Consumer Behavior
Rise of the nasty customer: What retailers can do to protect store associates
JD Dillon, chief learning officer at Axonify, offers tips, advice and strategy for dealing with the rising incivility from shoppers so store associates feel safe, are well trained and not on a burn-out path.
June 24, 2025 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
Retail shopper incivility — everything from threats, assaults, verbal assaults and one-on-one interpersonal conflicts — has hit what is likely an all-time high in the retail store environment.
In the past year, 25% of store associates reported threats and assaults by shoppers and 70% of front-line retail workers experienced some sort of customer incivility on a regular basis, according to Axonify's report "Polling the frontline: Dealing with difficult customers," that surveyed 500 U.S. retail, hospitality and food and beverage front-line workers.
The consumer behavior is leading to feelings of insecurity at work — 51% of retail workers want more security and safety protocols and 32% want more training to deal with conflict.
The emotional aspect of dealing with nasty shoppers, and the increase in verbal and physical assaults, is driving burn-out among store associates (41%) and causing 28% to leave the retail industry entirely.
A significant concern among front-line workers is their perceived lack of skills in managing customer conflicts effectively, according to the data. Over half express apprehension about handling escalating situations (53%) or finding themselves without adequate information during critical moments (52%).
RetailCustomerExperience reached out to JD Dillon, chief learning officer at Axonify, to gain more insight into the statistics and what retailers should be doing to reduce what's clearly becoming a critical issue for retail workers.
Q. The 70% figure is a bit alarming — any data on what it was in the past to give it some context?
Dillon: It is alarming — but unfortunately, it's not all that surprising for anyone who's worked with the public, especially in the past few years. This is why we explored the broader impact of customer incivility on frontline workers. It's not just about the person dealing with the difficult customer in the moment. It's the ripple effect. The people who witness it, the ones who hear about it afterward. These moments take a toll on morale, performance and ultimately a person's willingness to keep doing this work.
The idea that "dealing with it" is just part of the job has stuck around way too long. Sure, customer incivility isn't new. Back in 2017, 88% of retail and food service workers reported verbal abuse. Today, it's even more frequent, and the impact runs deeper. It affects the person on the receiving end, the coworkers who witness it and even the people who watch it unfold later on social media. These moments linger. It doesn't have to be this way. And frankly, it shouldn't be.
Q: What is driving such difficult customers/incivility among shoppers — are they frustrated with retail service or economics?
Dillon: It's not just one factor driving the negative trend in customer incivility. Front-line workers have become an all-too-convenient outlet for customer frustration. Sometimes it's personal— something went wrong earlier in their day and now a long line or a neutral response to a question is enough to trigger a blow-up. Other times, it's systemic. Associates get blamed for everything: prices, out-of-stocks, short staffing, return policies. They didn't make those decisions, but they're the face of the brand — so they take the hit.
And during times of disruption, such as supply chain delays, labor shortages or inflation, it only gets worse. This pressure adds up. Retailers must face this reality head-on. If you want to keep your best people and deliver the kind of experience that builds loyalty, you can't leave associates to absorb the fallout alone.
Q: The 41% of store employees experiencing burnout seems high as well. Any comparison context and any insight on what's the top driver driving the burnout?
Dillon: That 41% stat is definitely high. Sadly, it's in line with what we're seeing across the broader workforce. A 2024 BCG study found 48% of workers globally report feeling burned out. And it's not just individual contributors. Forty percent of front-line managers feel burned out daily.
Front-line workers are professionals. They're running complex, high-stakes operations while handling physical demands, emotional stress and constant pressure to deliver. Burnout isn't coming from one source. It's a storm of overlapping issues:
- Emotional wear-and-tear from dealing with increasingly difficult customer behavior.
- Workloads that keep growing while labor budgets keep shrinking.
- Unpredictable schedules that make it hard to pay the bills, get enough rest or manage life outside of work.
- High turnover, which means fewer experienced teammates and managers — and more pressure on those who stay.
Burnout isn't a personal flaw. It's not something you fix with a wellness app or an occasional day off. Burnout is a workplace issue. It's mostly a workload issue. If the work doesn't change, neither will the outcome.
Q: Does the data reflect a lack of training/attention by retailers to dealing with incivility and bad consumer behavior?
Dillon: This report challenges retailers to assess their practices and determine if they're properly preparing their front-line teams for today's challenges.
Most retailers provide training on how to handle difficult customer situations. But that training usually happens on day one — when new hires are already overloaded just trying to figure out their schedule, find the right shoes, meet the team and get through compliance modules. It's a check-the-box moment, not real preparation.
Customer incivility isn't a one-off scenario — it's an everyday reality. Support must also be continuous.
Retailers must go beyond training and tackle the root of the issue:
- Set and enforce clear customer expectations.
- Ensure sufficient staffing so no one faces these challenges alone (and customer frustrations aren't worsened).
- Put capable, present managers in place to step in and de-escalate.
- Ground training in real scenarios — not idealized customer service scripts.
- Train associates on how to manage their emotions during difficult moments, not just how to execute the SOP.
- Reinforce key behaviors through practice and coaching.
The workplace has changed. The problem has changed. Your strategy must evolve too.
Q: What should retailers be doing given the report's data?
Dillon: Start by talking to your front-line teams. Don't just take a survey. Have real conversations. Ask how this data reflects their day-to-day. What are they dealing with? What's missing? What would help? Then do something about it:
- Build support into the flow of work — not as a one-time training, but as part of everyday routines. Use pre-shift huddles for quick refreshers. Coach in real-time. Reinforce what works.
- Highlight wins. Too often we only talk about what went wrong. Celebrate the moments where associates handled tough situations well. Show what "good" looks like and reinforce that leadership is paying attention — and has their back.
- Align policies with reality. Don't train people to de-escalate and then leave them alone on the floor to handle a swarm of upset customers. Make sure managers are present and empowered. Don't let "get it done" override "keep people safe."
This isn't just an HR thing. Burnout, incivility, and front-line safety are business issues. Solving them takes a cross-functional effort. Store ops, HR, learning and development, safety, loss prevention — they all have a role to play. Get the right people in a room and ask one question: How do we better support our front line today so they can help our business succeed tomorrow?
About Judy Mottl
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