The Knowledge to Decide

In the e-commerce sector’s biggest deal yet, retail giant Walmart paid USD16 billion to acquire a 77% stake in Flipkart – one of India’s most successful e-tailers. With India’s e-commerce sector set to grow four times by 2023, Walmart is looking at supporting Flipkart’s ambition to become a publicly-listed subsidiary in the future. However, the revenue growth rate for Flipkart in 2016-17 was only 29%, a far cry from the 50% growth rate of the previous year. Will Walmart’s deal with Flipkart create an Indian Taobao? Read here more: https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/walmart-nails-deal-with-flipkart/

As 44 million Internet users are added each year in China, cash transactions might become obsolete. Consumers are increasingly using third party mobile payment apps for online transactions. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights on this trend in China Daily – Asia Weekly. A majority of e-commerce purchases in China are now made using mobile devices. Last year, 527 million transactions took place using online payment platforms accessed via smartphones. Perera observed that the m-commerce market is an indicator of China’s rising consumption as well as the surge in smartphone penetration. The growth potential is immense, especially in third and fourth tier cities where consumer credit is rising. Internet giants in China such as Tencent and Alibaba still dominate the m-commerce market. Consumers now prefer Point-of-Sale mobile payments as a safer and more convenient option than cash, with service providers like Alipay, Pay a

With the increase in pet ownership, healthcare and spending, Asia’s pet industry is expected to grow at 14.3 per cent annually from 2016 to 2021. Pet ownership as well as expenditure per pet is increasing. Will Asia become the next global hub for pet-related products and services? The beginning of pet ownership As of 2016, the majority of households across the globe owned a pet. Pets have been a part of human society for thousands of years. Cats and dogs were buried with humans. The ancient Romans also kept small toy dogs approximately 2,000 years ago. As of 2016, the majority of households across the globe owned a pet. Dogs are officially man’s best friend with one third of households world-wide (on average) owning a dog. Cats are not far behind, with one quarter of households (23 per cent) owning cats, making them the second most popular pet. Where do the market opportunities lie? The annual growth rate of the pet care industry in Asia between 2017- 20

Eco-friendly, organic and vegan are now common themes in the cosmetics industry – but Halal products are the latest trend . Halal cosmetics sales are estimated at over USD 50 billion globally and forecasted to grow at 14.6 per cent a year from 2017 to 2021 . A quarter of the world’s population is Muslim, at 1.6 billion people in 2016 . Will Halal products become a pillar of the global beauty products industry? What are Halal beauty products? The word ‘Halal’ means ‘permissible’ in Islamic teaching. So such beauty products may not contain any alcohol ingredients, pork or animal blood. Food products prohibited under the Islamic Sharia Law need to be avoided during manufacture. Moreover, manufacturers of such products need to adhere to strict standards throughout the supply chain. This means right from the packaging to the storage; these products must qualify as Halal. Aside from their religious appeal, Halal beauty products have also become known for quality assurance an