Security Camera System for a Retail Store

In a shop, cameras do three jobs: stop theft at the door and the shelves, protect the cash at the register, and show what happened when a customer or employee disputes something. Here is where they go and what a typical system costs.

Where the cameras go

Spot	Cameras	Why
Front entrance	1 to 2	A clear face of everyone who walks in. Mount it inside, facing the door, about 8 feet up.
Cash registers	1 per register	Overhead view of the drawer, the counter and the customer.
Aisles and high-value shelves	1 per 2 aisles	Small domes catch shoplifting where stock is most expensive.
Stock room and back door	1	Deliveries, staff entrance and the most common inside theft spot.
Parking	1 panoramic	Cars, slip-and-fall claims and anyone waiting outside after closing.

Example system: 8 cameras

A shop with one entrance, two registers, four aisles, a stock room and a small lot. Prices load live from silarius.com.

Recording and storage

Most stores keep 30 days. Return fraud and employee issues are often noticed late, so 60 days is safer for busy shops. The storage calculator shows the drive size for any number of days.

Worth adding

• A monitor at the entrance showing the live view tells shoppers they are on camera, which stops a lot of theft on its own.
• Off-site copy: Silarius Cloud keeps video if the recorder is taken in a break-in, from $6.99 per camera per month.
• After-hours monitoring: Silarius Live Monitoring watches the store at night and talks to intruders through speakers.

Questions

How many cameras does a small store need?

Most small stores need 6 to 12 cameras: one or two at the entrance, one per register, one for every two aisles, one in the stock room and one outside.

Where should a camera go at the register?

Above and slightly behind the cashier, looking down at the drawer and the counter, so it shows cash, the screen and the customer’s hands.

Free planning tools