Product Mix

Product mix is the sum total of all products that a company offers. Simply put, it is the entirety of types of foods you will ever see on the Mc'Donalds menu in the Mc'Donalds store. True-we will have to move away from our focus product in this case-the combo meal. But then in order to understand better why the brand decides to put together three of its products in a combo, understanding the Product Mix will be step number 1. A business may consist of a number of product lines, which are groups of items featuring similar characteristics. Together, these product lines comprise your product mix, which is the total assortment of products your offer. Understanding the concept of a product mix is essential to the success of your business for a number of important reasons like:

Consumer requirements:

Having a proper assortment of products gives a business the best possible opportunity of meeting the needs of your consumer. The consumer comes to rely on a particular business as his primary resource, which means he may be less likely to shop with competitors. By carefully monitoring the product mix and seeking feedback from customers, a business may be able to make adjustments as the needs of it's customers change over time.

Business Image:

The product mix is important in determining the image of your business and brand, as it helps you to maintain consistency in the eyes of your target market. For example, For example, if you are Mc'Donalds, you would be looking at people from the target groups we have earlier discussed. If you suddenly introduce a product line of merchandise that is not really in line with your Business image, you run the risk of confusing your customers, as they may wonder if you're planning to make widespread changes to your product mix.

Providing Focus:

Making use of a product-mix helps business stay focused on your core offering. As your business grows, you may be tempted to add more product lines in an effort to reach more customers. By doing so, you could be in danger of adding products that appeal only to a fraction of your customer base while alienating your core customers. As a rule, your core customers are the ones who provide majority of the percentage of your business, so keeping these customers in mind when contemplating changes to your product mix is extremely important.

Inventory Management:

A business owner would probably face limitations regarding the number of products he is able to offer. By focusing on providing the optimum product mix for your customers, a business owner will be able to remove slow selling products and make room for more appealing items. A business will not clutter the precious selling and storage space with goods that won't sell and will continuously offer the fresh products the customers really want. An example we will be able to relate with would be the slow removal of Mc'Curry Pan from the shelves and menu of Mc'Donalds in India.

Products within a product mix can either be similar or distinct. There are four dimensions to product mix: width, length, depth and consistency.

Width

The width of a company's product mix is 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 the marketing textbook we have discussed earlier by Philip Kotler. 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, flavor and any other distinguishing characteristic. For example, if a company sells three sizes and two flavors 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.

Companies usually start out with a product mix limited in width, depth and length and have a high level of consistency. However, over time, the company may want to differentiate products or acquire new ones to enter new markets. A company can also sell the existing products to new markets by coming up with new uses for their product.

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Amazing-is it not, the evolution if product mix is taken and adopted seriously!

In a way, it is like the process of turning into a successful and consistently read author after having written a bestseller novel. You write a single book, concentrate on what genre you are successful in and continue till people want to keep reading your books. Then comes the time when you experiment with other genres, keeping in mind at the same time that you should be simultaneously writing your best genre, because that is your best offering to your target group who still know you as the author of world class author of the genre!

Until next time, Ameya Sawadkar signing off!