The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) has revealed a raft of shocking statistics from its annual survey of nearly 9,000 retail staff, showing abuse and threats continue to grow, with violence still more than double pre-pandemic levels, and much of the problem coming from customers themselves.
With shoplifting having more than doubled since the pandemic, the survey found that abuse, threats and assaults remain higher than pre-Covid levels in 2019.
Usdaw’s survey of over 8,980 retail staff found that in 2025, 78% were verbally abused, 54% were threatened and 11% were assaulted - with the last figure more than double the 5% reported in 2019.
Joanne Thomas (left), Usdaw’s general secretary, said: “Our evidence shows nearly four in five of our members working in retail are being abused, threatened and assaulted for simply doing their job and serving the community. They provide an essential service and deserve our respect and the protection of the law. The two top issues that trigger incidents are customer frustration and theft from shops.
“Particularly worrying is the rise of customer frustration as a trigger of incidents.”
“Particularly worrying is the rise of customer frustration as a trigger of incidents. Self-serve checkouts, a lack of stock on the shelves and low staffing levels have all been identified as issues by members that can lead to customers taking out their frustrations with staff.
“We’ve long campaigned with the general public asking them to ‘keep their cool’ and respect retail workers. We’ll be taking our survey findings to retail employers as we continue to make the case for safe staffing levels and reminding them that retail workers are the face of the business and they should be valued, supported and treated with decency.
“Theft from shops and armed robbery were triggers for over two-thirds of incidents. Our members tell me that they are often faced with hardened career criminals and we know that retail workers are much more likely to be abused by those who are stealing to sell goods on. While there has been a small improvement in recorded shoplifting statistics, more needs to be done.
Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, added: “Retail violence has become endemic. Those facing these confrontations are ordinary, hardworking retail colleagues - teenagers in their first job, carers seeking part-time work, parents working around childcare. It must stop, and we must double down on fighting this this wave of crime.”
Usdaw’s new report can be read in full here.
Shocking comments from retail workers shared in Usdaw’s survey
- “Drunk exposed his genitalia while I was outside on my break. Daily, gangs of thieves shouting swinging bags with stolen goods in them.”
- “Work in a petrol station. A ‘customer’ wishing cancer on me to people shouting at me for going 1p over when filling up. Apparently, that’s my fault.”
- “We have lots of self-serve checkouts and the customers hate them, so we as staff get a lot of verbal abusive daily. Homophobic verbal abuse.”
- “Threats after Think 25 policy refusal, physical abuse from an intoxicated man as in-store pharmacy was shut, general drunk verbal assault. Clock thrown at me.”
- “Several team members sexually assaulted, including myself. We had a customer repeatedly come in and grope staff from behind. Trolley rammed into my ankle.”
- “Racial hatred in the extreme. Store not having enough staff at this time and I was doing too many jobs at the same time. Refused alcohol and was spat at.”
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