After its silent opening, which debuted in 2018, it now offers a new service to Decathlon’s premium customers. After a joint professional work with the Hungarian National Association for the Blind and Partially Impaired (MVGYOSZ), a service called VásárLÁSS has been launched, through which they wish to make life easier for blind and partially sighted sports enthusiasts.
One of the non-governmental organizations strongly supported by Decathlon is LÁSS (Recreational Sports Association for the Visually Impaired), where several joint sporting events (running, horseback riding, skiing, hiking) have been organized by company employees in recent years. Free Weekly Fitness Exercises, Invisible Fitness. After joint sports experiences, the company has taken another important step towards visually impaired customers: from April 7, 2021, in cooperation with the Hungarian National Association of the Blind and Partially Visually Impaired (MVGYOSZ), it has introduced a service called VásárLÁSS in all of its stores to help them obtain appropriate sports equipment. The free service provides personal advisory assistance to visually impaired shoppers from arrival to departure, who only need to indicate in advance in Decathlon’s customer service the day they want to go in any store. Contact Decathlon to facilitate the connection Visually accessible He has also created a sub page where all the customer service contact details are available in one place.
„One of my colleagues is waiting for our pre-registered blind or partially sighted customer at the agreed time at the entrance, who will help you choose products, try them out and answer any technical questions that may arise. This goes far beyond product knowledge, as most of our colleagues do sport at an amateur or professional level, so they will be able to provide helpful advice and share their experiences.Said Mariana Julias, Director of the Social Responsibility Project at Decathlon.
According to Ursulia Nemeth, Professional Director of MVGYOSZ:Recreational sports have become a part of the daily life of a growing number of people, both blind and partially sighted. For regular sports, we usually need healthy vision aids, whether it’s running, hiking, tandem biking, or even skiing or climbing walls. Ensuring this often takes serious organizational work from us, so it is a huge relief that you do not at least have to enlist the help of acquaintances or family members to purchase sports clothing and equipment. In addition, the location and knowledge of Decathlon’s employees ensure that we can quickly find the products you are looking for and obtain accurate and professional information. There are places and situations where the quickest and most obvious personal assistance for a visually impaired person is for the other person to be prepared and more responsive to their needs, which even the latest technology will not be able to replace. I believe sport is related, so I am also confident that the visually impaired shoppers and also the amateur store staff will easily and naturally find a common topic when meeting a SHOP service thus building new bridges between the visually impaired and the visually impaired.“
„Creating a level playing field, whether it is sporting events, employment or the shopping experience, is a priority in our responsibility to society. Advice from civil society and advocacy organizations is of great help to us in these areas. Our work for a diverse and inclusive work and social environment would be unthinkable without their professional support.– Mariana Julias confirmed.
This isn’t the first time the company has offered a similar service in the country: in 2018, with professional help from the National Autism Association (AOSZ), Silent Opening was launched to help clients with autism and their families. With AOSZ, reception has been constantly monitored and adjusted in light of experience gained and needs that have arisen, so stores are now quieter on the first Monday of every month between 4 and 6 pm.
