Over three quarters of stores in Scotland now have at least one member of staff who has experienced mental health or wellbeing issues as a direct result of retail crime. This deeply disturbing statistic, which was revealed in the Scottish Grocers’ Federation’s (SGF’s) Crime Report 2025/26, marks a 24% increase on last year’s figure of 62.5%.
In addition, almost four in five retailers (78.3%) report an increase in violence towards shop workers.
The cost of shop theft averages £10,431 per store in 2025/26, based on responses from 732 stores participating in the SGF annual crime survey. When scaled to Scotland’s total 5,228 convenience stores, this equates to an estimated annual cost of £54.5m, placing crippling pressure on the sector.
Further data published during the SGF annual Crime Seminar at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Edinburgh on 12 February, reveals that:
- 54.8% of convenience retailers believe shoplifting has increased over the past year, with 99.6% stating it is now a daily occurrence.
- More than eight in ten stores report incidents of hate crime at least once a month, while almost all experience violence against staff on a monthly basis (80.6% and 78.3% respectively).
- Nearly all respondents (99.4%) report weekly incidents of abuse when refusing a sale or requesting proof of age.
Despite the high levels of crime experienced, over a quarter of retailers (26.3%) report that police response times to shoplifting incidents are either unsatisfactory or significantly delayed (to the degree that it undermines the effectiveness of reporting the crime). Nevertheless, just 10.9% report they are unlikely or very unlikely to report shoplifting incidents to the police, which is a marked improvement on last year’s report, where the figure stood at almost half (48.2%) of respondents.
The worrying findings underline the need for more action from the government to expand the work of the recently renewed Retail Crime Taskforce, urged SGF.
SGF Chief Executive, Dr Pete Cheema, OBE said: “For thousands of shop workers across Scotland, going to work now means putting their personal safety on the line. Assaults, stabbings, spitting, threats, and relentless abuse have become an all-too-common part of daily life on the shop floor. Our latest Crime Report, published today at the SGF Crime Seminar in Edinburgh, exposes the full and alarming scale of criminality facing the convenience sector.
“Retail crime is spiralling out of control. Every indicator is moving in the wrong direction, and the damage to workers, businesses and local communities is profound and accelerating. This is a public safety emergency hiding in plain sight.
“Retailers urgently need support. The police and courts are overwhelmed, and many crimes go unreported because retailers lack confidence that action will be taken. Offenders know they are unlikely to face consequences, and even when arrests are made, cases can take years to reach conviction.”
Dr Cheema added: “I would like to thank everyone who helped make today’s event possible. We are grateful to our speakers from Police Scotland, the Minister for Community Safety the Cyber and Fraud Centre, as well as our members and sponsors. Without their continued support, SGF could not achieve the impact it does.”
