Feature · Getting started
Setting up, in the order that matters
The question behind "how long does setup take?" is usually "how long will my shop be disrupted?". The honest answer is that the software takes minutes and the data takes as long as your product list is messy. A single-counter duka can be selling the same afternoon. A three-branch business with four thousand SKUs, credit customers and an eTIMS obligation should plan a week and run its old system in parallel for a fortnight.
What follows is the order that works, learned from businesses that migrated well and from the ones that had to start again. The sequence matters more than the speed: get opening stock wrong and every margin figure for the next year is built on it.
What this actually does
A trial with no card
Every plan starts with a 14-day trial. You can build your catalogue and run parallel to your old system before paying anything.
Import products from CSV
Bring your existing list in bulk rather than typing it. Names, prices, barcodes, units and opening quantities.
Amina builds products for you
Give her a supplier invoice or a photo of your price list and she creates the products, in English or Swahili.
Opening stock as a real count
Start from a physical count, not last year's figure. This is the number every future variance is measured against.
No hardware to buy
Runs on a phone, tablet or laptop you already own. Most shops add only a thermal printer, and retail adds a barcode scanner.
Your own domain for the shop
The storefront runs on your domain rather than a subdomain of ours, so the brand is yours.
eTIMS enrolment
Compliant receipts from day one, once your KRA enrolment is through. The enrolment is the long pole, not the software.
The order that works
Start with the products, because everything else hangs off them. Import the list, then fix the twenty items that matter — the fast movers, the ones sold by weight or length, the ones with variants. Do not try to clean four hundred lines before going live; the long tail can be corrected as it sells.
Then count opening stock physically, branch by branch. This is the step businesses skip under time pressure and it is the expensive one to skip: opening stock is the baseline every later variance, shrinkage figure and margin report is measured against. A wrong baseline does not settle down — it propagates.
Only then set up the parts that touch money and the outside world: M-Pesa credentials, eTIMS enrolment, the online shop and its domain. Run the old system alongside for a fortnight, reconciling daily. When the two agree for a week, stop the old one.
- →1 — Import products, clean the fast movers only
- →2 — Count opening stock physically, per branch
- →3 — Connect M-Pesa and complete eTIMS enrolment
- →4 — Point your domain at the storefront
- →5 — Run parallel for a fortnight, reconciling daily
What actually goes wrong
Three failures account for most bad migrations. The first is a guessed opening stock, which poisons every figure downstream. The second is going live on a Monday morning at month end, when the shop has no slack to absorb a hiccup — go live mid-week, mid-month. The third is switching the old system off too early, before the new numbers have been checked against anything.
None of these are software problems, which is why no software fixes them. They are sequencing problems, and the fortnight of parallel running is what turns them from crises into corrections.
Where this decides the sale
The trades this matters most to, and what they need from it.
Setting up, in the order that matters — questions
How long does it take to go live?
A single-counter shop is usually selling the same day; the work is the product list rather than the software. A multi-branch business with thousands of SKUs, opening stock counts and an eTIMS enrolment should plan about a week, plus a fortnight running in parallel with the old system before switching it off.
Do I need to buy a POS terminal?
No. sell.ke runs in a browser on a laptop or desktop and as an Android app on a phone or tablet, so most businesses start with hardware they already own. The usual additions are a thermal receipt printer and, for retail, a barcode scanner.
Can I import my existing product list?
Yes, by CSV — names, prices, barcodes, units and opening quantities. Alternatively Amina can create products from a supplier invoice or a photo of your price list, which is often faster for a shop whose list only exists on paper.
What is the one thing not to rush?
Opening stock. Count it physically, branch by branch, before you go live. It is the baseline that every later stock variance, shrinkage figure and margin report is measured against, and a guessed figure does not settle down over time — it propagates into everything.
Is there a free trial?
Yes — 14 days on any plan, with no card required. That is enough to build the catalogue and run alongside your existing system before you commit.
Do I need internet?
Not to keep selling. Offline mode lets the till take sales, print receipts and reserve stock while the connection is down, then syncs everything when it returns. You do need connectivity for the parts that are inherently online: an M-Pesa STK push, an eTIMS submission and the online shop all need a live link.
How long does setup take?
A single-counter duka is usually selling the same day. The work is the product list, not the software: import a CSV or let Amina create products from a supplier invoice or a photo of your price list. A multi-branch business with thousands of SKUs, opening stock counts and an eTIMS enrolment should plan a week and run the old system in parallel for a fortnight.
What does it cost?
Plans run from KES 1,499/month for a single-branch till to KES 14,999/month for unlimited scale, with the online shop, M-Pesa checkout and KRA eTIMS receipts included from KES 2,999/month. Every plan starts with a 14-day trial and no card. There is no hardware to buy — sell.ke runs on a phone, tablet or laptop you already own.
Read next
Stock you can trust
Batch and expiry, serial numbers, reorder levels, stock takes and the formulas behind them.
Getting paid the Kenyan way
STK push at the counter, paybill and till confirmation, M-Pesa on the website — on your own shortcode.
Amina, the assistant that does the work
Answers in the language you asked in, then creates the product, the price list or the zone herself.
See it on your own products
Fourteen days, no card. Import your product list or let Amina build it from a photo of your price list, and run it alongside whatever you use now.