Product Line Breadth vs Depth Explained
What is product depth?
The variety of products a company offers within a single product line is referred to as its “product depth.” Understanding the degree of differentiation between a line’s products can help businesses decide which of their products to keep selling and where they might need to develop a new one. Product depth can cover information about a product’s size, flavor, shelf life, and other aspects. For instance, if a business sells a line of potato chips that comes in five flavors and three bag sizes, the line’s product depth is 15.
What is product mix?
The number of product lines a company sells on the market is referred to as product mix. Most businesses that sell products to consumers have at least one product line, which is a grouping of products that includes several items with a close relationship to one another. The total number of product lines a company has, when they have more than one, is known as their product mix. One or more products may be offered by each product line in a product mix, and each product line may contain a different variety of products.
Knowing a company’s product mix is particularly helpful when developing a marketing strategy because it can influence the types of advertising they use and the amount of advertising they require.
Why is product depth important?
Product depth is crucial for businesses because it allows them to evaluate their product offerings in terms of quantity and variety as well as identify trends in their market. To find products that are similar to other products or to identify areas in a line where they might be able to introduce new products that don’t have any similarities to the products they already offer, a company may use its product depth. This can also assist a company in boosting revenue by showing them where they can add more product variations to deepen their product line.
Examples of product depth
Consider the following examples of product depth:
Clothing company
Because there are so many opportunities for product variation within a clothing line, clothing companies have the potential for having a lot of product depth. For instance, a clothing retailer might stock two pairs of shoes in twelve different sizes, four styles of pants in five sizes, and three styles of shirts in each of five sizes. This product line’s product depth is 59 due to the 59 variations between these products.
Sports equipment company
A sports equipment business may encounter product depth, particularly if it serves several sports. For instance, a sports equipment company may sell a line of soccer equipment that includes four different types of soccer balls, three different styles of soccer shirts in five different sizes, two different styles of practice shorts in five different sizes, and four different styles of soccer cleats in ten different sizes. Additionally, they might sell a line of volleyball gear that includes two different types of balls, two different practice jersey styles in five sizes, two different practice short styles in five sizes, and three different volleyball shoe styles in ten sizes.
You can add the values for each product line together to determine the average product depth by combining them. In this instance, the volleyball product line has 52 variations, while the line of soccer products has 69 variations. As a result, the volleyball line’s product depth is 52, the soccer line’s product depth is 69, and the average product depth is 121.
How to define product depth
Here are some steps for defining product depth:
1. Identify the product line
Choose the product line for which you want to determine the depth. A product line is any group of goods that a business sells that are closely related to one another in terms of their intended use, target market, and other distinguishing features. Knowing which product line you want to find the depth for can streamline the process by excluding other product lines that a company sells from consideration because many companies produce and sell more than one product line. By avoiding analyzing data from unrelated product lines, you can concentrate on one product line and gauge its depth.
2. Find variations in the products
Think about the ways that the products in the line you are evaluating are unique from one another. This can include specifics like shape, color, taste, models, and any other distinguishing feature that can set one product apart from another. Some product lines may feature a number of variations that stem from various factors, such as clothing items that a business sells in a variety of styles, sizes, and colors.
Each of these distinctions can be considered a variation and add to the product depth of a product line, so thoroughly examining the variations in a product line can help your calculation be accurate and ensure that you take into account all potential variations between products.
3. Assign each variation a numerical value
Record each product variation as a numerical value. It can be helpful to assign a numerical value to each variation to make sure that you take into account every variation when determining the product depth of a product line because product depth is measured and presented numerically. Simply count each variation you notice in a product line as “one” to accomplish this, then keep track of how many variations you notice. As each variation affects the outcome of calculating product depth, it can be especially crucial to confirm that you are taking all of a product line into consideration during this step.
4. Combine the values to find a lines product depth
To determine the product depth for a product line, add the values for each product variation. You can easily add the values that come from the previous step to find the product depth of the product line you’re considering because each variation is identified and given a numerical value. For instance, the product depth for a company’s product line is 18 if there are 18 variations among all of the products in the line.
You can repeat these steps for each product line you intend to analyze if a company has multiple product lines that you want to determine the product depth for.
FAQ
What is product depth and width?
Width – Number of Product lines. Depth – Product Variation. Length – Total Products.
What is product depth in product mix?
The number of variations each product is offered in is referred to as the depth of the product mix. the line. For instance, P&G Crest tooth paste is available in two formulations (past and gel) and three sizes.
What is product mix depth example?
For instance, if a business sells toothpaste and that toothpaste is available in three different sizes and two different flavors, then that specific brand of toothpaste has a depth of six.
