Blind person here and happy to help. The biggest thing for me is communication. Communication is key.

Let me know how much my total comes to, ask if I have any coupons if your store accepts them and if I ask for help be willing to offer it. A lot of blind people are very independent and know what they are doing.

When it comes to cash payments. Let me know which bills are which, that helps me since I can't see them. Sometimes I mess up when handing over cash so just let me know if I have and be patient. Let me know how much I've given you and how much more I need to give over.

If I'm paying by card you can let me know where the card reader is and when it is time to remove my card if it is a chip reader.

And that's basically it! Most of it is having patience and knowing when to offer help and when not to. If I'm struggling than the help is appreciated but if I've got it, than it's okay to take a step back.

Just remember, we're like everyone else. A lot of us have been taught how to go out and do things independently.

I appreciate the ask! Many people don't take into consideration how difficult it is to do everyday tasks for the blind. It's people like you with a willingness to learn that make our lives easier.

I'll just add something I've learned from my blind aunt's perspective:

If a non-sighted person is shopping in your store and accompanied by a sighted companion, you should be mindful of directing your attention (gaze, questions, exchange of money/merchandise) toward the blind customer as well. I've had people speak to me about my aunt as if she weren't standing right there hearing everything.

This is her biggest pet peeve when it comes to interacting with retail personnel. Many times they will engage with her sighted companion instead of interacting with her directly, which she finds irritating ("I'm blind, not deaf!"), to say the least.

I think it naturally happens (not maliciously) so often because making eye contact is usually such an integral component of in-person communication; many people who aren't accustomed to interacting with a blind person will just automatically look at and then start speaking to the sighted person that's with them.

My aunt just wants to be seen (even though she cannot see) and treated normally in these situations.

Thank you for caring and being considerate enough to even ask about this! ❤

Thinking back to the pair of shoes I bought today, I'm sort of analysing where anything was different. I turned up at the store having called ahead because I knew it'd be busy, as it's a public holiday here in the UK. Got some advice on what I was getting, although I sort of knew anyway as I wanted to replace some existing ones, so I wore the existing ones and said "something like this". My boyfriend arrived while I was trying stuff on, so when it was time to go and pay for them we went over to the counter together. I did ask the person serving where the card thing was. I paid contactless so it was just a case of waving it roughly in the right place, which is super helpful. Chip and pin is a finangle but not too bad. Every so many contactless transactions you have to do a chip and pin one so I guess I'll stay in practice.

We did have a five minute conversation about black sneakers, which I guess I could have picked out myself if I could see, but beyond that it was pretty easy. If my other half hadn't got there I'd have needed a bit more guidance but that's not exactly rocket science.

In the main I'd just wait for people to ask questions, or just say "hey, can I help you find the..." whatever. It's not rocket science.

Just treat me like a human being. We will tell you what we want and need. Listen to us even if you think we’re wrong. If you ask us if we need help, and we say no, respect that.

I usually just ask for help shopping and I may ask someone to describe a piece to me or something like that.

I wish those card things can talk. I usualy hand my card over and the person helps me use it or something like that. If bills I just hand you the right amount of cash. I am generaly a very organized person so all that is ready and ready to go to hand to the person. As you see others may be less organized.

I would say the biggest issues are self-check outs and point of sale machines which should be ideally accessible.

I am usually in charge of the shopping experience and good at verbalizing what I need. With others you may need to ask more questions.

I still have some sight left but use a cane because I don't see anything below the outstretched arm.
You can keep the aisles clear of boxes on the floor and those cardboard displays with stock on them. The boxes are a trip hazard and so are the cardboard display cases after someone walks into it. They also impede shoppers in wheelchairs. I have seen aisles reduced so much by boxes of stock on the floor and the u-boat that carries them I could not fit a cart through the space. This is generally supermarkets and dollar type stores.
It's a fire code violation also, obstruction to the means of egress.
Cleanup on aisle 3, 4, and 9.
The cashier can tell me how much change they are giving me.

From myself being vissually impaired, just mainly be willing to answer question seriously (like "what colour is this?", "Is that scarf?", etc)... I have asked some "obvious" questions to someone who is fully sighted but I'm a repeat customer if I felt like they took me serious.

Patience, an extra couple of seconds has made a massive difference at a till in shaping my opinion of the shop. Its handy to tap the card machine with your own hand to indicate where abouts it is - even if you are 99% sure the customer can locate it already.

COmmunicate. Hand me back my card in my hand. If the terminal prompts me to press a button, please offer help. I can't count how many cashiers have just stared at me silently while I stand there like an idiot thinking the POS is processing or something.

Don't do anything without talking to the blind person first, making sure that they know that you are addressing them.

Then be an adult and communicate.

Ok sir, it's 55 bucks. Here's the credit card thingy. Like I guess it's that simple, show the person the credit card machine, tell the customer if there's any issue, etc.
That's how usually it goes with me and I'm fine with it.
If you mean assistance with picking a cloth piece, ask them what are they looking for, describe the collours of stuff and let them touch it if possible. I guess that's it.

Good answers and good question.

I have literally nothing beyond what others already said.

Wait a sec, I remember something,

If you see some blind guy accidentally in women's section or the other way around, please softly tell them that the clothing item they are examining is for other gender. Not everyone is being pervert or something.

Also, we don't know where the staff is located, so, occasionally coming to us and asking us if we want any help would be very helpful.

Thank you.

Most of my visually impaired experience is post-pandemic so I was not able to receive whatever orientation and mobility training other folks in my shoes may have; I've just kind of developed my own routine. One thing I've noticed is that very few cashiers let me know the total, and I consistently forget to ask because I'm focused on paying and getting on my way so I don't feel like I'm holding anything up. Cashiers I think don't always notice I'm using a white cane for mobility, at least that's the way it seems to me, so I usually guide them through my checkout process.

"I'd like to pay with VISA please-a, is there tap? Do I have to press any buttons?" And if the transaction is processing but I can't tell if there's a problem, I ask, "Is it processing? Did my transaction complete?"

Some of the payment devices have a button in the upper right to enter some kind of basic mode for visual impairment, I've heard about them from a company named Moneris. I haven't yet worked with one but from the videos I've seen on YouTube about it it sounds helpful.

PS if you have travellers from Away, they may geniuinely be confused about the tap feature. It isn't available in the US for some reason, probably their banks don't want it even though it's awesome.

(Edited to correct the spelling on Moneris.)