image courtesy of Getty Images Businesses are increasingly emphasizing the importance of factoring in the needs of disabled customers from the beginning of product development. Yet this huge market – the so-called “Purple pound” – remains largely untapped as many firms are failing to successfully adapt for customers with disabilities. The purple pound refers to the spending power of disabled households and is now worth some £274bn a year to UK businesses, according to the advocacy group Purple. As one in five of us is likely to experience some sort of disability in our lifetime – how can firms successfully access the purple pound market and improve their bottom line? Emma Vogelmann, from disability equality charity Scope, hopes that the easing of Covid restrictions will be a turning point – ushering in a “new normal”, reducing some of the barriers faced by disabled people when accessing businesses and services. Sam Latif, Proctor and Gamble’s (P&G) accessibility leader, realised many of its products were “not as inclusive or accessible as they could be” when she took up her role. image copyrightP&GO ne example was its Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner bottles, which felt “identical”, making it difficult for people with impaired sight to tell them apart, she says. Since then, P&G has added “tactical markings” to the bottles to help people distinguish them. “We have four stripes for shampoo and we have circles for conditioner that are embossed on the bottle,” says Ms Latif, who describes herself as 97 percent blind. Ms Latif says her own experiences have given her “insights that the company would need to understand things that we need to improve in our products”. This shampoo and conditioner bottle redesign not only benefits the visually impaired, but also helps people with soap in their eyes or who are not wearing glasses or contact lenses to ensure they use the right product. “The business case is unmistakable. If we intentionally serve 20 percent of the population that previously maybe we hadn’t thought about, it just makes business sense,” says Ms Latif. P&G has also remodelled its Olay skin care jar to make it easier to open for people with dexterity problems, she adds. image courtesy of Getty Images Emma Vogelmann at Scope says that with our lives moving more online as a result of Covid, firms need to be aware that some customers with disabilities may face barriers using certain websites and apps. “One of the biggest things businesses could do is to make sure they are testing their websites and apps with a wide range of disabled people. “It’s only through user-testing that you are able to pick up barriers faced by a specific group of people – you wouldn’t be aware of those areas unless [you yourself are] faced with them,” she says. Robin Sheppard, co-founder of Bespoke Hotels, says that staying in some hotel rooms designed for customers with disabilities amounts to a form of “punishment”. Mr Sheppard, who has Gillian-Barré syndrome – a rare and serious condition that affects the nerves – says rooms often have very limited views and “humdrum décor and no sense of style”. image copyrightBespokehotels His company has been trying “to put some style and some swagger into the look and feel of the bedrooms, and a much more joyous sense of colour and verve”. The idea is that there is no perceptible difference between rooms designed for visitors with disabilities and the rest. “Ultimately the aim has to be to have all hotels with a new level that it’s become a non-issue – it’s just normal, it’s just the way it is,” he says. His work is paying off, with disabled-friendly rooms at one of his hotels each generating over £7,000 more revenue than other bedrooms. Equal access to shop floors and places such hotels, restaurants and bars is vital. image courtesy of Getty Images “If you have the most accessible building in the world and then the security guard says, ‘No mate, you can’t bring a dog in here’, then you are not getting inside that building,” says Gavin Neate, the founder of Neatebox which has developed a training app to improve customer service. “The truth is that unless staff understand how to interact with disabled people and the needs of disabled people, then all of these services and products are going to be absolutely useless.” His top tips to improve access is to employ more people with disabilities in the first place, and then train all of the staff better. “Ask your staff members about disability and what they know. Then constantly ask them…because you can’t just train somebody, tick a box saying you’ve trained and then expect that they are going to remember it forever.” Some firms make a “great effort” to consider the needs of their customers with disabilities, but some could “certainly be doing more”, says Emma Vogelmann. Businesses with a high number of disabled people “perform exceptionally well because their disabled employees are able to influences policies and choices which are made in that business and originate from a position of lived experiences,” she says. “Other businesses that choose to engage with disabled clients benefit greatly as well. They recognize the worth of the purple pound and will not overlook the enormous spending power of disadvantaged people. “When they take those steps to be inclusive, it encourages disabled clients to stay loyal to their brand because they feel appreciated,” she says. Ms Vogelmann says she expects businesses would preserve some Covid limits, such as lowering the number of customers in a shop at the same time, to make it a “less overwhelming experience” for some persons with disabilities. image courtesy of Getty Images According to Sam Latif, redesigning current products or services to appeal to a disabled audience is significantly more expensive than thinking about impairment from the beginning. “Of course there will be a cost if you try to tack it on at the end,” she explains. At a cost of 0.001% of the brand’s marketing budget, Proctor & Gamble has introduced audio description into its TV and video advertising. “It’s nothing, but with that expenditure, you can reach 2.2 million people in the UK alone,” Ms Latif adds. One of Ms Latif’s responsibilities in her post has been to “open the hearts and minds” of senior P&G executives. She put the executives through their paces by having them wear spectacles that simulated blindness, use a wheelchair, or wear gloves that restricted hand movement. “We’d next have them open a package of Pampers or explain the difference between shampoo and conditioner. The penny finally drops at that point “she explains. Is there a “light bulb” moment required for firms to tap into the untapped purple pound market? Isn’t it more important for businesses to have a moral obligation than to be motivated by prospective profits? Scope’s Emma Vogelmann says, “That’s a pretty interesting question.” “The purple pound is just another case to be made for why disabled people need to be included and why having an inclusive offer is so vital,” she says. Sam Latif, Proctor and Gamble’s Company Accessibility Leader, Robin Sheppard, Co-Founder and President of Bespoke Hotels, and Gavin Neate, Chief Executive and Founder of Neatebox, spoke with Evan Davis for BBC Radio 4’s The Bottom Line. Customer service is important. Pandemic of Coronavirus Entrepreneurial ventures The Federation of Small Businesses is an association of small businesses (Scotland) Disability/n
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