One in five people, or 20% of the population in the UK have a disability. Tesco is a place where Everyone’s Welcome, but we understand that our stores – with the loud noises, bright lights or strong smells, and volume of people – can be stressful for some of our customers.
People can feel, see and experience the world differently, and for our customers with Autism, the shopping experience may sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. A calmer environment can also be better for our elderly customers, ones shopping with young children, or our customers who may be struggling with mental health.
We want to help deliver the easiest shopping trip for everyone in our stores – so everyone Wednesday and Saturday, from 9am-10am, we’ll be dimming the lights and lowering the Checkouts noise in all of our large stores, to make it a more enjoyable experience for customers. In the future, we will centrally reduce the noise of self-service tills and Scan As You Shop devices, too.
Claire Pickthall, Tesco Group Customer Proposition Director said:
“We know that almost 20% of the population in the UK have a disability and we want to be able to help our customers as much as we can. So I am really proud that at Tesco, we are taking another step in being a more inclusive business by introducing Quiet Hour across all our stores. I know that for some people the shopping trip can be stressful and not just for people with a disability but for others looking for a calmer place to shop. We want everyone to know that Tesco is a welcome place for everyone to come and shop or work with us.”
We are proud to have a culture which enables all of our colleagues to grow and develop at Tesco, and are a level 2 Disability Confident Employer – supporting our commitment to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome.
