The findings of a new study of over 1,300 retail workers and 2,000 customers published today by national law firm, Foot Anstey, has revealed one in four retail workers now experience aggressive or violent behaviour and 36% of customers would feel safer if retail staff wore body worn cameras in-store.
Returning a product was reported to be the largest trigger for in-store aggression, followed by customer frustration at increased prices.
Worryingly, 20% of respondents who identify as gay or lesbian, have experienced physical violence – the highest among any demographic – and nearly 60% reported hearing offensive language, including specifically homophobic abuse. Gay and lesbian workers are more than twice as likely than their heterosexual colleagues to face unwanted sexual contact in the workplace.
Foot Anstey has undertaken the survey every two years since 2019, allowing changes and gains to be mapped. There have been some improvements - in how retailers are perceived by their employees - with a 14% decline in workers feeling there aren’t enough HR protocols in place and a 12% decline in workers feeling their employer ‘doesn’t care’.
In addition, 55% of those surveyed believe their employers deal with harassment grievances well, although the majority (51%) say there are not enough laws to protect retail workers, rising to 63% for disabled workers.
Equally concerning, 45% of consumers have seen customers swearing in a retail setting and 59% have heard them raise their voices. The introduction of self-service checkouts has also been divisive, with over one third of shoppers (36%) feeling such checkouts have made their retail experiences worse.
“Some customers are calling for greater deployment of technologies to improve their retail experience and combat retail crime.”
This figure rises to 47% for consumers with disabilities and 53% for consumers aged over 65 - demonstrating how customer demographics shape their experiences in-store. Despite this, some customers are calling for greater deployment of technologies to improve their retail experience and combat retail crime.
While there are green shoots of improvement, fundamentally the data makes clear that greater worker protection is needed. The new retail worker assault laws proposed under the Crime and Policing Bill marks a shift in Government attitudes to more aggressively target abuse and assault facing retail workers.
Nathan Peacey, head of retail and consumer at Foot Anstey, said: “Retailers are facing a perfect storm of challenges with shoplifting is at an all-time high in England and Wales. We should therefore applaud retailers for the positive trends shown in retail worker sentiment towards employers.
“We could, however, be in danger of two tiers of retailers emerging. Whilst a majority of employers have listened to employees and implemented policies to protect them at work, there remains a minority who’ve failed to do so. Of those who’d raised a grievance at work, 51% were unhappy with the outcome. Ensuring businesses deliver best practice and cater to the specific needs of all demographics is an important next chapter for tackling retail abuse.”
Chris Brook-Carter (left), chief executive of the retail industry charity, Retail Trust, added: “Thoughtless, unkind and aggressive behaviour continues to threaten the wellbeing and safety of those working in retail, as Foot Anstey’s latest research shows. It echoes findings for the Retail Trust’s respect retail campaign which found nearly two thirds of retail workers felt stressed and anxious going into work last year due to this abuse.
“Shop workers, like everyone, deserve to feel happy and safe at work and to be treated with respect.”
“Retailers are taking the threat to their staff’s physical safety very seriously and more of them are now working with us to help protect their wellbeing, with hundreds of people set to take part in free training we’re running this autumn. Shop workers, like everyone, deserve to feel happy and safe at work, and to be treated with respect, and the Retail Trust will continue to campaign for shoppers to change their behaviour.”
Lucy Whing, crime policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium, also added: “Unfortunately, these findings come as no surprise. Retail crime has been spiralling out of control over the past few years, with incidents of violence and abuse climbing to over 2,000 per day. Victims are ordinary people - teenagers taking on their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents working around childcare. It’s unacceptable that any of these people should ever go to work fearing for their safety.”
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