Shoppers see the abuse, and they reject it.
More than a quarter of shoppers report seeing a worker verbally abused in the past month, and most say raising your voice at or being rude to shop staff is not acceptable.
Free webinar · 17 November
3pm GMT · 10am ET · 7am PT · Recording available.
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In 30 seconds
If you run a retail business, how customers treat your staff is something other shoppers notice.
report seeing or hearing a customer verbally abuse, insult or shout at a worker in the past month.
of UK shoppers say raising your voice at or being rude to shop staff is unacceptable, even when some say they can understand it.
choose another customer’s aggression, threatening behaviour or a tense or unsafe atmosphere as having the greatest effect on their experience.
Explore what this means for your business. The retail conversation guide offers questions for Store, People, Operations and Loss Prevention teams to discuss what happens after abuse.
Open the conversation guide →What shoppers see
Abuse happens in front of shoppers. More than a quarter report seeing verbal abuse.
28.7% of shoppers surveyed report seeing or hearing a customer verbally abuse a shop worker in the past month. 7.2% report seeing a worker threatened or physically attacked.
The question: “During the past month, how many times have you seen or heard a customer do each of the following to a shop worker?” This row: “Verbally abuse, insult or shout at them.” Shoppers answering “not sure” are not counted as having witnessed it.
What they think about abuse
84% say raising your voice at or being rude to shop staff is not acceptable.
44.8% say it is never acceptable, and 39.3% say it may be understandable but is still not acceptable.
The question: “Think about occasions when a customer raises their voice at or is rude to shop staff. Which comes closest to your view?”
How aggression affects a visit
For 15% of shoppers, another customer’s behaviour or the atmosphere is what most affects their visit.
of shoppers say abuse, threats or an unsafe atmosphere has the biggest effect on their visit.
For example, a shop serving 1,000 customers a day would have around 150 people a day whose visit is shaped most by aggression.
The three answers, taken together
6.9%
Aggressive or abusive behaviour by another customer
5.6%
A tense, uncomfortable or unsafe atmosphere
2.4%
Threatening or violent behaviour
The question: “Which of these had the greatest effect on your experience?” One answer from seven. The other four answers are about the shop itself, or that nothing had much effect. How the combined figure is worked out is on How AWARE works.
After a bad shopping experience
A bad experience changes where people shop. 65% of those who changed say they are still shopping differently.
Shoppers who had a bad experience in a shop are asked what they did afterwards.
39.0%
changed how or where they shop afterwards
65.2%
of those who changed say they are still shopping differently
The questions: “Did that experience change how or where you shopped afterwards?” and “Was that change still continuing, temporary but lasting more than one visit, or a one-off decision?” The question asks about a bad experience in a shop, not about abuse specifically, so these figures are not read as the effect of aggression. They describe what shoppers say they did, and they do not measure what it cost any retailer.
About this survey
Based on 2,777 UK shoppers taking part between 27 July 2026 and 21 September 2026. Shoppers choose to take part, so the results describe the people who take part rather than every UK shopper.
This is a separate sample and questionnaire from the worker survey. Customer responses are never combined with worker responses.
October 2026 reading · responses to 21 September 2026. How AWARE works.
Free webinar · 17 November
3pm GMT · 10am ET · 7am PT
The findings, live
What frontline workers tell us, what happens after an incident, and where an employer can start looking at its own response. Recording available.
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Use the conversation guide
A short practical guide for Store, People, Operations and Loss Prevention teams to examine what happens after abuse.
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