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 (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.

Positive interactions

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.

Campaign backing

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.