Technical Control Board for a Barrier-Free Shopping Experience

The customer is always right, says a proverb. Yet not all stores really cater to the needs of all its customers. Senior citizens and people with disabilities often have no idea, where they can shop comfortably without facing any barriers. Now a nationwide seal of approval wants to change that.

01/07/2010

 
Generation considerate stores get
this sticker for their entrance door;
© HDE/Bildschön

It is supposed to provide orientation: the white shopping bag on wheels – on an orange-colored backdrop. If this picture is pasted on the entrance door of a store, customers can count on being able to shop barrier-free here.

“The quality mark ‘Generation considerate shopping’ tells you: I am in good hands here“, knows Kristina Schröder, German Federal Minister for Family affairs, Senior citizens, Women and Youth. In March 2010, the patron of the project with the same name, awarded the Galeria Kaufhof at the Alexanderplatz in Berlin as the first business in Germany with this nationwide distributed seal of approval.

Knockout-Criteria Must Be Met

Scoring 95 percent, the Berlin store meets almost all required criteria of the quality mark. The entrances are wide enough as well as being at-grade. The larger elevators also contain hand rails as well as mirrors. Customers easily find the check-out counters, thanks to clear markers. In addition, the check-out counters come with a bag placement area, which stretches all around the counter.

The entire criteria check list by which a store is rated, encompasses a total of 58 criteria, which cover the areas of service offers, access, equipment and service performance. The check list is divided into criteria in grades A, B and C. The so-called A-criteria must be met hundred percent: The store floors for example must be skid-proof and non-glare. Hazard sources like glass doors must be properly marked. Price labels on the shelf also must be easy-to-read. If a store covers all verifiable A-criteria, in addition it must also reach 70 percent of the possible total marks. At the end of the test procedure, the inspected store will then receive a sticker, a certificate and an online-banner. After three years however, there will be a new inspection.

If things do not work out at the first try, each applicant of course has the chance to retrofit within a three months time frame and still qualify at the second attempt. “The quality mark is not an accommodation certificate, where the applicant is rating themselves. It avouches quality“, Josef Sanktjohanser, President of the German Trade Association (HDE), makes clear.

A-criteria must be covered with
100 per cent; © Hofschläger /
Pixelio.de

The Target Group Is also Testing

But how do you get the orange-and-white sticker in the entrance area? “Retailers, who are interested in getting the quality mark, must apply at their local Trade Association,“ explains Sanktjohanser. The Association will then send a trained team of testers.

The service criteria for example will be tested undercover at the beginning of the inspection, because it could not be otherwise authentically rated. Afterwards, the testers reveal themselves, so the staff is not wondering why alleged customers suddenly measure the width of aisles or the height of the shelves with a folding yardstick.

The testers themselves are trade association sales representatives, as well as senior citizens, parents with strollers, severely visually impaired persons or also people in a wheelchair or with walkers. After all, they more or less automatically pay attention to the things that are most important.

So far, most notably stores in Lower Saxony carry the new seal of approval, since the project was prepared and tested there during a pilot phase. The other German federal states however are already raring to go: As soon as a sufficient number of testers have been trained in these states, the hot examination period begins.

The HDE is the responsible body for the quality mark and developed it in cooperation with the federal-and state department ministries, associations and businesses as well as the Initiative ”Economic factor Old Age“ – as a reaction to the demographic changes in society. After all, in the year 2035 almost half of the population will be 50 and older, and every third person will be older than 60 years. With these changes in society, the demands of the consumers toward retail businesses will therefore also change.

Seniors with physical limitations
need their rollator walker while
shopping; © matchka/Pixelio.de

Spending Power of the 50Plus Generation

The population is getting increasingly older and along with it the number of customers with impairments, who during shopping for example are dependent on their walkers or rest areas, is rising. Tight, misaligned aisles or hard to open doors are also making life harder for mothers with strollers or wheel chair drivers. Sanktjohanser also knows: “Each step of a staircase sets back sales volumes.“

And: “At this stage already over 50 percent of private consumption is attributed to the over 50-year olds,“ adds Kristina Schröder. Favorable shopping conditions for the 50plus generation is something retail stores are counting on: If customers come across low barrier conditions, they are more satisfied, stay longer in the store and are more loyal to a company. This is not just true for seniors: “Great service helps all people. This is why we very intentionally talk about generation considerate shopping,“ stresses Sanktjohanser.

Nadine Lormis
REHACARE.de

(Translated by Elena O'Meara)