The range of products is the set of all types and kinds of products offered to customers by the company or any of its units. It can also be understood as a set of products offered by the entire industry. This range can be more or less specialized or generic. It is described by width, length, depth and consistency. Range of offered products should correspond to the expectations of target market of the company.
Product range width
Product range width means the quantity of offered product lines. A wide range describes large number of product groups (types of products including similar products that are intended for one segment of the market).
Product range length
It is the number of all products offered by the company in all product ranges.
Product range depth
It is number of different variants of the product, which the company offers in each product line. Deep range is one that provides a large selection of product variants (that is, products with a similar composition, technology, use, etc.) within one product line.
Product range consistency
The consistency describes how close are interlinked the various product lines of the company when it comes to distribution channels, and other characteristics. Consistent product range involves for example, several production lines including only consumer goods and their distribution through the same channels. The larger the differences between the lines of products, the consistency of the product range is smaller.
- Holmström, J. (1997). Product range management: a case study of supply chain operations in the European grocery industry. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 2(3), 107-115.
- Dobson, P. W., & Waterson, M. (1996). Product range and interfirm competition. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 5(3), 317-341.