Strategic Role of Big Data Analytics on the Competitive Advantage of Supermarket Chains: A Case Study of Nakumatt Holdings Limited

A Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)The main aim of this study was to establish the role of Big Data Analytics (BDA) on the competitive advantage of supermarket chains in Kenya. A case study was done on Nakumatt Holdings Limited. The study was guided by three research questions and these are; how BDA of customer trends and patterns impact differentiation within Nakumatt, how use of Nakumatt loyalty cards increase customer repetitive buying and lastly how use of Big Data Analytics creates cost leadership over Nakumatt’s competitors. This research focussed on the population of Nakumatt managers, employees and customers in Nairobi. In this study, the sampling frame involved the management staff at Nakumatt as well as the customers that are loyalty card holders from all the 23 branches in Nairobi. Random sampling was used for customers as they exited the branches. Ultimately, we spoke to every 5th customer exiting the supermarket after completion of an interview. This study adopted the Probability based technique for sampling. Under this, stratified random sampling Technique was adopted for the collection of data about the population from the entire population. The Strata was the Senior Management, Employees in Operations and the Nakumatt Loyalty Card Holders. The data collected through this method gave the researcher the opportunity for an intensive study about the problem area. To obtain the minimum population sample for this study, the researcher used the rule of thumb and therefore targetting all the 23 branches in Nairobi, and the top management at Nakumatt in charge of operations department. Questionnaires were used to collect data for this research and collected data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program and analysis presented in tables, and figures in chapter four to give a clear picture of the research findings