Hero Products / Field guide
Compare a range with a reason for every choice.
Put two product options beside the same evidence, then separate a range hypothesis from a buying commitment.
By NOGL · Product guidance
01
Define the role in the range
Write down the customer use, category and price position the item should serve. A new silhouette may fill a gap or merely repeat an existing option. Judge both candidates against the same range objective rather than choosing the most visually striking one.
Set one objective and use the same attribute checklist for both options.
02
Compare attributes and price bands
Review intended use, material, construction and visible price together. A price band describes the observed assortment; it is not a willingness-to-pay estimate. Check whether tax, size and pack differences explain apparent gaps. Keep unsupported attributes marked unknown.
Record why each option is comparable and where the comparison is weak.
03
Add the retailer evidence
Public catalogs do not reveal your sell-through, gross margin, open-to-buy budget or current stock. Add authorized business evidence when available. Consumer research is another evidence source: a stated preference, experiment and recorded purchase answer different questions.
List the private inputs still needed before any forecast or order quantity can be reviewed.
04
Keep, revise or test
Keep an option when the evidence supports its role. Revise it when a material, price or timing assumption is weak. Test it when uncertainty could change the decision. Save the rationale and reviewer alongside the option so sourcing and pricing inherit the same context.
Choose a review outcome; treat approval of an order as a separate business action.
Illustrative worksheet
Two candidates, one range objective
Shape
- Option A
- Zip layer
- Option B
- Crew layer
Illustrative price band
- Option A
- €70–90
- Option B
- €50–70
Range question
- Option A
- New layering use?
- Option B
- Repeat of current breadth?
Missing inputs
- Option A
- Cost and lead time
- Option B
- Stock and sell-through
Proposed review
- Option A
- Test the use case
- Option B
- Revise differentiation
Before you hand it over
- Same range objective for each candidate
- Attributes and price context compared
- Private inputs and uncertainty visible
- Keep, revise or test rationale recorded
Source context: NOGL’s seven-stage workflow. Examples and values were created for this guide; they are not customer cases or live datasets.
The next decision
Market Sense
Read a signal before you act on it.
Turn a public catalog observation into a question your buying team can investigate, with the source and limitations still attached.
Price & Promote
Review a price change before it becomes one.
Keep the observed offer, your business constraints and a proposed action visibly separate throughout a pricing review.