Retail in Asia

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India’s Snapdeal launches specialty online store for the differently abled

India’s online marketplace Snapdeal has launched a specialty online to cater to the special needs of persons with disabilities for the International Day of People with Disability.

The Rehab and Support Store is the first of its kind virtual store in India aimed at providing accessibility to differently abled people for a convenient shopping experience.

Member of Parliament, Chairman, Standing Committee on External Affairs and former Union Minister Dr. Shashi Tharoor inaugurated virtual store with Rohit Bansal, Co-founder of Snapdeal.com.

Snapdeal said the online store will have more than 1,100 products ranging from wheel chairs to hearing machines to walking sticks. The store will also enable the buyers to compare product specifications and make an informed buying decision.

Bansal disclosed that approximately 27 million people in India have a disability and barely any services specifically targeted at providing them with access to benefits of India’s technological progress.

"Through this initiative we are aiming to provide the differently abled people access to various support and rehabilitation products. Now, people with different abilities will be able to access these niche products easily sitting in the comforts of their homes for a convenient shopping experience. At Snapdeal.com we are guided by our philosophy of creating life changing experiences for people from all walks of life. This is the true measure of our success,” he said.

Dr. Tahoor lauded the effort, saying that the initiative is a is a wonderful way of commemorating International Day of People with Disability.

“We have all long taken for granted that as long as we can afford to buy something, we can go wherever we want, buy whatever we want and do so whenever we want. But the differently abled usually do not have that opportunity. For them, it is a struggle to get to a shop, reach the kind of product they need and have access to it, given the handicaps posed by their disability," he said.