Woolworths has expanded its low-sensory Quiet Hour initiative to five days a week, offering a calmer shopping environment for customers with sensory sensitivities.
The initiative, designed to reduce anxiety and sensory stress, will now take place in most stores nationally from Monday to Friday between 10:30 am and 11:30 am.
Jeanette Fenske, Woolworths Director of Stores, highlighted the positive impact of the program.
“We continue to receive positive feedback from customers on the initiative, and our teams take great pride in ensuring the stores are quieter and less stressful for customers during this time.”
Quiet Hour was introduced in 2019 in collaboration with disability service provider Life Without Barriers, initially running one day a week. Since then, it has expanded to over 900 stores, helping to create a more inclusive shopping experience.
“Quiet Hour is now an integral part of how we aim to assist independence in our stores, in addition to the opportunity provided by Direct to Boot and delivery options for many customers. The expansion of Quiet Hour to five days a week has been trialled over busy shopping periods such as Christmas, and we are proud to now be able to meet customer needs with this five days a week.”
Claire Robbs, Chief Executive of Life Without Barriers, said the expansion of Quiet Hour at Woolworths from one to five weekdays is a fantastic initiative that recognises and is actively responding to different needs of many people in the community.
“Life Without Barriers has been delighted with Woolworths’ leadership to give people more options to do their shopping in-store and increase their independence in an environment that is not stressful and overwhelming to them.”
During Quiet Hour, Woolworths makes temporary adjustments to the store environment, including:
- Lowering lighting and reducing in-store music
- Turning off bakery oven and chicken cooker buzzers
- Reducing volume on store phones and registers
- Clearing store entryways
- Removing roll cages from the shop floor
- Suspending PA announcements, except for emergencies
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