Objectives of knowledge management

4 
The total number of customers.
5 
The customer 
churn rate
.
As would be expected intuitively, modelling using these variables indicates that for compa‑
nies with a similar revenue per customer, contribution margin and advertising costs, it is the 
churn rate that will govern their long‑ term success. To look at this another way, given the 
high costs of customer acquisition for a new company, it is the ability to retain customers for 
repeat purchases which governs the long‑ term success of companies. This then forces dot‑ 
com retailers to compete on low prices with low margins to retain customers.
A structured evaluation of the success and sustainability of UK Internet start‑ ups has 
been undertaken by management consultancy Bain and Company in conjunction with 
Management Today
magazine and was described in Gwyther (1999). Six criteria were used to 
assess the companies as follows.