How phone and electronics shops sell in Kenya
An electronics shop sells a few expensive items next to hundreds of cheap accessories, and both need counting. A single missing phone can cost more than a month of charger sales, yet it is the chargers and covers that disappear without anyone noticing.
Whether the shop is on Luthuli Avenue in Nairobi or on a main street in Kisumu or Nakuru, the working day looks much the same:
- Customers bargain, so prices move at the counter and the owner cannot see by how much.
- A KSh 30,000 phone is paid partly by M-Pesa and partly in cash.
- The same model comes in several storage sizes and colours, each at its own price.
- Stock is spread across a main shop and a branch, and phones move between them.
Each model and option has its own barcode and price
In Wave POS, a model is one product, and each storage size and colour is a variant with its own barcode, price and stock. A phone sold in 128 GB and 256 GB, in black and blue, is four variants:
| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 128 GB, black | KSh 24,999 |
| 128 GB, blue | KSh 24,999 |
| 256 GB, black | KSh 29,999 |
| 256 GB, blue | KSh 29,999 |
Wave POS does not record IMEI or serial numbers: it counts each variant by its barcode, so you know how many blue 256 GB phones each branch holds and which cashier sold each one.
Accessories sit on the same till: a fast charger at KSh 1,200, earphones at KSh 650, a cover at KSh 800. Work you charge for, such as fitting a screen protector, can be a service item that sells without touching stock.
Part M-Pesa, part cash in one sale
A single sale can be paid with several methods: cash, M-Pesa, card, bank transfer, cheque and customer account. A worked example:
- 256 GB phone, blue: KSh 29,999
- Phone cover: KSh 800
- Tempered glass screen protector: KSh 400
- Fitting (a service item): KSh 100
- Total: KSh 31,299
The customer pays KSh 20,000 by M-Pesa and KSh 11,299 in cash, and the sale records both. For the M-Pesa part the cashier either types the transaction code from the customer’s message or sends a prompt to their phone, which records the payment by itself once they enter their PIN. Prompts need your own ZetuPay account and an internet connection; the M-Pesa page explains the set-up. Card payments are recorded as a payment method, since no card machine is connected.
Bargaining without losing control of prices
Cashiers can take something off a line or the whole basket, but large discounts and price changes need a manager’s PIN. Customers can still bargain, and a KSh 29,999 phone does not quietly leave the shop at KSh 26,000.
Each cashier on a shared drawer signs in with a personal PIN, and the sale carries their name. The audit log shows who did what and when, and roles decide who may change prices or approve stock adjustments in the first place. PINs, roles and the audit log are explained under staff and shifts.
Returns and faulty goods
To take an item back, scan the QR code on the receipt, choose what is being returned and refund to any method; the item goes back into stock. If a returned charger is faulty and cannot be sold again, record a stock adjustment as damaged. It waits for a manager’s approval, and once approved its cost shows as stock written off in the profit and loss report.
Credit for the customers you trust
A company buying five laptops for its staff, or a reseller who buys accessories every week, can have a customer account with a credit limit. The account keeps a ledger of every sale, return and payment, the customer settles at the till by bank transfer, cheque or M-Pesa, and the debtors ageing report shows who has owed money for too long. More in customer credit.
Stock across branches, counted often
Each branch has its own stock, tills and prices. When the town branch needs two 128 GB phones from the main shop, a transfer between branches records what was sent, what arrived and any shortfall as lost in transit.
High-value stock deserves frequent counting. Run a stock take of the phones category every evening: each count is compared with the stock at the moment it is entered, and the differences post when a manager completes it. For a counting routine that staff will actually keep, read how to do a stock take. The sales, stock value, product performance and shift reports cover the rest, and every report exports to Excel, CSV or PDF.