Many supermarkets and retail chains offer a “sensory-friendly” shopping experience.
Some initiatives include:
- sunflower lanyard: offered to customers with a hidden disability (Ask at the customer service desk in larger stores, or at the checkout in smaller ones.)
- quiet shopping times
- changing place toilets: larger-than-normal disabled toilet, which includes a changing bench, hoist and privacy screen
- facilities for the hard of hearing: hearing loops and signage
- booking help in advance: calling for an assistant to help you shop
- shopping aids for autistic people: for example, a visual guide to shopping and a downloadable visual shopping list
- simple and easy car refuelling: for disabled drivers
- large text on self-service checkouts: for partially sighted customers
Quiet shopping times
Major supermarkets have quiet shopping times. During these times, the supermarkets may have:
- softer lighting
- no music playing
- fewer and quieter announcements on their loudspeakers
- quieter tills
However, quiet shopping times don’t guarantee that there will be fewer customers.
Quiet shopping times for national supermarkets:
- Aldi:
- Tuesdays from 8am to 10am
- Saturdays from 6pm to 8pm
- Asda:
- Monday to Thursday from 2pm to 3pm
- Lidl:
- Tuesdays from 6pm to 8pm
- Morrisons:
- Saturdays from 9am to 10am
- Tesco:
- Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9am to 10am
If you know a store that has not been included, you can let us know by:
Not all supermarkets have quiet shopping hours at the same time. You can check your preferred supermarket’s website for more details.
