Determining Strategic Locations for a Mobile Coffee Business at Obbel Coffee Boyolali Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Abstract

The increase in the number of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the coffee sector has led business owners to adopt expansion strategies in order to improve their competitiveness and broaden their market reach. One expansion strategy that Obbel Coffee Boyolali, Indonesia, is the expansion of its mobile coffee outlet services. Making the right choice of operating location is a vital one since it requires the consideration of several factors and can be affected by personal judgments. The purpose of this study was to identify the most appropriate location for the operational expansion of Obbel Coffee by means of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). A quantitative approach using a case study method was applied. Data were gathered through interviews and pairwise comparison questionnaires from three people who have relevant knowledge and experience of Obbel Coffee's operations. The AHP process included identifying and assigning weights to five location-selection criteria: crowd density, accessibility, target-consumer suitability, competition intensity, and location safety and convenience, and then assessing three possible locations on the basis of these criteria. The results indicate that crowd density had the highest priority weight (0.249), followed by target-consumer suitability (0.159) and location safety and convenience (0.152). Of the alternative locations, A1 obtained the highest total priority score (0.291), A2 came second with a score of 0.281, and A3 had the lowest at 0.227. As a result, A1 was found to be the most suitable location for Obbel Coffee's expansion. In practice, the findings give Obbel Coffee a basis grounded in evidence when choosing an expansion site, enabling it to focus on areas with high levels of customer activity and appropriate target consumers, and thus lessen its dependence on subjective location choices. More generally, the study shows that AHP can function as a systematic and transparent decision-support tool for MSMEs when making location decisions and aiding business expansion.