Barrier-free in customer service
Nelya MYKYTENKO, Yuliia Biliavska · International Scientific-Practical Journal COMMODITIES AND MARKETS · 2025
With the rapid development of society, in the context of great wars and armed conflicts around the world, the awareness, understanding and promotion of the resolution of problems faced by people with disabilities and citizens with limited mobility in general, aimed at their reintegration into the existing social space, is seen as a foundation for building a human-centred society. Since Ukraine is currently experiencing a terrible and bloody chapter in its history, the number of people with disabilities is increasing, the processes of urbanization are deepening and the population is "aging", the demand for barrier-free solutions is naturally growing. All of this serves as a catalyst for building an inclusive, harmonious society of equal opportunities, respecting the rights and dignity of each of its members. In such a society, no citizen should feel vulnerability and inferiority even at the level of meeting their basic needs, which brings forth new standards for barrier-free service for consumers. The research is based on the hypothesis that, despite the existing prerequisites for creating a barrier-free environment in Ukraine, there are still a significant number of gaps and barriers in the organization of barrier-free consumer services, the overcoming of which requires a synergistic approach from government bodies, business structures, and society as a whole. The working hypothesis has been tested using research methods such as abstraction, causal analysis, systemic-structural analysis, comparative analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, field research, systematization and generalization, as well as a dialectical approach to understanding processes and phenomena. The barrier-free consumer service system includes 4 levels of barrier-free access: physical, informational, digital, and educational. In order to form an understanding of the state of development of barrier-free customer service, a diagnosis of leading retail and fast-food enterprises in Ukraine has been carried out, according to the results of which the compliance with accessibility requirements for service and the unused reserves of an inclusive approach to customer service was outlined. The flagship projects of the studied enterprises aimed at creating an accessible service space have been systematized. Recommendations for improving the barrier-free customer service on the basis of collaboration between the state, business and society are substantiated.