Sainsbury’s has become the latest grocer to join the Retail Trust in campaigning for respect for shop workers as the sector enters its busiest trading period ahead of Christmas.

The UK’s second biggest food retailer will call on shoppers to treat its staff with respect and kindness from next month as part of its support for the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the impact of crime and abuse on shop workers.

The annual campaign is run by the Retail Trust to tackle shop worker abuse and encourage more positive customer behaviour, with messages appearing in stores, online and on receipts in the run-up to Christmas to remind customers to show simple signs of respect.

Hundreds of other retail and leisure businesses will back the campaign in November, and the Retail Trust is also joining forces with Usdaw, the Association of Convenience Stores and the National Business Crime Centre to show the scale of retail abuse and crime.

This follows research from the Retail Trust which showed more than three quarters of shop workers had faced abuse from customers last year.

“No colleague should come to work worrying about abuse, threats or violence, which can have a serious and lasting impact on their wellbeing,” Tracey Clements, Chief Retail, Logistics and Supply Chain Officer at Sainsbury’s commented.

“We are taking action to keep colleagues and customers safe by investing in a range of measures across our sites but no retailer can tackle this alone, which is why we’re backing the Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign and calling on everyone to treat retail colleagues with the kindness and respect they deserve this Christmas and beyond,” she added.

Chris Brook-Carter, Chief Executive of the Retail Trust, said that “some of the UK’s biggest retail and leisure businesses have been getting behind Let’s Respect Retail.” He said this showed the industry’s “determination to end the unacceptable abuse and violence plaguing our shops.”

“Sainsbury’s support will allow us to reach millions of shoppers as we work together to ensure everyone working in retail is treated with respect,” he added. “A greeting or a thank you is the very least anyone serving on our High Streets should expect, but too many shop workers dealing with daily hostility and aggression are being denied even those smallest and simplest acts of courtesy.”