Big Bazaar testing accessible shopping for the disabled! – Newz Hook Exclusive

Shopping can sometimes be confusing and not so enjoyable experience for some of us. Imagine how much worse it can be for people with disabilities, in the absence of Braille signages or sign language translators.

In a major move, Big Bazaar is set to make mall shopping a smooth, fun and joyful experience for the disabled. In a Newz Hook exclusive, Big Bazaar has announced its plans to launch a special ‘listening session’ in 105 stores across 17 cities in India from 29 to 31 October.

Over three days, people with speech, hearing and vision disabilities will be invited to experience the new features that promise a superior customer experience. At present, those with physical disabilities have not been invited as changes in infrastructure are still going on.

If you live in the 15 cities where this is being tested, do sign up for the feedback experience. These cities are – Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar, Bengaluru, Dehradun, Ranchi, Guwahati, Raipur, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Mysore, NCR Region, Patna and Pune.

There are many surprises planned and the idea is to enable people with disabilities to independently experience shopping for the first time. This is the first time any consumer brand in India has attempted something like this on such a large scale.

Some of the features that are planned are quite innovative and exciting. For one, all Big Bazaar stores are available on Google Maps and this is of great help to people with vision impairments. There will be a Shopping Assistant at every store so the disabled can get help in finding products, getting help with choosing clothes, move around the store and get help with billing. The Shopping Assistant has been trained on how to communicate with the disabled and will have a basic understanding about a person’s disability.

All Big Bazaar stores will have a dedicated priority counter for easy billing. There will be trained staff at all the key touch points from security to cashier to the customer desk. There is even an Accessibility Champion in every store to handle questions.

So if you want to test these new features and offer your feedback, click on – https://www.bigbazaar.com/aap-ke-liye/. This is to be used by disabled shoppers to book a shopping assistant in advance, book a wheelchair and even request help in reaching the store from the mall’s entrance.

They can also call 18002002255, which is a toll free number, for the same. So if you want to be a part of this important feedback session, call the number listed or click on the link! The features mentioned are live only for the three days mentioned from 29 to 31 October so please test these features and help Big Bazaar incorporate them.

Other plans in development are a tactile map in one of the stores, accessible changing rooms for wheelchair users, ramps and unisex washrooms.

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