“Choose with your eyes closed” instore shopping experience and spatial maps in visually impaired and sighted persons

The literature on the consumption patterns of specific categories of consumers, such as people with disability, remains limited to date. This study explored the explicit consumer experience of a group of visually impaired (VI) consumers in-store using behavioural and self-report measures. A VI and a control group explored three different product shelves and manipulated target products inside the supermarket. Behavioural and self-report data were collected in relation to three main different phases of the in-store shopping experience: (i) the identification of a product; (ii) the style of product purchase; (iii) the consumers experience. Results showed that in the VI group, accuracy and reaction time vary by product category. Touch was the sense that most guided VI group’s product recognition, but it was also found to be significantly used by the controls across product categories. Higher levels of disorientation, difficulty in finding products, and repeating the route independently were found for VI. The results could encourage the use of tactile touchpoints, braille maps or an initial guided exploration of the supermarket, to allow the VI to memorize the internal layout of the different product categories and allow them to shop independently. This paper extends the literature on the consumption patterns of specific categories of consumers, such as people with disability, that remains limited to date. It also represents the first in-store consumer research took place in Italy comparing Italian VI people with sighted consumers behaviour.