Threat of new entrants
• The entry barriers of this industry is low which means a lot of similar products can easily enter into this field and pose threats to Mixa’s profits by differentiating the market. Thus the threat of new entrants for Mixa is high.
• No particular governmental policy is published to intervene the beauty care (hand cream) market. Companies (products) in this industry only have to meet the safety standards, which facilitates the entry.
• For producing a hand cream, the important procedure is R&D, to integrate different ingredients, which requires raw materials, machines (extraction and integration), technicians, labors and time. The main capital lies in the technical part. But as the producing technique is growing mature, the capital required entering into the industry is getting lower.
• It is “the expert of dry skin” that differentiates Mixa from other beauty care brands. Mixa’s first success was largely due to its groundbreaking use of “allantoin”. This ingredient had never before been used in skin care products such as Mixa’s hand cream.
• The brand—Mixa is much more famous in France. It loses competitiveness in Asian market compared to brand like Nivea, Carrefour and bodyshop.
• Access to distribution is becoming easier due to the development of public media and transportation. Through logistics companies and transportations as plane, cargo ship and train, products produced in different countries (especially where labors are cheap) can be delivered to all over the world. Many companies have their own delivering line and don’t rely on outsourcing, which means more flexible and efficient.
• Mixa has been in the market since 1924, especially famous for its hand cream. There’s a solid foundation of its loyal customers. As a French brand, its loyal customers are mainly in France.
• Mixa’s profit is appreciable this years and its market share remains relatively the same though its competitors keep entering into the market.