- 79% of shop workers have experienced abuse from the public in the past year, with more than half facing weekly abuse
- 38% say they or a colleague have been filmed without consent, up from 30% last year
- Shop workers speak out: ‘We’re expected to be robots, not human beings’ / ‘A video of me got shared online’ / ‘I was hit three times in a shift’
- The charity Retail Trust is launching a major UK-wide drive urging shoppers to show greater kindness and respect ahead of the Christmas shopping surge, after 83% of workers say just one positive customer interaction can help them recover from a negative experience
Disrespectful shoppers are subjecting retail workers to growing levels of intimidation, aggression and unwanted filming as abuse against store staff soars, according to the charity calling for a turnaround in behaviour in the run-up to Christmas.
New research for the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign found 79% of shop workers have faced an abusive or violent situation in the past year compared to 77% in 2025, and more than half (54%) are now targeted weekly, up from 43% last year and 33% in 2024.
It has been accompanied by a sharp rise in the number of shop staff who said they or a colleague had also been filmed without consent by mobile phones or smart glasses, from 30% to 38% in a year.
Almost one in four (23%) said they’d experienced abuse involving a physical attack, such as being kicked or hit, a figure unchanged from the previous twelve months.
The 1,138 shop workers who took part in the Retail Trust’s annual survey* also said:
– 84% have witnessed shoplifting in the past year, and more than a third (35%) witness shoplifting every day.
– 70% of those affected by abuse feel stressed or anxious about going to work, 36% feel unsafe at work and 21% feel unsafe travelling to or from their workplace.
– Almost half (48%) said the worsening abuse has made them want to quit their job or leave the retail industry altogether, up from 43% who said this in 2025.
– More than two-thirds (68%) of shop workers even believe dealing with abusive customers has become ‘part of their job’, while 80% feel they are now expected to put up with rudeness and disrespect.
A separate poll by research firm Early Studies** for the Retail Trust found 36% of shoppers think their friends or family would avoid returning to a shop where they had witnessed staff being abused.
The Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign launches today (Monday 9 November) as part of a dedicated week of action to protect retail workers from abuse and violence. The Retail Trust is working with the Association of Convenience Stores, shopworkers’ union Usdaw and the National Business Crime Centre to run activity across the UK.
‘I had to have stiches on the back of my head’
“We have definitely seen an increase in abuse in our stores,” said Benedict, 45, who owns two shops in south London. “When we opened our town centre store 10 years ago, there were about two to three instances of abuse per week. Now it’s two to three every day. We regularly see customers swearing at staff. A couple of young female staff were spat on and received abuse when they asked a shoplifter to hand over the items in his jacket. We’ve had a couple of young female staff leave as people will say they’ll wait for them outside when they finish their shift. It can be very scary for them. It’s another reason why it’s difficult to retain staff. It’s difficult anyway in retail but this doesn’t help the situation. I face it as well. There was a time last year when I tried to retrieve a stolen wine bottle from a shoplifter and he started attacking me and hitting me with it. I had to have stitches on the back of my head. It’s very disheartening coming to work and not knowing what kind of day it’s going to be.”
‘I was hit three times during a shift’
“Customers seem to just treat us like ghosts,’ said Jo, 62, a team leader at a convenience store in Northumberland. “You’re trying to do a job, and they’ll just stop and have a chat right in front of you. Or you run out of something, and you get a terrible attitude from them. People are undoubtedly not as forgiving as they used to be. They aren’t as patient. They’re certainly not as respectful. The biggest frustration is the frequent shoplifters. You’re getting the same offenders coming in on a regular basis and they know you can’t touch them, so they’ll just fill bags right in front of you. At times I feel unsafe. I had a colleague who was attacked as he was coming out of the store and I was hit three times during a shift a few months ago. I’m aware of people who have just quit because they don’t want to work in this sort of environment. I’ve had discussions with colleagues who have said, ‘I can’t do this to myself anymore.’ I’ve been doing this job a long time, and I would say I’m a fairly strong character, but I have thought about doing something completely different.”
‘A video of me was shared online’
“A video of me dealing with an angry customer got shared on a local community Facebook page seven or eight months ago,” added Charlie, 23, who works for a discount retailer in Shropshire. “To receive the abuse in store in the first place was bad enough, but then to have it filmed by the customer and shared on social media made it infinitely worse. What made it worse was the absolutely vile comments. There were 100 to 150, saying we didn’t know what we were doing, that we shouldn’t have been in our jobs. People were coming come into the store saying, ‘You’re that guy from Facebook, aren’t you?’ It was a really harrowing experience. We go to work to do our jobs, not to have our privacy violated and our competency questioned online. Not knowing how much exposure it’s had is scary. I don’t know who’s seen it anymore or how far it’s gone.”
Calls for shoppers to ‘start with hello’ to appear in thousands of stores
However, 83% of retail employees also said just one positive interaction with a customer during their shift can help them recover from a negative experience. The Retail Trust is now urging shoppers to show greater kindness and respect to shop workers as part of a major drive to tackle worsening levels of abuse ahead of the Christmas shopping surge.
Calls for shoppers to ‘start with hello’ will appear in thousands of stores, shop windows, cinemas and shopping centres across the UK from today, encouraging customers to begin every interaction with a shop worker with a positive greeting.
Screens at major rail stations and Heathrow Airport will also carry the message throughout November and a specially created advert telling audiences ‘one small word can change a whole moment’ will air in cinemas nationwide.
‘Just one positive interaction can lift your spirits’
Among those backing the campaign is Jane, 60, a garden centre worker from Hertfordshire, who said:
“I’ve been called stupid, sworn at and spoken to in ways that can leave you feeling awful. Sometimes you’re expected to brush it off immediately, put on a happy face and carry on serving the next customer, even when you’re upset. Doing that over an eight-and-a-half-hour shift can be really difficult, and those experiences can stay with you when you go home. It’s almost like we’re expected to be robots, not human beings.
“Just one positive interaction can lift your spirits. When a customer says ‘hello,’ takes the time to be nice or says, ‘thank you’ it makes you feel valued and puts you in a better frame of mind. It doesn’t take much, but it makes a huge difference.”
Shopkeeper Benedict added:
“One of the perks of working in a community store is when you receive supportive feedback from customers. It always cheers me up. I think, ‘why should I be grumpy when the previous customer treated me really nicely?’ It’s a morale boost”
Employees at some of the country’s biggest retailers and shopping centres, including Next, Bluewater and Liverpool ONE, are also being given more support by the Retail Trust to help them respond to and deal with abusive incidents.
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, said:
“Our country’s shop workers have had enough of being shouted at, threatened, and treated with contempt. We’re hearing from people who are frightened to come into work because they don’t know what they’ll face that day, and from others who have been pushed to breaking point by repeated abuse.
“Retail is one of the few places where millions of strangers still interact face-to-face and there has been a disturbing shift over the last few years where behaviour that would once have been considered completely unacceptable is increasingly being seen as part of the job. This is damaging people’s confidence, destroying morale and driving good people out of a sector they once loved.
“Most people do the right thing, but when a minority don’t, the rest of us have a role to play in making sure shop workers still feel seen and valued. No one should face abuse at work and respect can start with something as simple as looking someone in the eye, showing a little patience or simply saying, ‘hello.’”
Visit retailtrust.org.uk/respect for more information about the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign.
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* Figures for the survey of UK retail workers are from the Retail Trust, among people who have had previous contact with the charity. The survey took place online between 8 July and 14 August and due to the sensitive nature of the subject was carried out anonymously.
** The survey among shoppers was conducted by Early Studies for the Retail Trust between 30 September and 2 October 2026. It surveyed 249 UK adults who shop in physical retail stores at least monthly. Respondents were asked about the people around them, such as friends and family, rather than about themselves.
About the Retail Trust
The Retail Trust has been caring for and protecting the lives of people working in retail from 1832 onwards.
We believe the health of our colleagues is the foundation they need to flourish in both work and life. It will also help create a more sustainable and successful future for retail.
We put people at the heart of everything we do, from colleagues just starting out, right through to those at the end of their careers.
We like to remember how our very first chairman, Thomas Helps, described the purpose of the charity: “To promote the happiness and interests of those engaged in the trade….” This still holds true today. In fact it guides everything we do, why we do it and what we believe in.
We believe in it so passionately, our charity has become a movement with a very clear cause: to create hope, health and happiness for everyone in retail.
We create hope, health and happiness for everyone in retail by giving them the foundation to flourish. A foundation that provides help, humanity and feeling to all our colleagues. One that gives them the opportunity to flourish, to grow and develop now and in the future. And feel happier in everything they do.
www.retailtrust.org.uk
