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The terms merchandising, design and product teams use when they plan, build, review and sell a product line, with an example of each and how it works in VibeIQ.
Teams often use different words for the same thing. A line review in one company is a range review in another, and a placeholder might be called an open slot or a target. This glossary sets out what each term means and how the stages connect, from the line plan to sell-in.
Last updated: November 2026
Line review · Line plan · Visual line planning · Product line creation · Placeholder · Redecision · Midstream merchandising · Digital line sheet · Sell-in · Assortment management · Colorway · Range review
Line review
A line review is a meeting where merchandising, design and product development review the season's line against the plan's targets and decide what to keep, change, add or drop before products go into sampling.
Example: A footwear brand reviewing 60 spring styles sees two price tiers are crowded, drops eight styles and adds two placeholders for a gap in kids.
In VibeIQ: Teams review on a live board connected to the line, so imagery, prices and targets update as decisions are made in the meeting, not in a deck rebuilt afterwards.
Related: line plan, range review, visual line planning, redecision · Read more: Line reviews
Line plan
A line plan is the planned shape of a season's product line: how many styles and options by category, price point and channel, with the sales and margin targets each part of the line needs to hit. It's the bridge between the financial plan and the actual products.
Example: An outdoor brand's fall line plan calls for 12 insulated jackets, four of them at an opening price point.
In VibeIQ: The line plan holds placeholders with target prices and attributes that become real products as design delivers, so the team can see at any point where the line meets or misses the plan.
Related: placeholder, line review, visual line planning, product line creation · Read more: What is a line plan?
Visual line planning
Visual line planning is building and reviewing the line plan with product imagery next to the numbers, instead of in a spreadsheet with no pictures. Teams see the line as a whole, including color stories, gaps and near-duplicates, and how it performs against targets.
Example: A merchandiser only spots three near-identical black hoodies at the same price once the line is laid out visually.
In VibeIQ: Boards and plans run on the same line data, so a change made in one view shows up in the others.
Related: line plan, line review, assortment management · Read more: Visual line planning, What is visual line planning?
Product line creation
Product line creation is the work of turning the plan's targets into a real product line: deciding which products to make, designing and refining them, and agreeing the final line across merchandising, design and product development. It sits between merchandise financial planning and PLM.
Example: A home goods brand starts with a plan for 40 new tabletop SKUs, builds concepts against it, cuts to 32 in line review and sends the approved products to development.
In VibeIQ: VibeIQ is a product line creation platform. Teams build, review and approve one evolving line, measured against the plan's targets, then sync approved products to PLM.
Related: midstream merchandising, line plan, line review · Read more: The VibeIQ platform
Placeholder
A placeholder is a slot in the line plan for a product that doesn't exist yet. It carries the target price, category and key attributes, so teams can plan the shape of the line before design work is done.
Example: "Women's lightweight rain jacket, $129, two colorways" sits in the plan as a placeholder until design delivers a concept.
In VibeIQ: Placeholders carry target prices and attributes for open needs, then become products as design delivers, without re-keying.
Related: line plan, product line creation · Read more: What is a placeholder?
Redecision
A redecision is a product or merchandising decision made again after teams believed it was final and began acting on it. Unlike normal iteration, it reopens work that was already complete or underway.
Example: A price changes after labels have been printed, so labels, line sheets and sales materials all have to be redone.
In VibeIQ: Changes made to the shared line are visible to every team at once, so fewer decisions get reopened late and the ones that do reach everyone.
Related: line review, line plan · Read more: What is a redecision?
Midstream merchandising
Midstream merchandising is the stage between merchandise financial planning and product development, where teams decide which products make the line, how the mix works by channel and region, and what moves into development.
Example: Planning says the spring line needs 40 options at an opening price point. Midstream is where merchandising and design build and agree those 40 products.
In VibeIQ: VibeIQ is built for the middle. It works alongside the planning tool and PLM rather than replacing either.
Related: product line creation, line plan, assortment management
Digital line sheet
A digital line sheet is an online version of the line sheet that sales teams and wholesale buyers use to see the line, with images, prices, colorways and key details. Unlike a PDF, it can be updated as the line changes.
Example: A sales rep shares a link with a department store buyer instead of emailing a 40-page PDF that's out of date a week later.
In VibeIQ: Line sheets and showcases are built from the same product line, so sales always presents the current version.
Related: sell-in, assortment management · Read more: Digital line sheets and sell-in
Sell-in
Sell-in is the process of presenting the line to retail and wholesale buyers and taking orders before the season.
Example: A footwear brand's sales team shows the spring line to retail buyers in a showroom and collects their feedback and orders.
In VibeIQ: Sales works from the same line merchandising and design built. Kizik cut the time to prepare sales samples from four to five days to about 24 hours.
Related: digital line sheet, assortment management · Read more: What is sell-in?, Digital line sheets and sell-in, Kizik customer story
Assortment management
Assortment management is deciding which products go to which channels, regions, retail partners or store clusters, and keeping those assortments connected to the master line as it changes.
Example: A global brand builds a European assortment from its master line, dropping heavyweight styles and adding two regional exclusives.
In VibeIQ: Channel and regional assortments are built from the shared line, so changes to the master line flow through instead of living in separate files.
Related: line plan, sell-in, range review · Read more: Assortment management
Colorway
A colorway is a version of a product in a specific combination of colors and materials. One style can have several colorways, and each one usually becomes its own set of SKUs.
Example: A sneaker offered in white/navy and black/gum is one style with two colorways.
In VibeIQ: Colorways sit on the line with their imagery and attributes, so teams can see the color story across the line and against targets.
Related: line plan, visual line planning
Range review
Range review is the term many UK and European brands and retailers use for a line review: the meeting where the range is reviewed against targets and decisions are made on what to keep, change, add or drop.
Example: A UK retailer's autumn range review cuts own-brand knitwear from 30 options to 24 before sampling.
In VibeIQ: Range reviews run on the same live board as line reviews, connected to the range and its targets.
Related: line review, assortment management · Read more: What is a range review?
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