Be it dedicated priority counters, Quiet Hours for shoppers with autism, or a
body wash in Braille packaging, Future Retail Limited has
shown a strong and steady commitment towards making shopping accessible to
India’s disabled community.
Now, in its boldest and biggest initiative, India’s leading retailer has
announced a Preview Day Sale on 21 January across all 357
Big Bazaar stores in India, exclusively for people with disabilities.
In a statement, Vineet Saraiwala, Deputy Manager, Future
Group said, “Everyone wants offers and discounts and shoppers with
disabilities are no different. Big Bazaar has its annual sale on 26 January
and we observed that disabled shoppers lose out on discounts because of the
excessive crowds.”
From a Sign Language Invite to a special radio jingle to free shopping
assistance, priority counter, home delivery service, every attempt has been
made to ensure that shopping experience is as hassle free as possible. Big
Bazaar is also offering a Rs 100 discount on a shopping of Rs
1,000. Shoppers can even pre-book facilities.
It is very heartening when a chain like Big Bazaar decides to not just make
all their new stores accessible, but also their existing ones”, says design
architect Parul Kumtha, who has worked on the physical
infrastructure as an accessibility consultant. “This can be challenging,
especially when retrofitting toilet areas and other areas that have plumbing,
sanitation and electrical facilities already in place. But it is not
impossible.”
Certainly possible if there is commitment, something that the group has shown
towards making this and other accessible shopping initiatives a success.
We worked very closely with the leadership at Big Bazaar right from the
days of the conception of the program. We worked with the team in reaching
out to the stores in smaller location and assisted with the sensitization
training of 1,500 of their store managers in disability etiquette training.
– P Rajashekharan Raja, Co-founder, v-shesh Impact
Enterprise
Another organization that has worked closely with Big Bazaar in this
imitative is National Association for the Blind (NAB) in New
Delhi.
As Prashant Ranjan Verma, General Secretary,
NAB, , points out, such a mainstream initiative is unique not just
in India but globally, and is not only the just thing to do, but makes
perfect business sense as well.
“This has never been done in India and there are very few examples even in
the world where retail chains and shopping malls have made shopping fully
accessible. This makes business sense as well because and we hope that
competitors will follow. Not just the visually impaired community, but the
entire disabled community is happy with this.”
Shopping is a basic need for everyone and by making this accessible and
inclusive, Big Bazaar is ensuring that the disabled community is able to
access a fundamental right. In doing so, it is enabling the community to
enter public spaces on equal, independent terms, a major step towards
building attitude change.
To register for the Preview Sale, click here – http://bit.ly/BBPreviewDaySale
View the sign language invite – https://youtu.be/Vr_yBXWf9xI
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/21123
