Shopping in Senegal

Everyday purchases in Senegal commonly use marchés, boutiques de quartier, kiosques, échoppes, marchés hebdomadaires, specialist stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets. Rural households often obtain daily goods from local markets, while urban and semi-urban centers offer wider access to formal shops and specialist providers. Online shopping is legally recognized, and social-commerce or telephone orders are also used, although seller formality and delivery reliability vary. In the ENTICS 2024 data, 8.1% of households had bought through a mobile phone or tablet, including 16.6% in Dakar, 7.0% in other urban areas and 2.4% in rural areas. Digital access is uneven: 80% of households had a digital device, but home internet access was 19.4% overall and 3% in rural areas. Market and shop prices may not be displayed. Confirm the total price, quantity, quality, origin, condition, warranty and after-sales service before purchase. Keep a receipt, seller contact, payment confirmation and, for online orders, screenshots of the product page, chat and order details. Food belongs primarily to food-related information, while personal care, clothing and technology are commonly sold through markets, specialist boutiques, formal retailers and informal sellers. The sales channel alone does not prove product quality or guarantee a return. The currency is the West African CFA franc (XOF). BCEAO notes and coins are legal tender and merchants are required to accept them. Mobile-money services include Orange Money, Free Money, Wave, QuickPay and Touch Point, alongside other electronic-money institutions and partnerships. Bank cards and terminals operate through GIM-UEMOA, and the UEMOA PI-SPI system supports instant interoperable payments. Check the recipient, amount, fees and merchant name before confirming a digital payment; never share a PIN or one-time password, and retain the transaction ID. For online purchases, check the seller's name or raison sociale, physical address, email, telephone number and, where relevant, RCCM, RNE, NINEA or the responsible approval authority. The offer should state the product characteristics, total price including taxes and delivery, payment and delivery method, warranty and after-sales-service arrangements, refund method and complaint address. Save the applicable CGV, meaning the seller's terms and conditions, in a form that can be reproduced later. Loi n° 2008-08 and Décret n° 2008-718 recognize electronic contracts, electronic signatures and electronic evidence in principle. The provider is responsible for proper contract performance, and unsolicited commercial email requires prior consent. For an online purchase, the withdrawal period is generally seven working days without needing to give a reason or pay a penalty: it starts when a service contract is concluded and when goods are received. If the required information was not supplied, the period can extend to three months. Exceptions include customized goods, quickly perishable goods, unsealed downloadable software or audio and video, newspapers, auctions and services that began before the period ended with the required consent. A general right to return an undamaged item bought in a physical shop merely because of a change of mind has not been established as a general equivalent; defects, warranty rights, after-sales service and the seller's own return policy must be checked separately. Loi n° 2021-25 requires transparent and fair transactions and prohibits misleading advertising. It also protects against contract terms that unlawfully remove repair or recourse rights. Written warranty and after-sales-service information should identify the provider, covered goods, defect procedure, duration, spare parts, repair centers and services such as delivery, installation, assembly, testing and repair. Start a complaint with the seller or platform using the receipt, photos and order or transaction ID. If that fails, contact the Direction du Commerce intérieur or the Commissaires aux Enquêtes économiques; an agréée association de consommateurs may represent collective interests. Report misuse of personal data or an unauthorized wallet opening to the CDP, and raise financial-service disputes first with the provider and, where appropriate, through OQSF mediation. There is no single nationally visible return and complaint platform confirmed across the available sources. Shopping choices also have environmental consequences. Loi n° 2020-04 prohibits the production, import, sale or use of specified single-use plastic items, including ordinary checkout plastic bags, with an exception for transparent recyclable food packaging. A bottle deposit applies where relevant: the seller must take back the empty bottle, while producers must organize collection points and recovery. Consumers should use collection points for plastic waste. Choose reusable, repairable and durable products, available spare parts and limited packaging where these options are genuinely offered. The voluntary, product-specific NS-Qualité Sénégal label is a conformity indication, not a universal guarantee for all goods, and certificates are renewable every three years. A nationwide consumer take-back chain for electronic waste has not been established in the available evidence.