How can a company build and manage its product mix and product lines

Chapter 11: Setting product strategy

How can a company build and manage its product mix and product lines?

By: Kartik SinglaIndian Institute of Technology(BHU), Varanasi

Product lineA group of products manufactured by a company that are closely related because they perform a similar function, sold to same customer groups or fall

within a price range.

Product MixThe complete set of all products and items a company offers for sale.

Managing

product mix

Width

LengthDepth

Consis-tency

Depth: The number of variants offered of each product in a product line.

Width: Number of product lines a company has.

Consistency: This describes how closely related the various product

lines are.

Length: The total number of items in a company’s product mix.

How to build product mix???

Lengthen each line

Increase product variants

Pursue line consistency

Add product lines

Line analysis

Line length

Sales and

Profit

Market Profile

Line Stretching

Line Filling

Managing Product Line

Managing “Sales and Profit” can help determine which items to build,

maintain, harvest or divest.

Product line managers must review how the line is positioned against competitor’s line to

enhance “Market Profile”

“Line Stretching” refers to lengthening the product line beyond its current range (whether up or down) to attract buyers from all segments.

“Line Filling” means adding more items within the present range to keep out

competitors and ensure tight grip in the market.

“Some companies which narrowed down the consumer need gaps by introducing

new product variants and forms!!”

“These slides were prepared by ‘Kartik Singla’

as a part of an internship done under ‘Prof. Sameer Mathur’ (www.IIMInternship.com).”

Disclaimer