Product Mix-With Examples
A product is an item produced or procured by the business to satisfy
the needs of the customer. It is the actual item which is held for sale
in the market. A company usually sells different types of products. For
example, Coca-Cola has around 3500+ product brands in its portfolio.
These different product brands are also known as product lines. A
combination of all these product lines constitutes the product mix.
The product mix is a subset of the marketing mix and is an important
part of the business model of a company. The product mix has the
following dimensions
Width
The width of the mix refers to the number of product lines the
company has to offer.
For example – if a company produces only soft drinks and juices, this
means its mix is two products wide. Coca-Cola deals in juices, soft
drinks, and mineral water, and hence the product mix of Coca-Cola is
three products wide.
Length
The length of the product mix refers to the total number of products in
the mix. That is if a company has 5 product lines and 10 products
each under those product lines, the length of the mix will be 50 [5 x
10].
Depth
The depth of the product mix refers to the total number of products
within a product line. There can be variations in the products of the
same product line. For example – Colgate has different variants under
the same product line like Colgate advanced, Colgate active salt, etc.
Consistency
Product mix consistency refers to how closely products are linked to
each other. Less the variation among products more is the
consistency. For example, a company dealing in just dairy products
has more consistency than a company dealing in all types of
electronics.
Product Mix Vs Product Line
A product mix is a group of everything a company sells.
However, the product line is a subset of the product mix. A product
line refers to a unique product category or product brand a company
offers.
For example, Patanjali deals in different categories of products which
include shampoo, flour, toothpaste, etc. Shampoo, here, forms a
different product line, flour forms a different product line as well, and
so does toothpaste. However, when they all are grouped together,
they form the product mix of Patanjali.
Product Mix Example
Coca-Cola has product brands like Minute Maid, Sprite, Fanta, Thumbs
up, etc. under its name. These constitute the width of the product mix.
There are a total of 3500 products handled by the Coca-Cola brand.
These constitute the length. Minute Maid juice has different variants
like apple juice, mixed fruit, etc. They constitute the depth of the
product line ‘Minute Maid’. Coca-Cola deals majorly with drinking
beverage products and hence has more product mix consistency.
Product Mix depends on many factors like
Company Age
Financial Standing
Area of Operation
Brand identity, etc.
Many new companies start with limited width, length, depth, and high
consistency of the product mix, while companies with good financial
standing have wide, long, deep, and less consistency of the product
mix. The area of operation and brand identity also affects its product
mix.
