Sainsbury’s Trials Slow Shopping For Elderly

31st August 2016

Sainsbury’s in Gosforth (Newcastle) has announced this week that it is trialling an in-store ‘slow shopping afternoon’.

What is a slow shopping afternoon?

The idea introduced by the Gosforth store is that every Tuesday between 1pm-3pm there will be members of staff from Sainsbury’s at the entrance ready to offer assistance to those that require it. They will guide the customer around the store to ensure they find everything they need and can manage ok. They will encourage them to take their time and not feel pressured or rushed. The store will also place chairs at the end of the aisles for those who need to rest and sit down during their shop.

What do you think?

This is certainly a concept we would jump on board with. The elderly generation is a growing one and we believe that this is a forward-thinking initiative to cater for this market. Working with the elderly market on a daily basis we know how intimidating heading out to the shops can be for them. Anywhere that is crowded or busy can be very daunting.

Providing a service such as this ‘slow shopping afternoon’ will give the elderly peace of mind that they can take their time without being afraid of getting in people’s way, getting tired and needing to rest or not being able to get everything they need because they ‘can’t reach’ or ‘too scared to ask’.

Although this is only one store trialling it at the moment, we hope to see this develop further. What do you think? Why not discuss this further on our twitter page @stairliftREC