UK/INTERNATIONAL. A major one-day initiative to improve the customer experience for disabled people is in full swing today (12 November).
More than 2,000 entities have pledged their support to Purple Tuesday 2019, which calls for businesses and organisations to rethink how they target disabled consumers and their families. Their spending power – which has been dubbed the ‘Purple Pound’ – is estimated to be worth £249 billion (US$320 billion) every year, according to research by the World Bank.
The travel and transport industry is a major focus of the campaign this year, and the likes of Manchester Airport, Pembrokeshire Tourism, Transpennine Express, Bermuda Tourism Authority, Hover Travel, CJP Tours and Sensory Traveller Holidays have thrown their support behind the campaign with their own disability-related initiatives.
The Moodie Davitt Report, which has already given extensive coverage to Purple Tuesday, is adding its support to the initiative by urging travel retail industry readers to help tackle the key barriers preventing disabled consumers purchasing goods and services.
Of the 13.9 million disabled people in the UK, 80% have a hidden impairment, meaning improvements and enhancements are needed to improve access for disabled people, beyond having a ramp installed to help access enter a site.
New research commissioned by Purple, the organisation behind Purple Tuesday, has revealed that poor customer service and a lack of staff understanding top the list as factors negatively influencing disabled shopping.
The research finds that about 75% of disabled people have had to leave a store or website, unable to go through with their purchase because of their disability.
The data also shows that most complaints from disabled people relate to experiences within the business/organisation premises. Disabled people are more likely to spend money with organisations if they improve: staff understanding about different disabilities (56%); the overall customer experience for disabled people (41%); store/shop/location accessibility (41%); and website accessibility (16%).
“Meeting the needs of disabled customers makes commercial sense for organisations of all sizes, from all sectors, but our message to organisations is: you don’t have to spend big budgets to make lasting change.”
Purple Chief Executive Mike Adams OBE
More than one in three disabled people (34%) said poor customer service prevented them from making a purchase, while 33% blamed a lack of understanding from staff about their needs. Some disabled respondents said improvements should include ‘being treated the same as anyone else’ and having ‘knowledgeable staff’.
Purple Chief Executive Mike Adams OBE said: “Meeting the needs of disabled customers makes commercial sense for organisations of all sizes, from all sectors, but our message to organisations is: you don’t have to spend big budgets to make lasting change.
“That’s why we’re urging organisations to focus on improvements that go ‘beyond the front door’. Introducing staff training and improving website accessibility are low cost changes, but the difference to a company’s bottom line – as well as to a disabled consumer’s personal experience – can be significant.
“Purple Tuesday has more than doubled in size this year, with more than 2,000 organisations from a variety of sectors making commitments to improve the customer experience for disabled people. These are long-term changes that will have a lasting impact for millions of customers – and improve the commercial opportunities for the organisations involved.”
The businesses and organisations participating in this year’s Purple Tuesday have made more than 3,500 pledges to make long-term changes in the way they meet the needs of the disabled. These include major UK retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Argos, Microsoft Store and Blakemore Retail, the organisation which supports 700 independent Spar shops.
To emphasise the growing interest in Purple Tuesday, in 2018 more than 750 organisations played a part in Purple Tuesday, making a collective 1,500 commitments to improve how they meet the needs of disabled consumers.