Meijer Strikes Fees for App to Help Visually Impaired Customers

Meijer has eliminated the fee associated with the use of the Aira app in its stores. Aira offers support to blind and low-vision customers to increase the ease of their shopping trips by using their smartphone cameras to connect them to highly trained, remotely located agents to provide help reading store signs or product labels.

“Our mission is to enrich lives in the communities we serve,” said Tim Williams, VP of diversity and inclusion for Meijer. “We are happy to offer this tool that ensures our low-vision customers experience the same independence as any other customer with quick and easy access to the information they need.”

The app has been previously available for a per-minute fee in the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer’s stores. Now, when entering any store, Aira users will receive a notification that their use of the app will be complimentary and they can connect to Meijer’s free Wi-Fi to avoid any data charges.