It comes as the British Retail Consortium reported around eight million incidents in the last 12 months to March.
Police recorded 339,206 cases, but only 48,218 of them have resulted in charges.
Tesco is now fitting hundreds of protective screens in its smaller shops and petrol station kiosks to protect till staff from assaults by shoplifters.
It follows reports of retail staff being threatened with knives, hammers, and firearms.
Tesco CEO Ken Murphy also wants violence against retail staff to be made an offence in its own right.
He said: “We would welcome the opportunity to work much more closely with the police in the communities that we serve together, to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators.”
Violence and abuse of shop workers has doubled in the past four years, according to the BRC.
Co-op has hired undercover security staff, including ex-Forces and police, in worst-hit stores.
