Integrating RFM Analysis and Customer Pain Point Ethnography for Customer Segmentation and Churn Identification: Evidence from the Business-To-Business (B2B) Crude Palm Oil Market
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This study presents an executive-level analysis of customer relationship dynamics in the crude palm oil (CPO) industry using a two-period RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) framework combined with an ethnographic pain value approach. Using transaction data from 13 buyers in 2024 and 15 buyers in 2025 obtained from PT XYZ’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and e-commerce auction platform, the study calculated RFM scores through three-class binning and mapped customers into eight loyalty segments. The analysis revealed that three buyers progressed toward the Champion status, three buyers declined into the At Risk category, and one buyer experienced complete churn. The revenue at risk reached 10.9% of the 2024 transaction value despite an overall aggregate growth of 16.9%. This pattern was further interpreted through an ethnographic pain value inquiry based on a structured interview with the company’s Commercial Department Head. The findings indicated that churn and loyalty erosion were primarily driven by the internal buyer-selection and volume-allocation mechanisms implemented by the Board of Directors rather than by service-related failures. The insights were synthesized into an Online Value Proposition (OVP) delivered through an open online bidding mechanism integrated with the company’s CRM and e-commerce auction platform. The proposed OVP emphasized real-time price and volume transparency, digital contract flexibility, and proactive automated monitoring, which were subsequently translated into concrete 8P marketing mix strategies. Customer retention was recorded at 92.3%. This research contributes an integrated quantitative–qualitative model for churn diagnosis and Online Value Proposition design that can be applied to business-to-business (B2B) commodity industries, including the palm oil sector.
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