26 Aug 2021

Despite the heightened demand of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some companies specialising in the sales of these equipment are experiencing decline in sales.

Speaking in a telephonic interview, Dilotsotlhe Holdings development manager, Ms Shahnaz Mangogolo attributed the drop in sales to the proliferation of  companies specialising in PPE following the  COVID-19 outbreak.

Due to this tough competition, she said, her company was forced to strategise and improvise by bringing in new products to complement the existing ones.

For instance, Ms Mangogolo said masks were now sold everywhere and not generating much profit but there were other products such as blankets, mattresses and protective cloves that kept the business running.

“We had to target government hospitals and clinics as they needed a large number of mattresses and blankets as a result of hospitalisation of people with COVID-19 complications in isolation and quarantine centers,” she said.

Further to that, Ms Mangogolo said they were also able to supply more by targeting isolation centers that needed similar equipment in high numbers.

“Technology has become a big part in running our business because we now use it very often to reach out and communicate with our clients as well as enable our staff to work from home,” she said.

Quipco Botswana in Francistown is one of the companies that was also affected by low sales. 

The managing director, Mr Gavin Viljoen said demand  had led to the distribution of substandard products.

He said as demand for PPE increased, supply also increased but unfortunately this made the selling of lower quality products easy.

“Local people do not fully understand the significance of using safety proven products like the ones we have available, which is why it becomes easy for them to buy from the newly surfaced suppliers,” he added.

Mr Viljoen explained that his company thoroughly tested products by taking out samples to confirm the safety and  life span of the products. 

In order to make up for the sudden slow supplying of products such as masks and first aid kits, he said they had resorted to marketing more products.

“Our products are readily available off the shelves which is very convenient for our clients as this saves them time,” he added.

To increase sales, he said they had to supply other products which were not related to COVID-19. Mr Viljoen stressed the need for customers to purchase quality PPE products to avoid risks. ends