SUSTAINABILITY OF 24-HOUR RETAILING THROUGH A CASE STUDY ON MUSTAFA CENTRE

Abstract

In Singapore, 24-hour retailing is not a new concept. However, the 24-hour retail stores were mostly convenience stores or small-scaled retailers. The only departmental store operating 24-hour for the past 10 years is Mustafa Centre. Thus, this dissertation aims to examine factors that contribute to the sustainability of their 24-hour retailing. The research method involved a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative analysis discovered that Mustafa Centre made use of bulk purchases to provide customers with lower cost-priced products for their one-stop shopping. The extensive range of Indian origin products attracted their main Indian customer base to Mustafa Centre. Reduced manpower at night and efficient distribution of manpower helped to cope with the labour shortage issue in Singapore and sustained 24-hour operation. Ethnic biasness was also an important success factor. The quantitative analysis revealed that the amount of retail spending of day and night- time shoppers were approximately the same. A significant larger proportion of day shoppers was loyal customers and had been visiting Mustafa Centre for more than 5 years. It was found that if Mustafa Centre was not operating as a 24-hour departmental store, night shoppers would have a lower tendency to visit it. The main possible factors that made Mustafa Centre unique to shoppers were their wide product range and 24- hour operating time. Recommendations were made with regards to their fire safety compliance to further sustain their 24-hour retailing in Mustafa Centre.