Product mix

Product mix

The product mix means various products come in a same product line. Many of the time we get free samples with the same product line or a particular market which is known as product mix. Product mix, also known as product assortment.  The four dimensions to a company's product mix include width, length, depth and consistency. We will talk a widely look on above four dimensions:

Width: The width of a company's product mix pertains to the number of product lines that a company sells. For example, if a company has two product lines, its product mix width is two. Small and upstart businesses will usually not have a wide product mix. It is more practical to start with some basic products and build market share. Later on, a company's technology may allow the company to diversify into other industries and build the width of the product mix.

Length: Product mix length pertains to the number of total products or items in a company's product mix, according to Philip Kotler's textbook "Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control." For example, ABC company may have two product lines, and five brands within each product line. Thus, ABC's product mix length would be 10. Companies that have multiple product lines will sometimes keep track of their average length per product line. In the above case, the average length of an ABC Company's product line is five.

Depth: Depth of a product mix pertains to the total number of variations for each product. Variations can include size, flavour and any other distinguishing characteristic. For example, if a company sells three sizes and two flavours of toothpaste, that particular brand of toothpaste has a depth of six. Just like length, companies sometimes report the average depth of their product lines; or the depth of a specific product line.

Consistency:

Product mix consistency pertains to how closely related product lines are to one another--in terms of use, production and distribution. A company's product mix may be consistent in distribution but vastly different in use. For example, a small company may sell its health bars and health magazine in retail stores. However, one product is edible and the other is not. The production consistency of these products would vary as well.