CCTV cameras for a shop: how many, where, and what to look for

Ask three questions. Who comes in and goes out? What happens at the counter and the till? Who goes near the stock? The number of cameras follows from your answers, not from the size of a kit. Many retailer kits are built around 4 or 8 cameras, but your shop may need fewer or more.

A published price guide describes a shop as 2 to 6 cameras. Most shops fill them in this order.

• The entrance. Point a camera at the door at face height, so you see faces coming in, not the tops of heads.
• The counter and till. You want a view of the till, the counter and the customer side. Disputes about cash and billing happen here.
• The shop floor. Cover the aisles and corners you cannot see from the counter.
• The stock room or godown. Cover the door and the shelves.
• The back door and the shutter. These are the ways in after closing time.
• The street outside, if you need it. Point cameras at your own premises, and keep neighbours' windows and doors out of the picture.

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Resolution is how much detail the picture holds. Listings count it in megapixels (MP). The retailer kits we saw list 2.4MP, 4MP and 5MP cameras, and dealer guides also list 8MP, which is called 4K.

More megapixels means more detail, and also bigger video files, so you need a bigger hard disk to keep the same number of days. A face at the door needs more detail than a wide view of shelves. Also look at how the camera handles bright light behind the person, such as a doorway in daylight. Listings call this WDR.

Most shops are lit by day and dark after closing, which is when the stock is at risk. Cameras show the dark in two ways. Infrared night vision gives a black and white picture. Colour night vision, which some listings call full colour, uses extra light to show colour.

Brochures quote the best case. Ask to see night footage from a camera in a real shop, at the distance of your shop. Keep cameras from pointing through glass, because infrared light bounces off glass and the picture is ruined by the reflection.

Cameras and recorders can record sound. Recording what people say is a bigger step than recording video. India has no single law written only for CCTV. Legal explainers point to privacy and data protection rules instead, and those are still being phased in. The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules were notified in November 2025, with the main duties for businesses starting 18 months later.

Many shops keep audio off. If you want it at the counter, tell people with a sign, tell your staff, and ask a lawyer first. Put a CCTV in operation sign at the entrance either way. Never put a camera or a microphone where people change clothes, in a trial room or in a toilet.

There are two ways to store video. A recorder is a box with a hard disk, and it records all your cameras in one place. A camera with an SD card records inside itself.

• SD card: simple and cheap, with no recorder to buy. But if the camera is stolen or smashed, the footage goes with it, and a small card keeps fewer days.
• Recorder: all footage in one place, hidden away from the cameras, with a bigger hard disk. It costs more.
• For a shop with more than a camera or two, a recorder is usually the safer choice. Put it in a locked cabinet or the owner's room, not under the counter.
• Ask which hard disk comes with it, and how many days it will keep. Resolution, the number of cameras and whether it records all the time or only on movement decide that. Look for a disk sold for surveillance, because it is made to run all day and night.

Most systems let you watch on a phone through the camera brand's own app. For this the recorder needs an internet connection at the shop. Ask the installer to set it up with you holding the admin password, written down, and not only the installer. Our guides to gCMOB for CP Plus and iVMS-4200 for Hikvision cover the common apps.

A camera with no power records nothing. A small UPS, which is a battery backup, keeps the recorder and cameras running through short power cuts, and it gives the recorder time to shut down properly. Ask what happens when the power comes back. The recorder should start recording again by itself.

A MeitY circular dated 4 February 2026 says CCTV cameras were added to the government's compulsory registration order, with the security requirements in force from 9 April 2025. Ask the seller whether the model is registered, and ask for the details. Buy from a dealer who gives you a bill and a warranty.

Published guides give very different numbers, because shops differ. A 2025 guide puts a shop with 2 to 6 cameras at ₹10,000 to ₹30,000 including installation. On a large online retailer's page, 4-camera analog kits were listed from about ₹8,300 to about ₹13,900. Our installation cost guide explains what moves those numbers.

We do not sell cameras, and we do not install them. This guide is here to help you buy well from whoever you choose. If your shop already has cameras and a recorder, the next section is about what we add.