Morrisons launched quieter hour in 2018, after listening to families affected by Autism asked for quieter shopping conditions. Loud noises, bright lights, sudden announcements can be quite distressing for people with Autism, and turn the weekly shop into a stressful ordeal.
Whilst these noises are part of everyday life in a supermarket, Morrisons decided that for an hour each Saturday morning, between 9am and 10am, their stores would become as quiet and peaceful as possible. The Saturday morning quieter slot was a great success, and a welcome gesture to many families. The scheme has now been extended to all stores for an hour on a Sunday morning as well.
“The introduction of the quieter hours has been appreciated by many customers who prefer to shop in a calmer environment. Extending them to include Sundays will offer more opportunities to shop more peacefully.” David Potts, Chief Executive at Morrisons.
The planned changes include:
- Radio and tannoy silence
- Reduced volume of ‘beeps’ from checkout scanners Less ‘clunking’ as movement of trolleys and baskets are kept to a minimum
- Dimmed lighting
- Posters outside the entrance alerting all shoppers that’s it’s “quieter hour”
This will be welcome initiative to our local Morrisons stores at the Blackpool, Kirkham, Preston and Cleveleys sites.
There is concern that consumers might start panic buying if stricter Covid 19 measures are applied in the North West, but all the the major supermarkets are urging people to shop as usual, as there will not be a disruption to supply chains.
