Coles expands quiet hour in supermarkets nationwide to increase accessibility for customers

Reduced sound has been extended for customers from 6:00pm to 7:00pm, Monday through Friday at Coles stores nationally.

Coles supermarkets have increased the low-sensory shopping experience – Quiet Hour, with stores nationwide now offering customers a Quiet Hour experience from 6:00pm to 7:00pm, Monday to Friday.

The changes customers have noticed during these times include Coles Radio turned down to the lowest volume, reduced register and scanner volume, limited trolley collection to reduce noise and team members will refrain from using the PA system, except for in emergencies.

This new format of Quiet Hour is in addition to the current 10:30am to 11:30am Quiet Hour on Tuesdays at participating stores, which offers reduced sound and reduced lighting, supporting customers who face challenges of shopping in a high sensory environment.

Since 2017, Coles has offered Quiet Hour across select stores nationally and following the overwhelming success of the trials and customer and team member feedback, Coles has further committed to meeting the diverse needs of customers, ensuring everyone feels welcomed, valued and comfortable during their shop.

Up to 70% of autistic people experience sensitivity to sounds, with autistic adults reporting that these symptoms worsen with stress and anxiety therefore, Quiet Hour enhances and improves the shopping experience for many customers who find high sensory environments challenging.

Coles Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Katie Wyatt said Coles is delighted that it is now able to offer Quiet Hour five days a week in all our supermarkets:

“At Coles, we are always looking for new ways to serve our customers with disability and carers, and we are privileged to have many active voices of people with disability in our feedback channels.

“We have offered Quiet Hour since 2017 and it’s incredibly exciting to expand this offering to five days a week at a time that better suits many of our customers and working parents.”

Coles first joined forces with Amaze in 2021 to work together on creating a more inclusive experience for Autistic shoppers. Since then, Amaze and Coles have continued to work together on a number of initiatives to build the capacity and capability of the business, employees and store environments to meet the needs of Autistic people and their families. Some of which have included collaborating on the store environment to improve accessibility for Autistic people, ensuring reasonable adjustments are in place for Autistic shoppers and Coles Autistic employees, and providing expert information and advice on enhancing the experience and enabling people with all kinds of abilities.

Amaze CEO Jim Mullan said:

“We have been delighted to see our partnership with Coles grow in strength and success since 2021, and much of that is a testament to their commitment to building an environment and a workforce that is representative of the community they serve, including Autistic people.

“The expansion of their low-sensory shopping experience is just another example of the many steps that they have taken over the years to understand and purposefully meet the needs of not only their Autistic customers but also their Autistic employees. Amaze’s vision is an autism inclusive Australia and we’re proud to have partners like Coles who share that same aspiration.”      

Not only is Coles upping the ante with Quiet Hour to support the one in 70 Australian’s who are on the autism spectrum, but the Coles mobile app has seen significant upgrades, informed by insights from individuals with disabilities. The Coles app boasts a variety of new accessibility features, making the app easier to see, operate and use for all Australians.

The best-in-class accessibility features include allowing customers to tailor text size and make content larger and easier to read and allows customers to use their preferred screen orientation with both portrait and landscape options. To assist customers using assistive technologies, the app also features custom actions which provide a simpler experience by reducing the number of swipes and taps required to navigate the app.

“Our award-winning app keeps getting better for customers and particularly those using accessibility software and aids to use it. The team consider accessibility in every step of our design process which is why it has been so well received,” Katie Wyatt said.

Coles is an integral part of Australian’s everyday lives and is always looking at ways to meet the diverse needs of customers and has proudly been nominated for Corporate App of the Year at the Centre for Accessibility Awards 2023.

Coles is also leading the way with accessible Own Brand products, supporting customers who experience challenges with product accessibility. Over 200 Coles Own Brand products have seen accessibility improvements such as product opening redesigns, VSP seal strength reductions, increased grip, reduced glue strength and lid redesign. Other products such as Coles Chia Pudding and Koi Lip Balm include added instructions for ease of opening and use.  Products like Coles Australian Sliced Banana have been redesigned to achieve contrast ratios on packaging to help customers that experience sensitivity to sensory information such as colours.

¹ Autism in Australia: Understanding, Challenges and Support:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10484064/

²Coles Group Internal mysay survey, May 2023. 

³ Characterising Auditory Sensory Stability in Autism:  https://autism.org/ari-funded-research-studies-2022/