Holiday season brings heightened security risks for retail sector

SAN MATEO, Calif. and GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When it comes to security in the retail sector, the 2025 holiday season was expected to be more fraught with concerns of violence than the previous year, according to new research conducted by the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) in partnership with Verkada. 

In a report titled “The State of Retail Safety,” researchers found that more than half of retail workers (52%) say they are likely to leave their current job in the next 12 months due to personal safety concerns and one in three retail workers (35%) reported feeling unsafe at work, up from 27% in 2024.  

Other findings from the report: 

• Reports of physical assault increased 22% year-over-year 
• Aggressive behavior from past employees and current coworkers jumped 28% and 26%, respectively 
• Nearly 40% of workers worry about theft and verbal harassment most or every time they go to work 

“We do start with violence and intimidation,” said Dr. Read Hayes, executive director of the LPRC. “I think that people want to work. They want to shop in stores and experience the real world and other people and places, not just on the internet. But there’s a lot of avoidance behavior, and that means ‘I’m not going to that place or during that time’ or ‘I’m not letting my loved one go there’, because of fear of crime victimization.” 

Researchers also found that one in four retail workers (25%) have thought about looking for a new job due to personal safety concerns, up from 19% last year. Those who experienced violent incidents are even more likely to leave: 53% say they have considered new opportunities.  

Security measures are, in some cases, contributing to confrontations, researchers found. Forty-six percent of retail workers report physical theft prevention tools like locked cabinets and checkout gates are more disruptive than effective, and 59% report they reduce their efficiency on-the-job. 

On the other side of the aisle, customers agreed, with 60% of U.S. adults reporting that physical theft prevention tools are more disruptive to the shopping experience than they are effective at deterring crime. Researchers found that retail workers in stores with these measures in place report higher rates of violence across every category measured. 

"Everyone deserves to feel safe, but our research shows that more than one in three retail workers has felt the opposite," said Alana O'Grady Lauk, vice president of public affairs at Verkada. "This data gives retailers a clear roadmap to protect their teams when it matters most – and the urgency to act on it." 

You can read the LPRC’s full report here online.