A Study on Critical Contribution of ‘Free Customer’ on the Survivability of International Hypermarket in Malaysia : A Geographical Information System Approach

Traditionally, the hypermarket business have been used inventively customer database as platform for estimate their survivability by counting contribution of customer based on profits. In fact, the hypermarkets have used some traditional model, as such customer lifetime value model, strategically as a baseline for understand and analyzing the profitability of each customer according to their spending and purchasing activities. However, the hypermarket has missing some segment of customer which has potential to contribute to their profits. Therefore, the ‘free customer' segment is a traditional challenge for the hypermarket where the hypermarket has not alert and lacks many details about them. In fact, ‘free customer' also identified as non-database customer, is totally free from hypermarket estimation of profitability, where information about them has not available in any database of hypermarket or organization. As consequences, this category of customer always neglects and un-accesses of their contribution although they have potentially affect the future prospect and survivability of the business. The study is aimed to analyze the critical contribution of ‘free customer' to the survivability of International hypermarket business. Secondly, the study is aimed to modelling the location of each ‘free customer' which potentially used as a baseline for estimated the contribution of each ‘free customer' in term of spending and purchasing activities. The main method used is geographical information system, functionally in compose, establish and integrated the data of ‘free customer' with exiting spatial data as well as hypermarket, residential area, village and so on. Meanwhile, the marketplace of Seberang Perai Tengah of Pulau Pinang, Malaysia was selected as location of study that be modelling as the marketplace of International Hypermarket. For visualized this model, a sample of ‘free customer' will be collect by followed some procedures and tested into the model. At the end, suggestion will be made for enhanced the capability of geographical information system approach for mapping the location of ‘free customer' as well as for visualized contribution of each free customer that will be indicated the future survivability of the hypermarket business. This study has contributes in term of visualized the critical contribution of ‘free customer' by using geographical based model which is something new to the industry and current research