Asda expands in-store navigation trial for blind customers

Asda is set to expand its trial of the GoodMaps smartphone app which helps blind or partially sited customers to navigate around the Big 4 grocer‘s stores.

Following a trial at its technology-innovation store in Stevenage, the app will also now be available at its Blackburn, Caerphilly, Hulme, Totton, York, Killingbeck, Milton Keynes, Aintree, Queslett and Wembley sites.

GoodMaps app users in these stores will have access to audio, enlarged visual and touch commands which can communicate directions to specific products or areas.

Key landmarks such as pharmacy, toilets and tills can be searched for as well as specific product categories to help Asda’s customers find the products they’re shopping for.

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Asda senior director of retail transformation, Neil Fairclough said the trial at the Stevenage store had prompted its roll out to further stores, as it proved “technology can really make a difference to customers who previously had difficulty navigating the aisles whilst shopping.

“The value of these trials is that we can take the learnings from each step and better integrate the technology as we go further into the trial phase, ensuring an even better experience for our customers and colleagues in these trial stores,” he said.

GoodMaps VP Europe, Neil Barnfather added: “GoodMaps Infrastructure-free technology delivers upon something that is so often taken for granted; to just be able to go and access a location without after thought.

“Asda’s unrivalled commitment to breaking down barriers to inclusion revolutionises how our community can perform a fundamental basic need, to be able to buy your weekly shop.”

RNIB accessibility innovation lead, Marc Powell concluded: “This is an encouraging step forward in creating a more inclusive world and an example of how improving accessibility for people with sight loss can actually enhance the customer experience for everyone.

“We urge all retailers to ensure accessibility is truly a priority so that new technology and advancements are used to improve the retail experience for people with disabilities and prevent inequality from spreading.”