Study: Frontline retail workers fear for their safety

Retail workers nationwide are scared to go into work, fearing potential hostile situations amid a rise in crime and violence at brick-and-mortar stores.

That’s according to new research from frontline enablement solution provider Axonify, which found that while frontline workers are expected to deal with frustrated customers and increased theft, many lack proper training, leaving them without preparation or support to handle these difficult situations.

The study revealed that two in five frontline retail workers feel scared going into work due to a rise in volatile customer situations (40%), from everyday customer conflicts to an increase in in-store violence. 

Although theft is common, 20% of retail/grocery frontline workers feel unprepared to handle it. This may be because another 21% say their employer has not provided the right tools and training to empathetically manage and resolve tense customer situations, according to Axonify.

During the last six months, retail and grocery workers have reported dealing with more hostility, anger and sometimes physical violence: 33% revealed that their retail store had experienced a violent situation, ranging from robberies to physical altercations. When asked to expand on how customer aggression most often materialized, employees offered the following:

• 63% reported that customers are more likely to ask to speak with a manager;
• 58% reported that difficult customers have more disputes with workers and sometimes other customers;
• 55% said that they are dealing with more customers trying to haggle on prices; and
• 60% said they feel customers are more irritable.

“By providing retail and grocery workers with the right training and support to manage these challenging conversations, front-line organizations can help improve worker safety and well-being,” wrote Alex Kinsella in an Axonify blog post. “This level of training and enablement not only impacts how associates show up to work, but it also ripples across productivity, retention and recruitment, all critical factors in today’s labor market.”