Consumer Behavior

Many retail workers not feeling safe this holiday sales season

Photo: Adobe Stock (AI generated)

December 3, 2024

More than half of American retail workers, 57%, are feeling unsafe as the retail industry heads into peak holiday shopping and many of more than a thousand retail managers and staff have experienced increases in various forms of crime this year. More than half have reported concerns about hostile customer interactions and store theft.

Those are findings from Motorola Solutions' second annual U.S. Retail Worker Safety report based on a survey conducted by independent research market firm Researchscape.

The survey was conducted this past September to gauge retail workers' perspectives on workplace safety and security measures, according to a press release.

"As we approach peak shopping season, it's clear that the retail industry continues to grapple with theft and, at times, even more violent crimes," Sharon Hong, vice president of Ecosystem Solutions at Motorola Solutions, said in the release. "Retail workers and managers surveyed believe technology can play a role in helping to curb the issue, from deterring theft to de-escalating hostile customer interactions. Technology can also simultaneously notify everyone, including 9-1-1, of an emergency, quickly and efficiently connecting those in need with those that can help."

Additional findings in the U.S. report include:

• Many retail managers and staff surveyed said they have experienced increases in various forms of crime in their stores in the past year. The most common incidents reported were petty theft (66%), grab and runs (48%) and hostile customer interactions (46%). One in ten also said they have experienced physical attacks from customers.
• 65% of retail workers said they expect to be understaffed this holiday season and this impacts how safe they feel going into peak shopping. Two out of three respondents (68%) who expect their stores to be understaffed said they don't feel safe and 50% said they are concerned for the safety of their shoppers.
• More than 20% of those surveyed said public safety personnel such as police, EMS and fire are being called to their stores at least once per week, an increase of 16% over 2023. Emergency personnel are called to stores two to three times per month for 17% of respondents.
• Respondents pointed to access control systems (35%), license plate readers (32%), panic buttons (32%) and body cameras (20%) as measures that make them feel safer. Few retail workers reported having those security measures in place. Of those surveyed, 12% said they have access control systems, 9% have panic buttons, 7% have license plate readers and 6% are using body cameras.
• Almost half of respondents said body cameras would help them feel safer, and a majority said the technology can help stores to better understand incidents (66%) and support investigations (66%). Additionally, 42% said body cameras can be a deterrent to aggressive or criminal behavior in stores.

"Several industry studies have shown that retail crime is evolving — it has become more organized, coordinated and, importantly, more violent," Cory Lowe, Ph.D., director of research at the Loss Prevention Research Council, said in the release. "Violence is a key concern among nearly every loss prevention leader we work with, and the changing nature of retail crime is driving them to search for innovative solutions that can help keep people safe. Safety is the most fundamental thing any business must provide their employees and customers — if they can't keep people safe, they can't keep them coming back to work or shop."