As a business owner, you recognize the fact that you have a wide spectrum of customers. You may be targeting a specific group, but there will always be some people who will still patronize your products and services. It is important that your business can accommodate even the non-targeted audience.
In a broader sense, you have to make your store much more inclusive. This may be a challenge that you may find quite difficult, especially if you have seen that there will be a tally of changes. In this regard, you should make sure that your shop can accommodate the needs of handicapped customers.
Adjusting your store for the benefit of the people with handicaps will undoubtedly be helpful. Being a more inclusive business will even help in building your reputation. You may have some difficulties at the start, especially if your current store set-up is already fixed and has a positive effect on your business.
But if you really want to bring about good changes, you may want to assess your shop thoroughly. Below are some of the things that you may want to keep in mind:
Make the store features easily accessible
Accessing the store should be made easier for your handicapped customers. This means changing some configurations that will improve the ease of access. For one, if you are anticipating that you have customers that use wheelchairs, you may want to have a ramp and make the doors wider.
The pavement should also be made wider; you can use the help of a reliable paver of large sidewalks. An elevator can also make a great difference. Inside the store, it is worth considering to change the layout of the floor to make going around much easier for your customers.
You may even designate a zone for disabled people where the things that they need are within their reach.
Mind the signs
Do not get the impression most people with disabilities are incapacitated in physical terms. Some disabled people actually have problems with vision and hearing. To make your shop responsive to such needs, your signs may have a Braille translation or may use sign language.
These minor fixes will be able to address such concerns in some ways. You may even want to train your staff so that they will be able to help.
Take it online
Your shop may have its online version. And there is a great chance that some disabled customers are accessing your website. To address people with visual disabilities, you may want to add audio assistance to your website. You may also make the user experience of your website much easier to navigate.
A more inclusive store is something that you should aspire, especially now that the generation has changed for the better. And adjusting certain configurations will certainly make your handicapped customers’ transactions much more positive.
The changes you should be bringing about must be studied thoroughly and assessed based on the needs of your target group.