Shepper highlights supermarket staff abuse problem

26% of UK supermarkets have experienced incidences of staff abuse from customers during the coronavirus pandemic, according to research by Shepper.

The startup collected data from 500 stores. Retailers included Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Lidl and Aldi.

35% of the latter’s stores have seen their staff abused by customers, the most out of all those measured, followed by Lidl (28%). Morrisons employees had the least amount of abuse, which occurred in 21% of its stores.

Jan Vanhoutte, Shepper Co-founder, comments: “Shopfloor supermarket employees have been critical to our society during this challenging time, they are heroes in their own right, working on the frontline despite the risks, to help the nation.”

“Whilst it’s upsetting to learn that this abuse is so prevalent, we’re glad to have highlighted the issue so that supermarkets can take action to help their staff further. We also hope our insights will encourage the wider public to be more mindful of how we treat those who are doing so much for our country.”

“This is an important issue for the industry and one we take extremely seriously,” an Aldi spokeswoman commented.

“Over the past few months, our colleagues have worked tirelessly to help feed the nation and we have comprehensive measures in place to protect and support our store teams.”