Nearly nine in ten (88%) retailers have had colleagues resign from their roles because of physical or verbal abuse from customers, new figures from retail communications specialist, VoCoVo, reveals.  

Its poll also showed that incidents of crime and abuse in-store are no longer isolated events but a regular challenge, with over a third (37%) reporting instances occurring at least once a week.

And this is not just causing retail staff to quit, but is also limiting the ability of retail businesses to recruit new talent. Rising levels of crime and abuse is now the third biggest reason why jobseekers would avoid joining the retail industry, after unattractive shift patterns and pay.  

“Retail colleagues are facing unprecedented levels of stress from verbal and physical aggression, which is eroding morale and making both recruitment and retention increasingly difficult,” said Beth Worrall, CEO of VoCoVo.

Rising crime is also impacting customers, with 48% of shoppers saying they feel uncomfortable when witnessing abuse in-store, contributing to a negative shopping experience. 

Earlier this month, new BRC-Opinium survey data showed that over 14million UK consumers have witnessed violence or abuse against retail workers in the past year.

“For too many people, violence and abuse are now part of the shopping experience. An incident might last seconds, but for workers and bystanders, the impact can last a lifetime,” said Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium.

Retailers are turning to tech to improve safety for colleagues and customers, with two thirds (67%) viewing AI as a key solution for addressing security. AI-assisted reporting tools (35%), automated alert systems (33%) and AI-powered CCTV (27%) were among the top innovations retailers are deploying to reduce the impact of crime and abuse within their stores.