This study examined the challenge of customer retention in Uganda’s supermarket sector, where firms face low customer loyalty, high costs of acquiring new customers, slow growth, and persistent complaints about service quality. Many small supermarkets either relocate or close, highlighting the need for sustainable solutions. The research aimed to identify critical determinants of supermarket operations and propose a Supermarket Customer Retention (SCR) model suited for Uganda’s turbulent business environment. A cross-sectional quantitative survey of 395 shoppers was conducted using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire distributed physically in major supermarkets and online via Google Forms. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied, and five of the eight goodness-of-fit indices were achieved, confirming the model’s validity. Results revealed that service quality, relational norms, switching costs, customer satisfaction, and customer trust are key factors in determining retention. The study provides actionable insights for supermarket management and extends supermarket retention research to the sub-Saharan African context.
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