Retail has a safety crisis, and new research shows how leaders are responding
Walk into almost any retail store today and something has quietly shifted. Merchandise sits behind locked cases, staffing feels thinner and the atmosphere carries a tension that wasn't there a few years ago. It turns out shoppers aren't imagining it.
Shoplifting at U.S. retail stores rose 18% in 2024, according to the National Retail Federation, and threats of violence during these incidents climbed 17% in the same period. These are not just numbers to the employees showing up to work, not knowing what the shift will bring.
A new survey from Axon, a leader in safety and security technology, finds that retail leadership is paying attention to these problems. Nine in ten retail executives say workplace safety is a top priority for their organization. Eighty percent say it caused operational disruption in the past year.
That toll has a price. The costs show up quickly and in multiple directions, with the top effects reported including higher insurance or legal expenses, increased employee turnover and higher hiring and recruitment costs. These pressures compound over time, with each challenge feeding into the next and making it harder for stores to get ahead of the problem.
For the retail workers absorbing the daily tension of understaffed stores and difficult customer situations that can escalate quickly, the stakes are personal. These are the employees who are on the floor each day, responding to difficult moments in real time while absorbing the ongoing stress of simply not knowing what the next interaction might bring. The workforce consequences, including turnover, recruitment strain and burnout, are a direct reflection of what the job has become.
Retailers are responding. When asked whether they support greater investment in safety and efficiency measures, more than 4 in 5 retail leaders strongly favor or favor increased spending. Technology is where much of that appetite is focused, with majority support for solutions ranging from body-worn cameras, which can operate as a personal safety device, and de-escalation training to AI-powered tools and real-time monitoring operations centers.
Retailers are also tracking whether the investments pay off. Store performance and customer experience rank among the top ways retail organizations measure whether safety spending is working. Behind those metrics are real people, workers who want to feel supported on the job and customers who want to shop without worry.
The tension shoppers may sense when they walk through the door is the same tension retail workers feel every shift. But the gap between that reality and the promise of a safer experience is closing. Technology has given retailers more ways to protect the people in their stores - training platforms that prepare workers for real situations before they happen, AI tools that help teams respond faster, and solutions that make it easier to de-escalate a situation before it gets worse.
Methodology
Axon commissioned Atomik Research to conduct an online survey of executive leaders in healthcare and retail throughout the United States. The sample included 129 healthcare leaders and 125 retail leaders. The margin of error is plus or minus 6 percentage points at a 95% confidence level for the total sample and for the healthcare and retail subgroups. Fieldwork was conducted between March 27 and March 30, 2026. Atomik Research, part of 4media group, is a creative market research agency.
This story was produced by Axon and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
Copyright 2026 Stacker Media, LLC
This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 8:30 AM.