This study aims to comparatively examine price differences for identical products sold on digital sales platforms and in physical retail stores. With the process of digitalization, the spatial boundaries of retail trade have largely disappeared, and consumers are now exposed to different pricing strategies in both digital and physical sales environments. These pricing practices shape purchasing behavior by creating perceptions related to quality, affordability, and accessibility from the consumer’s perspective. The research is designed within a qualitative research framework and is based on document analysis and visual content analysis techniques. Criterion-based purposive sampling was employed, and visual documents presenting price information for products with identical brand, content, and weight across digital sales platforms and physical retail stores were systematically analyzed. The findings reveal that prices on digital sales platforms are significantly higher and more variable compared to physical stores, while prices in physical retail stores are presented within narrower ranges and in accordance with institutional standards. The study demonstrates that price formation in digital retail environments does not invariably generate a competitive advantage and offers conceptual and methodological contributions to discussions on consumer perception and market regulation.
Retail, Digital Store, Physical Store