What is product assortment?
Product assortment, also known as product or merchandise mix, is the variety of merchandise that a business offers to customers. In the eyes of a customer, this assortment defines a retailer’s image and why they shop there.
What is product mix?
What is Product Mix? Product mix, also known as product assortment or product portfolio, refers to the complete set of products and/or services offered by a firm. A product mix consists of product lines, which are associated items that consumers tend to use together or think of as similar products or services.
What is a deep assortment of products?
The depth of products offered, or how many variations of a particular product a store carries The width of the product variety, or how many different types of products a store carries A deep assortment —the opposite of a narrow assortment—of products means that a retailer carries a number of variations...
What are the two components of an assortment strategy?
The strategy is comprised of two major components: A deep assortment—the opposite of a narrow assortment—of products means that a retailer carries a number of variations of a single product. A wide variety—the opposite of a narrow variety—of products means that a retailer carries a large number of different products.
What does assortment mean in retail?
According to Investopedia, an assortment is a collection of goods or services that a business provides to a consumer. This concept usually deals with the number of products carried as well as the variety of products sold.
What is assortment example?
The definition of assortment is the act of categorizing. An example of assortment is the filing of papers into categorized folders. Assortment is defined as a group of things that vary in type. An example of an assortment is a box of chocolates with varying flavors and kinds.
What is the purpose of assortment?
Assortment planning in retail is the process of selecting the products that a retailer wants to sell during a particular period to maximize profitability. In other words, it means that retailers decide what merchandise they should buy and market to their customers.
What are the types of assortment?
Types of Assortment StrategiesWide assortment. A wide assortment strategy is used when retailers aim to offer a lot of different product lines or categories, but with lesser depth in each category. ... Deep assortment. ... Scrambled assortment. ... Localized assortment. ... Mass-market assortment.
What is assortment of product?
Product assortment, also known as product or merchandise mix, is the variety of merchandise that a business offers to customers. In the eyes of a customer, this assortment defines a retailer's image and why they shop there. Product assortment will also determine a company's dependence on particular inventory.
What is product mix example?
Product Mix, another name as Product Assortment, refers to several products that a company offers to its customers. For example, a company might sell multiple lines of products, with the product lines being fairly similar, such as toothpaste, toothbrush, or mouthwash, and also other such toiletries.
What are the 4 characteristics of product assortment?
Characteristics of Product Assortment. There are important characteristics that a company's product assortment should consist of. The key characteristics are Breadth, Length, Depth, and Consistency.
What are the two factors used during assortment planning?
Retailers plan their assortment along two dimensions: Breadth/width: the number of product types and categories. Depth: The number of variations for each product/category.
What are the key characteristics of an assortment plan?
Assortment planning entails evaluating individual product attributes, including Brand, Size, Style, Colour, Function, Price and Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) performance during selection to address the preferences and needs of your customers.
How do you choose product assortment?
The most obvious consideration when creating a product assortment strategy is to determine who you want as your target customer. The products you sell will attract the type of customer you want, and the more detailed your demographic information, the better.
What is the product mix?
A product mix is the total number of product lines and individual products or services offered by a company. Additionally referred to as product assortment or product portfolio.
What is assortment planning?
Assortment planning is the process of choosing which “assortment” of products to sell during a certain time period, and how to allot those products between different locations and/or sales channels to maximize profits.
How do you use assortment in a sentence?
Assortment sentence exampleDeidre ran back up to her room and looked over the assortment of shoes. ... She snorted at the strange assortment of books. ... The top drawer contained the usual assortment of pens, pencils and paperclips. ... Her step slowed as she neared a booth with an assortment of kitchen décor.More items...
What is assortment Marketing?
An assortment strategy is a strategic retail industry sales tool that optimizes the variety of goods offered for sale. This strategy is centered around the concepts of "a deep assortment" and "a wide variety."
What is fashion assortment?
Fashion Terminology. An apparel retailer's assortment is defined by the type of products that are carried in each store at a particular point in time. Assortment planning is the process of determining the most appropriate merchandise to make up the stores assortment.
What is assortment planning?
Assortment planning is the process of choosing which “assortment” of products to sell during a certain time period, and how to allot those products between different locations and/or sales channels to maximize profits.
What is Product Assortment?
The product assortment definition is the full list of goods or services that are sold by a company. Product assortment can also be called product mix or product portfolio. Product assortments can consist of lists of a variety of product lines offered by a company or products that are associated together.
Characteristics of Product Assortment
There are important characteristics that a company's product assortment should consist of. The key characteristics are Breadth, Length, Depth, and Consistency.
Product Mix Strategies
A company needs a sound product mix strategy to help raise brand awareness and increase sales. There are some basic strategies a company can use:
Types of Assortment Strategies
A wide assortment strategy is used when retailers aim to offer a lot of different product lines or categories, but with lesser depth in each category. It aims to provide more variety in the types of product lines offered but does not provide a high number of products in each product line.
Importance of Assortment Strategies
If used effectively, assortment strategies can boost sales and help the retailer grow its customer base. They are important because they determine the goods that a customer interacts with, which leads to a purchase decision.
Related Readings
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What is an assortment mix simulator?
Usually, merchandisers have to work together with designers and vendors to come up with the ideal product mix that will sell. They have to consider past performance, trends, markups, and at times rely on their gut instincts.
How hard is it to implement?
We can hear you exclaiming, “this sounds way too complex and I may not have time to integrate such tools into my existing systems!” Well, you don’t have to. GFAIVE’s assortment planning simulator lets you upload your data to the platform via an automated data loader, requiring absolutely no integration.
Determining Your Product Depth and Breadth
Halley Bondy a professional freelance writer, journalist, producer, and mom based in Brooklyn. She covers small businesses for The Balance and is a freelance journalist for various other outlets, including NBC Know Your Value and Business Insider.
What Is Product Assortment and Why Does It Matter?
Product assortment, also known as product or merchandise mix, is the variety of merchandise that a business offers to customers. In the eyes of a customer, this assortment defines a retailer’s image and why they shop there. Product assortment will also determine a company’s dependence on particular inventory.
Product Breadth Defined
Product breadth, also known as width, is the number of product lines that a company offers. For example, a shoe store’s breadth might be quantified at six if it offers:
Product Depth Defined
Product depth is the number of variations or subcategories of a product that a retailer offers. For example, if a store primarily sells greeting cards, it likely has a lot of product depth, such as 100 different types of sympathy cards.
Defining Your Product Mix
Your product assortment strategy is determined by your business goals.
Seasonal Merchandising Strategies
Assortment strategies can also vary depending on the season. Masson notes that a store carrying a wide range of supplies, such as Office Depot, will have a deeper back-to-school assortment at the onset of the school season.
The Bottom Line
Retailers must deeply consider their product mix. The mix, or assortment, consists of dimensions called breadth and depth, which ultimately construct a customer’s perception of an establishment.
What Is an Assortment Strategy?
An assortment strategy in retailing involves the number and type of products that stores display for purchase by consumers. Also called a "product assortment strategy," it is a strategic tool that retailers use to manage and increase sales. The strategy is made up of two major components:
How Assortment Strategies Work
Essentially, a product assortment strategy is a retail industry sales tool with the concepts of depth and breadth at its core. However, not all retailers will be able to use both components of this strategy at the same time.
A Strategic Selling Tool
A strategically arranged product assortment can upsell customers on supplemental items as they search for the item that brought them to the store.
Potential Disadvantages of Assortment Strategies
Although the depth of product assortment may help attract customers, there are certain caveats to relying only on an assortment strategy. If items in an assortment are placed incorrectly, the demand for these products may vary drastically.
Dimensions of a Product Mix
Width, also known as breadth, refers to the number of product lines offered by a company. For example, Kellogg’s product lines consist of: (1) Ready-to-eat cereal, (2) Pastries and breakfast snacks, (3) Crackers and cookies, and (4) Frozen/Organic/Natural goods.
Example of a Product Mix
Let us take a look at a simple product mix example of Coca-Cola. For simplicity, assume that Coca-Cola oversees two product lines – soft drinks and juice (Minute Maid). Products classified as soft drinks are Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, and products classified as Minute Maid juice are Guava, Orange, Mango, and Mixed Fruit.
Importance of a Product Mix
The product mix of a firm is crucial to understand as it exerts a profound impact on a firm’s brand image Brand Equity In marketing, brand equity refers to the value of a brand and is determined by the consumer’s perception of the brand. Brand equity can be positive or .
Summary
Successfully expanding a product mix can help a business adjust to changing consumer demand/preferences while reducing product risk and reliance on a single product or product line. This, in turn, generates substantial profits for the firm.
Related Readings
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