What Is a Product Line?

A product line is a group of related products sold under one brand name. C🦂ompanies sell multiple product lines under different brand names, seeking to distinguish them fro🤪m each other for better recognition by consumers.

Companies often expand their offerings by adding to existing product lines because consumers are more likely to purchase products from brands with wh✱ich they are al🌜ready familiar. In addition, they may add a new product line to an already existing brand.

A company's blend of product lines is known as its product mix or 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:product portfolio.

How Product Lines Work

Product lines are created by companies as a marketing strategy to capture the attention, acceptance, and sales of consumers who, once they like a proꦆduct or product line, are likely to stick with it.

The operating principle is that consumers respond positively to brands they know and love. They will be willing to try 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:new products add🃏ed to a particular product line because of their previous positive experiences.

They also may be willing to buy products in a different product line from the same company for the same reason, as♚ long as the defining factors of the line appeal to them.

For example, a cosmetic company that sells a popular, high-priced product line of makeup (that includes foundation, eyeliner, mas🌸cara, and lipstick) under a well-known brand name might launch a new product line that offers consumers a lower price point.

Product lines can vary in quality, price, and target market. Companieꦕs use product lines to gauge trends, which helps them to determine which markets to target.

The Growth of Product Lines

Companies add new items to their pr💟oduct lines, sometimes referred to as a product-line extension, to introduce brands to new customers.

Consumers who have no interest in a company's sporting goods, for example, might be more interested in buying its product line of energy bars or sports beverages. Extending product lines allows companies to maximize their reach.

The way that companies use product lines is evident in the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:auto industry. Auto manufacturers famously produce various product lines of veh﷽icles to reach the widest possible range of consumers.

For this reason, they produce lines of economy vehicles, environmentally-friendly vehicles, and luxury vehicles al♓l under their leading brands. Some are marketed to families, some to individuals, and others to the young.

Product Line vs. Product Mix

Product Line

A product line is a p🌄arti🌃cular group of goods or services that a company makes and markets to customers.

A food company may extend and diversify a product line by adding related products, such ꦚas a company that adds mesquite BBQ-flavored potato chips to its existing potato chip line. If the same company decided to market pretzels, this would be a different product line altogether, involving different ingredients, processes, and knowledge. The new pretzel product line could attract existing potato chip product line customers as well as completely new customers🐻.

Product Mix

A product mix is the combination of all product lines offered by a company. For exam🌳ple, the company above has a product mix of different types of potato chips and pretzels.

It's useful to analyze a product mix to identify market segment trends. As a result, companies may decide to re-brand or restructure underperforming and unprofitable products or product lines to revitalize them.

Profitable lines may be tagged to include innovative or riskier additions to strengthen the overall pro꧟duct mix.

Mature companies often have diversified product mixes. Internal product development as well as company acquisitions contribute to its product portfolio breadth and size over time. Larger enterprises h🍰ave the infrastructure to support the marketing of a broader offering.

Geog🎃raphic expansion can also augment a product mix, with products varying in popularity among cities or co൩untries.

Apple, Inc., for example, has a product mix that includes its popular iPhone line (within which are various generations, versions, sizes, all at different price points), the iOS app store, its🐻 line of laptop & desktop computers, software development, a music streaming servic🍎e, Apple TV, and so on.

Special Considerations

Product Line Reach

Product lines allow companies to reach regions and socioeconomic groups, sometimes even worldwide.

In some cases, such as the cosmetic industry, companies also launch product 🎉lines under their best-selling brands to capture sales from consumers of various ethnic or age groups.

Multinational corporations, such as restaurants, of💞ten launch product lines specifically for the countries in which they operate, as is the case with fast-food restaurants operating in Asia.

Unprofitable Product Lines

Though a product li🦋ne may be unprofitable, it still can be useful to a companyᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ.

A 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:loss leader stra✅tegy, for example, introduces new customers to a service or product in the hopes of building a customer base and securing future recurring revenue.

The product line may lose money, but products would continue to be sold to attract new customers who could add to the company's profits and start buying additional products and services in the future. In other instances, unprofitable product lines may need to be revamped or abandoned.

Examples of Product Lines

• Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) sells several highly recognized product lines including Windows, MS Office, and the Xbox.
• Nike Inc. (NKE) has product lines for various sports, such as track and field, basketball, and soccer. The company's product lines include footwear, clothing, and equipment.
• PepsiCo () owns, among many other lines globally, Frito Lay, Gatorade, Quaker Oats, and Tropicana.
• The various product lines for Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) include coffee, ice cream, and drinkware.

Some companies never diversify beyond a single product line. Instead, they focus their efforts on becoming a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:market leader in just one thing.

Michelin, for instance, only produces tires. Crocs🍸 only makes rubber-based footwear. Gorilla glue only makes adhesives.

The Bottom Line

A product line is a blend of similar products (or services) typically sold under one brand. The products within a pr✅oduct line will have certain things in common, such as function, price range, target customer, and quality.

Product lines can be seen as marketing strategies. The idea is that if a customer likes one of the products in the line, they'll probably be willing to try other products in the same line or in other lines. This can grow sales and the customer base.