Asda has introduced a four-day-a-week “quieter hour”, where noise levels will be cut to help disabled shoppers and their families.
Noisy trips to the supermarket can often be stressful for people with disabilities such as autism.
According to The Grocer, the initiative will take place from 2pm to 3pm from Mondays to Thursdays.
It launched today to coincide with “Purple Tuesday”, a campaign for improving treatment of disabled customers.
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Asda is also training staff to give “extra time, care and patience” to shoppers through the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme.
It provides people with a lanyard or card to “discreetly” show they have a disability.
The grocer is also updating its online store locator to improve accessibility information on toilets, changing places, braille and hearing loops.
“There are an estimated 14.1 million people with a disability living in the UK, and 80 per cent of disabilities are hidden,” Asda chief supply chain officer Mark Simpson said.
“We hope that by introducing quieter times for customers to shop we will be able to make our stores more welcoming and inclusive.”
It comes after Tesco announced a “quiet hour” in its large stores last week.
The Big 4 grocer will dim the lights and reduce checkout noise from 9am to 10am every Wednesday to Saturday.
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