The Asia-Pacific region stands out as a pivotal market globally, offering promising growth opportunities, especially within the cosmetics sector encompassing products like false eyelashes. The region's rapid economic advancement, coupled with a burgeoning mid-income population and substantial migration from rural to urban areas, has drawn considerable attention from international retailers, leading to an expansion of retail outlets. This substantial investment has notably fueled the growth of the regional cosmetics market, notably in countries like India and China. Additionally, the trend of online retailing has gained significant traction in the Asia-Pacific region. Consumers are increasingly favoring online platforms due to their ease of access to catalogs and pricing information, streamlining their purchasing decisions.
India, being a major Asian economy, has experienced significant growth in modern retailing, particularly in the proliferation of one-stop shops. According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the retail space in India soared by 81% from 2017, reaching 7.8 million sq. ft. by the end of 2018. Forecasts predict a robust 60% growth in the Indian retail market, reaching a substantial USD 1.2 trillion by 2021. This surge is primarily propelled by escalating per capita incomes, amplified digital connectivity, and evolving lifestyles among the middle-income populace. China's online retail turnover has also witnessed a momentous rise, hitting approximately USD 1,360.51 billion in December 2018. The burgeoning growth of the organized retail sector in the Asia-Pacific region is poised to steer the global false eyelashes market in the forecast period, ensuring widespread accessibility through both online and offline platforms.
Shifting gears, the value chain analysis serves as a strategic instrument to dissect a firm's internal activities. Its core objective is to identify the activities that contribute the most value—either as a cost or differentiation advantage—to the firm. This analysis spotlights a firm's competitive strengths and weaknesses, providing insights into areas for improvement or leverage. Companies vying through differentiation focus on outperforming rivals, while those competing on cost aim to execute internal activities more economically than their counterparts. Profitability ensues when a company produces goods at costs lower than the market price or delivers superior products. Value chain analysis assists in segmenting various business activities into primary and support activities, evaluating their contributions toward creating value in the final product. This comprehensive scrutiny involves studying input consumption and output generation to curtail costs and boost differentiation.