Purple Tuesday to highlight disabled customers’ £249 billion spending power
The beleaguered high street has some good news in the potent consumer spending power of disabled customers and their families – estimated to be in the region of £249 billion.
Purple Tuesday – set for 12 November 2019 – is a call to action for businesses to make the customer experience accessible and not just because it’s something they should be doing, but also with considerable commercial incentives. Worldwide the ‘Purple Pound’ equates to a eye-watering £2.25 trillion.
As uncovered in the latest edition of CyclingIndustry.News Trade Journal, Laura Laker writes about the huge opportunity to tap into the disability market, with 33% of disabled people keen to be mobile by bicycles or adapted tricycle.
While millions are currently being missed out on by retailers – at a time when every pound counts for shops – less than 10% of businesses have a targeted plan to access the disability market.
Purple Tuesday advocates measures like completing an online accessibility audit, the same for your physical space, customer service training, formalising quiet hours and a number of other ideas for businesses to improved their access online and physically.
“Purple Tuesday is about creating a step change improvement in the awareness of the value and needs of disabled customers. It is about making the customer experience accessible. Participating organisations will make public commitments (a minimum of one new activity or initiative) to ensure sustainable changes are made. For organisations, this will result in the opening up of products and services to the disability market.”
The government’s cycle to work guidance, revised at the start of summer 2019, has officially removed the £1,000 cap on bike purchases and has paved the way for costly specially adapted or electric cycles. Meanwhile, street design has a long way to go to be inclusive, as Dr Rachel Aldred noted last year, adding that disabled people are in danger of being left out of UK transport strategy.
