Safaricom to set up more retail shops as part of its regional strategy

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Safaricom has opened its 45^th retail shop at The Hub in Karen, Nairobi. It is the first of six new retail shops that the firm intends to open in the next 6 months. The six shops will be situated in Nairobi and Rift Valley regions.

Speaking during the opening of the shop at The Hub, Safaricom’s Director for Regional Sales and Operations, Steve Okeyo noted, “Last year, we took a conscious decision to move closer to our customers. The opening of more retail outlets enables us achieve this objective bringing services and support closer to our customers.”

The Safaricom retail shop at The Hub in Karen will serve customers from the surrounding areas of Karen, Dagoretti, Ngong and Kikuyu. It is expected to help improve efficiency and convenience for the customers, relieving the heavy footfall experienced at other shops within that part of Nairobi region.

In the last financial year, Safaricom shops handled 2.4 million visitors selling over 6.4 million phones and accessories, with more than 80% of these being 3G and 4G smartphones and tablets.

Safaricom shops are spread across the firm’s six regions: the Nairobi Regions have 20 shops, while North Eastern and Mt. Kenya have 7 shops. The Coast Region, Rift Region and the Western/ Nyanza Region each have 6 shops.

On the other end, Airtel opened 18 new customer service shops across Kenya in December last year. The shops offer a number of services which enable customers enjoy fast and convenient customer service with all their needs taken care of as quickly as possible in a welcoming and customer-friendly environment.

The main aim or objective targeted by the companies is retail expansion. However, most rural areas cannot access proper customer service which is a demerit as far as communication is concerned.

According Euginia Gathoni, a student at Daystar University; companies need to build more community based retail and customer care shops because tech services and solutions are introduced everyday, and people in most parts of the country are using feature phones. So, it’s important to indulge our communities.