Product line definition
/What is a Product Line?
A product line is a cluster of products that are marketed under the same brand umbrella, all sold by the same company. A larger business may group its products into a set of product lines, each supported by a different marketing team. Companies may create product lines within certain markets and then rebrand them in other markets to suit local tastes. Thus, an automobile product line in Asia may have quite different features than one in South America, even though both lines are owned by the same company.
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Advantages of a Product Line
There are several advantages associated with developing and selling a product line, which are as follows:
Cost-effectiveness. It is cost-effective for a company to cluster products into product lines, since they can build brands across a number of products. One marketing campaign can then be applied to each product line.
Brand association. It is generally safer to add a product to an existing product line than to create a free-standing product, since customers tend to buy repeatedly within the same brand, and so would favor a product within a product line over a free-standing product. Thus, the use of product lines tends to increase sales to each individual customer.
Platform development. It is quite common for a business to use a common design platform for the products clustered within a product line. This reduces design time, and also results in fewer parts being held in stock, since many of the components are being shared across the product line. The result is a lower inventory investment.
Product Line Filling
A business engages in product line filling when it adds products to a product line in order to fill gaps in the line. Doing so keeps customers with the product line, since it offers them every possible variation on their needs. For example, a clothing line that starts out only offering clothes in trim sizes can fill the product line by later offering clothes in a relaxed fit.