ShopCare has launched New Zealand’s first cross-sector survey on customer violence and aggressive behaviour (VAB), aiming to build a clearer national understanding of how often it occurs and the impact it has on frontline workers across Aotearoa.
While concern about customer aggression has been increasing across industries, there is currently no single national dataset capturing its true scale or consistency. Instead, existing information is fragmented, gathered within individual sectors and failing to provide a comprehensive picture of the wider customer-facing workforce.
To address this gap, ShopCare has commissioned a nationwide survey delivered in partnership with KPMG and supported by a range of cross-sector stakeholders. The initiative seeks responses from thousands of workers in customer-facing roles to better understand the prevalence, nature, and consequences of aggressive behaviour at work.
The survey will remain open until 31 May, with results expected to be published in late 2026.
“Right now, we don’t have a clear national view of what our customer-facing workers in Aotearoa are experiencing. We want to hear directly from them – what’s happening, how it’s affecting them personally, and what needs to change,” ShopCare chief executive Selena Armstrong said.
Denva Wren, Head of Safety, Health and Wellbeing at Woolworths New Zealand, said the initiative would help build a more complete picture of sector-wide risk and response.
“Everyone has the right to come to work and feel safe and go home safely to their whānau and to be safe when they shop in store. Unfortunately acts of violence and aggression at work pose a serious safety risk to our team, customers and communities, despite our existing security measures.”
“We know this can take a heavy toll on mental and physical health, and this survey will help us understand the reality of what the whole sector is experiencing so we can work on a joint response. Encouraging respect for customer-facing roles is a shared responsibility.”
ShopCare notes that customer violence and aggression not only affect worker safety but also have broader operational consequences, including increased stress, absenteeism, staff turnover, and reduced productivity across affected industries.
All responses to the survey are anonymous and confidential, and organisations with public-facing staff are being encouraged to share it widely with their teams to ensure broad participation and a representative national snapshot of the issue.