed that we had come just for window shopping. On a separate instance, the moderately priced brand (UDV) was shown much more willingly by the salesman. This image of exclusiveness and unaffordability does affect the sales of the product, but we assume that it is in line with the intent of the company.

National Brand - Denver Black Code

Denver is national brand owned by a Delhi-based organization Vanesa Inc. When it comes to perfume,the brand is available only in a few selected stores and it seems the company focus is most only Deodorants rather than perfumes. This is interpreted on the basis that Denver deo is present in more shops where as Denver perfume is present in less number of shops. In the shops, we visited Denver has no presence either in Hyper-city(Super market) and Life style. It is present in a pan shop which is selling perfumes.

The price of the Denver is very cheaper when compared to foreign brands and almost matching with the local markets. The minimum price of 100 ml. SKU of foreign brand is Rs.600 and the local brand (Viwa India) which is of 60 ml SKU is selling at Rs.140. The Denver of 50 ml SKUis priced at Rs.160 MRP. The online store(flip kart) is selling at Rs. 123 .When asked about the discount, the sales man in the pan shop said, he wont offer any discount on perfume product and it applies to Denver also. When asked about the movement of Denver, the shop keeper said, the customer who visits his shop prefer to purchase Riya or Viwa India rather than opting for Denver. When asked for particular reason, he has the answer that Riya smell lasts long(8 hours) than Denver but the reviews available in the online store contradicts his statement. Denver also lost for 8 hours and customers in online store has expressed that Denver has very pleasant smell. The variants of Denver available in pan shops and Bhagyalaxmi store is only Denver pour Homme EDP, where as in online store (flip kart) both variants, Denver pour Homme EDP, Denver Black Code Eau de Parfum. The ingredients used are available on the labelling of Denver Perfume. Both the variants available at the same price of Rs.160. Its actually surprising to find both the variants priced at same as there is significant difference between both based on the literature availabale on the differences between EAU and EDP When asked about the pricing strategy to get rid of the products, the shop keeper answered that never such situation happened. Asked about the season or occasion, on which Denver sells maximum, he answered that any sort of perfume sells mostly during Garba. When asked about his margins, he was reluctant to answer and asked about the distributor from he purchases, he said all the perfumes in his shop comes from Mumbai and didnt answer any thing on further pestering. All the perfume products in the shop are available in the rack just to the right of cash counter and deodrants are placed in the same rack.

Regional Brand Riya

The product, according to the shop owner is sourced from Mumbai, but the organization owning the brand, Risa cosmetics is based out of Haridwar. The product is marginally cheaper than national brand but is available in two pack sizes of 100ml and 60ml. We did not find this product in any other store and nor were any samples available. According to us the scent of the perfume is much more rash and has a stronger spirit sense. At the concerned shop, we found that the product seldom sells with usually one unit sold every day. Also, the per ml price of the smaller pack was costlier than the larger pack. But the difference was just 8% as compared to 33% as observed in the international brand. Thus, in case of the regional brand we can clearly see that the intent of smaller SKU is to provide flexibility to the customer.