24 Feb The business case for sensory-friendly shopping

For years I’ve been in conversation with neurodivergent adults, and with parents and carers of neurodivergent children. I kept hearing the same themes.

Shopping in physical stores can be exhausting. Sometimes physically painful. Given that at least 1 in 5 people are neurodivergent, this 20% addressable market is not a segment that retailers should ignore.

And yet there was little quantitative data to support the qualitative storytelling.

I set out to find the data – or be prepared to fail trying!

Because as much as we’d like to think that inclusion is an expected benchmark, the fact is that retailers are commercial entities that need data to inform business cases and where they should spend their budgets.

[For the record, I believe there is much sensory joy to be found in retail. It’s just that joy seems to be overshadowed by overwhelm too often].

Turning lived experience into insight

Our first study in 2023 ‘Neurodiversity in Retail’ asked a simple question: Do neurodivergent customers experience stores differently, and does that influence how, and how often, they shop?

The answer was yes.

There were significant differences between neurodivergent and non-neurodivergent respondents when it came to sensory challenges in stores and shopping spaces. Perhaps not surprisingly, non-neurodivergent respondents also preferred quieter shopping times, educated staff and less clutter.

In 2025 we expanded the research to explore dwell time, generational patterns, and three everyday retail categories: Health & Beauty, Technology & Appliances, and Back-to-School.

Why stores still matter

Stores play an important role in the retail ecosystem. Unless you are making a return purchase, it’s difficult to feel the weight of a paintbrush or to see the true depth of a colour palette. If you are someone who finds labels and tags itchy or is looking for a keyboard that feels just right under your fingers, then online is not going to cut it.

The conclusion we came to is that people aren’t rejecting stores. They may be rejecting how some stores feel.

An equity conversation with commercial impact

For some shoppers, entering a store requires preparation, recovery time and support. For others, it’s simply not possible.

Inclusive retail isn’t about special treatment. It’s about participation and equity – giving all shoppers the same choice in where and when they shop.

When environments become calmer and more predictable, people gain autonomy over everyday activities – including shopping.

And this extends far beyond neurodivergence. The findings are relevant to:

• migraine sufferers (≈1.7 million Australians)
• people with sensory processing differences
• older shoppers
• parents with sleeping babies who relish nap time
• wheelchair users who deserve to navigate aisles without clutter
• anyone who prefers calm environments.

These groups overlap, creating a large addressable market.

From access to sensory joy

Across the research, the same themes appeared repeatedly:

• sensory consideration
• predictability
• employee education.

By 2026, inclusive retail shouldn’t be remarkable. It should be expected.

Because when we reduce the sensory tax, more people can participate. And businesses benefit as a result through dwell time, basket size and brand loyalty.

Small changes create meaningful impact. Let’s build stores more people can use.

You can download the research highlights here.