---
title: "Ranging"
description: "Rate how widely each product should be stocked, from AAA to C, so Eebz flags the gaps that matter and ages each listing correctly."
canonical_url: "https://www.eebz.com/support/ranging"
---

Not every product belongs at every retailer. A flagship model should be everywhere. A product for enthusiasts belongs with the specialists. An exclusive belongs only where you agreed it. Ranging records that intent for each product, so Eebz can tell a gap that is costing you sales from a gap that was never meant to be filled.

Product Ranging is one of Eebz's [12 foundation models](/blog/your-digital-shelf-data-has-gaps). It works with a second model, [Retailer Category Strategy](/support/retailer-category-strategy), which says how broad a range each retailer carries in each market. Ranging says how widely the product should go; category strategy says how far each retailer reaches. Put together, they give the range you should have at each retailer.

## The ratings

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Ranging
    </th>
    
    <th>
      What it means
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Expected at
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      AAA
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Core range: every retailer that ranges the category should stock it
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Destination+, Destination, Routine and Convenience retailers
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      AA
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Strong seller: retailers with a good range should stock it
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Destination+, Destination and Routine retailers
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      A
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Catalogue: retailers with a full range should stock it
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Destination+ and Destination retailers
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      B
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Specialist: only category champions should stock it
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Destination+ retailers
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      C
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Exclusive: only where you have agreed it, such as an Amazon-only SKU
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Not expected anywhere by default
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Ranging is always a letter, AAA to C. It is separate from the star rating you give retailers to mark your [key retailers](/support/retailer-importance).

## Where to set it

Open the product and set **Assortment strategy** in the **Lifecycle** section of its sidebar. You can also set it per SKU, for example to make one colour an exclusive. A SKU without its own rating takes the product's.

Set ranging when you add a product, and review it when the product's role changes: when a newer model takes the flagship slot, say, or when an exclusive deal ends.

## How Eebz uses it

### Ranging status

For every SKU at every retailer in a market, Eebz compares the product's ranging with the retailer's category strategy and gives it a ranging status:

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Icon
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Status
    </th>
    
    <th>
      What it means
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      <icon name="eebz:assortment-in-range" size="1.75em">
        
      </icon>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      In range
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The retailer's strategy covers this product and it is listed
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <icon name="eebz:assortment-missing" size="1.75em">
        
      </icon>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Missing
    </td>
    
    <td>
      The retailer's strategy covers this product but there is no listing
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <icon name="eebz:assortment-out-of-range" size="1.75em">
        
      </icon>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Out of range
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Listed, but outside the retailer's strategy for this product
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

This table shows which ratings each strategy covers:

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Retailer category strategy
    </th>
    
    <th>
      AAA
    </th>
    
    <th>
      AA
    </th>
    
    <th>
      A
    </th>
    
    <th>
      B
    </th>
    
    <th>
      C
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      Destination+
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Destination
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Routine
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Convenience
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Profit
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

A Profit retailer stocks opportunistically, so nothing is expected there and nothing is flagged as missing. A SKU is also out of range at a retailer that doesn't carry its market, or in a territory the SKU isn't sold in.

Filter listings by ranging status to see your gaps retailer by retailer, or add the **Ranging Status** and **SKU Ranging** columns to any listings table. Ranging is also a filter in [Reports Playground](/support/reports-playground).

### Listing lifecycle

Ranging also changes lifecycle stages. Each listing's lifecycle is the product lifecycle adjusted for the product's ranging and the retailer's category strategy, so a lower rating means the listing reaches late life and end of life sooner at a retailer with a narrower range. That in turn changes how often Eebz reads it. See [product and listing lifecycle](/support/lifecycle).

## Get the range right at each retailer

- **Rate to your plan, not your hopes.** Rating everything AAA turns every gap into an alert and hides the ones that matter.
- **Chase Missing first at Destination+ and Destination retailers.** They are the retailers whose strategy says they should carry your product, so the gap is the easiest to argue in a range review.
- **Read Out of range as a signal.** A B product listed and ranking well at a Routine retailer may deserve a higher rating. A run of them at one retailer may mean its strategy for the market has changed.
- **Keep C for real exclusives.** An exclusive is never flagged as missing, so use it only where you have agreed it with the retailer.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.