Business Intelligence Applications; sustaining Retail Businesses in Rivers State, Nigeria

The contemporary retail outlets are no more run by manual practices given the electronic nature of company to customers (C-C); customers to customers (C-C) transactions globally. The application of business intelligence has given an edge to retail outlets operation. This study therefore, strives to examine the relationship between business intelligence application and retail business sustainability in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study used descriptive research technique through the adoption of cross- sectional survey design. Nine judgmentally sampled retail outlets especially large scale malls & superstores were studied in Port Harcourt base on their inherent electronic driven operations. Using structured closed ended questionnaire, 45 census senior managers of these sampled retail outlets were studied. Data gathered were analysed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) statistics and presented with the aid of SPSS version 20.0 for easy interpretation. The results of analysed data showed that, the dimensions of business intelligence application which included but not limited to customers’ performance management, data warehouse, data mining and advanced data visualization significantly correlated positively with the measures of retail business sustainability being profitability and customers’ patronage. The finding also showed a high moderating effect of organizational culture on business intelligence application and retail business sustainability in Rivers State, Nigeria. Relying on the empirical findings, the study concluded that business intelligence application has positive significant relationship with retail business sustainability. It is therefore recommended that, the dimensions of business intelligence: customers’ performance management, data warehouse, data mining & advance data visualization identified in this study should be utilized as it enhances retail business operational sustainability.