One in six staff have witnessed verbal or physical abuse of retail staff in the past year, according to new research.
The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) also found levels of shoplifting were up 18% to 43,000 incidents last year and separate data from the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) found that more than 99% of convenience stores had experienced shoplifting in the past 12 months.
New data shows that in 2023-24 there were 663 young people aged 13 charged with shoplifting crimes — an increase of 61% compared with 2019-20.
An increase in organised gangs recruiting under-18s to carry out shoplifting offences for them also contributed to the rise of crimes in Scotland.
Additionally, the SRC and SGF also raised concerns about staff welfare as the minimum price of a unit of alcohol increased in September, resulting in floods of abuse from shoppers.
David Lonsdale, director of the SRC, said: “Abusive or violent behaviour towards shop staff is wholly and utterly unacceptable.
“These stark figures show that seeing such incidents of abuse or indeed theft has become an all-too-common part of the shopping experience for many Scots."