15 WAYS YOU CAN USE SIZE TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

Most, but not all categories give companies some control over the size of the products they produce.  This may be the overall dimensions, the volume, the count or the line up of sizes offered. 

Companies don't always spend the time to make sure they’re offering the right sizes based on shopper needs.  In fact, it seems companies readily mirror the sizes offered by existing products with little thought.

There, of course, is logic behind this.

Many categories have a good reason for why they have gravitated to uniform sizes.

And companies definitely take on some risk of a unique sizing strategy either being overlooked or unnoticed…both of which most likely throw off the value perception as shoppers assume two products are the same size when they aren’t.

If you’re in a category that gives you more flexibility related to what size product you produce, consider what objective the product’s size is trying to accomplish and design it accordingly.

Of course, any sizing strategy needs to begin with solid understanding of your shopper.  Deceptive sizing tactics can be a dangerously short-sighted game to play if it is done to trick shoppers, not help them.

Here are just a few ways size can be used to achieve certain objectives:

1.  Hit a key retail price point:  Sizes that keep prices from crossing key thresholds (i.e. $5.00, $10.00, $100.00) are always worth considering.  While it might sound silly, price elasticity models provide support that the psychology is real.
2. Maintain existing price points after price increases:  Orange juice was one of the first to famously shrink their half gallon (64 ounce) cartons down to 59 ounces in an attempt to pass through a less obvious price increase.  I’m not sure if it really preserved sales or lost 5 ounces of consumption.
3. Out the competition’s secret:  In response to the introduction of 59 ounce orange juice containers, other opted to emphasize the “still a full 64 ounces” claim to make sure shoppers weren’t still assuming all cartons were the same size.
4. Hit a key profit margin:  Offering above category average margins can be a game changer when trying to get distribution.  Plenty of retailers have chosen to take the margin even there was no other compelling reason for the sizing difference.
5. Drive trial through a trial size:  After gaining awareness, the value of trial cannot be under-estimated.  This is why companies spend millions of dollars on in-store demo programs.  If you can’t afford that, see if there is an opportunity to offer high-margin trial sizes.  This, of course, assumes a trial size is enough for a buyer to experience the benefit your product promises to deliver.
6. Lower the risk of trial:  I’ve done work in plenty of categories where the smallest size still represented a 3-month supply of the product.  Smaller sizes minimize the perception that shoppers could be stuck with a lot of product they might end up not liking.
7. Encourage a particular usage occasion:  If you want your product to be used on-the-go, it better be pocket- or purse-sized.  And don’t confuse being small with being portable.  A 1”x1” cube isn’t nearly as comfortable in a packet as a something of the same volume, but only ¼” thin.
8. Match consumption cycles:  If your product is used daily or weekly, consider how 7- or 30- or 90- or 365-counts reinforced with packaging could further promote the rate of consumption you expect or need.  It certainly has worked for birth control pills.
9. Make it easy to compare value versus the competition:  If you’re going for a lower-price position, make it clear that you’re the same size as other products.  Of use a bonus-pack techniques (32 + 4 extra, 20% bonus, etc.) to offer a better value at the same retail price.
10. Make it difficult to compare versus competitive products:  Only do this if your product is trying to frame value in a manner that should be elevated beyond size comparisons.  Don’t do this if you’re just trying to trick shoppers.
11. Size in the units shoppers care about:  Food for entertaining is often bought based on how many people the package is supposed to serve or the cost per serving.  Positioning your product with the front-of-package emphasis on feeds 10 – 12 people could improve consideration and purchase versus just telling shoppers it weights 48 ounces and let them try to determine how many it will feed.
12. Alter the metric shoppers have been trained to look for:  Halloween candy packs have finally got smarter and now sell “200 pieces” versus “5 pounds”.  I'd be willing to bet a good number of people that buy the “200 piece” size don’t even know how much it weighs.  M&Ms have gone down this path as well, labeling bags as “small,”, “medium”, and “large”, creating less disruption when they choose to increase or decrease the absolute weight of each size.
13. Create distinct package dimensions or configurations:  While package configurations are often driven by the constraints of the production lines they come off, consider how your new production process could be designed to offer better configurations or more configuration flexibility that the competition will be slow to copy due to high retooling costs.
14. Fit the storage or usage location:  Lots of mobile products (i.e. gum, cleaning wipes, phone chargers, etc.) are now designed around the size of the typical cup holder.  Other products have gotten smarter about making sure they fit within the height of refrigerator shelves or cabinet drawers.
15. Differentiate across channels:  Consider how different channels might want different sizes to avoid head-to-head price matching or to better address the unique needs of their shoppers.  For example, laundry detergents have long produced 100 ounce bottles for mass retailers, but also offered a similar bottle with an inch taken off the depth.  This gives dollar stores an 80 ounce option they can sell at a lower price that better meets the paycheck-to-paycheck spending habits of their core shoppers, but doesn't look 20% smaller on the store shelf.