When the shopping revolution went virtual in the major economies, Sub-Saharan Africa was one place where it took some time for people to embrace it, Uganda inclusive. With the emergence of companies like Jumia, Glovo, Kikuubo online and others, the online shopping revolution in Uganda has taken a toll.
Ivan Busuulwa and Mathew Mwesigwa saw this as an opportunity for University students to follow the trend. They made sure that the students were kept in the loop of the revolution by creating the ”Shopline app”. This is an app where various businesses can create online shops, stack them with products and deliver their services to the doorsteps of hostels of university students.
Within just three weeks of its launch, the app already has over 150 shops, including big brands like Urban Pizza, Suuna birungo, Chicken Binayisa, Pizza Booth and The Rolex Guy Restaurants which offer over 15 rolex flavors and more. Other businesses on the app include craft shops, Furniture, Beauty shops, Boutiques and many more.
“Standing in lines for long was one thing we hated and we were sure other students did not like it either. Students also have trouble bargaining for products. Sometimes you don’t have courage, thinking that maybe your pocket is not sizable enough,” says Busulwa. “We therefore had to find an easier way of catering for students like us.”
“Many students even fear entering some restaurants, simply because they are not sure of the prices of the food items on the menu. They deem the restaurant too expensive for them yet that is not the case. There, the restaurant loses a customer while the innocent student misses the good services. We brought in Shopline to cover that gap.”
“It is very easy for customers to navigate. They are able to track the item and compare it’s prices. Customers can also follow their favorite shops to get instant updates and latest offers, deals and promotions,” Mwesigwa added.
The 22 year old Ivan Busuulwa is a law student at Makerere University while the 23 year old Mathew Mwesigwa is a finalist at International University of East Africa in Information Technology.
When asked about the challenges encountered, Ivan was quick to note; “our biggest challenge has been the inexperience that comes with being first-time founders. Every single aspect is a learning experience for us. Secondly, being a team of two co-founders, we can’t expand rapidly as much as we would like to, which partly explains our decision to first concentrate on businesses & students from universities within Kampala and later spread to all universities within the country.
The two students plan to change the online shopping revolution in the country by making it easy for their users to connect easily at affordable fares.
You can download Shopline on Playstore through this link https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.matt.shopline or contact the CEO on 0757712667 for any inquiries.
