An increase in sales of about 30 percent was registered in leading supermarkets this Christmas compared to last year.
Thousands of people jammed Kampala's streets and malls early this week as they embarked on a Christmas shopping spree. Electronics and home appliances such as refrigerators, television sets and music systems were the most demanded items in leading supermarkets.
Michael Kiwagama, the manager of Game stores in Lugogo says the number of customers at Game exceeded the number of customers last year. He however says that they had made estimates of the numbers and were well prepared to handle the pressure.
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Kiwagama says that despite the big numbers, they still faced a problem of staff-customer ratio, and had a problem of some customers demanding that they increase attendants. However, he says such a problem could not be handled in the short run since they would be stuck with more employees once the season ends.
Jeff Nchaga, the country manager at Uchumi says that there was a significant increase of about 30 percent in the number of shoppers this Christmas compared to lsat year. in addition, they witnessed a massive registration of customers for the U-Club credit, whereby customers are awarded discounts for the number of time they shop.
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As the year comes to an end, a new major player in the supermarket business is expected to open early next year. Nakumati, which is located just next to Uchumi at Garden city, will take the competition among the major supermarkets higher.
Though Kiwagama says tha the competition is good and they are happy with the new entrant, Nchaga has a different opinion on Nakumati's entry into the country. He says the biggest problem is the location. Nchaga argues that already the area around garden city is experiencing a lot of traffic jam and with the addition of Nakumati, the sitiutaion could worsen and affect customer turn up.
He says there is need for new access roads.
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