Shop security: cash, closing up, the evening shift and robbery

Most shopkeepers never experience a robbery, and that is good news. The bad news is that those who do almost always meet it unprepared: in an ordinary evening hour, alone behind the counter, with the whole day's takings in the till. At that moment, what matters is not how brave anyone is but what the shop thought through beforehand.

Most of shop security is dull routine. How much money stays in the drawer, when the rest goes into the safe, who closes up and in what order, whom the assistant messages on the way home. These small rules are not spectacular, but they are exactly what lowers the risk — and what gives peace of mind to whoever stands alone at the counter in the evening.

This article is about personal and cash security. Shoplifting and stock loss have their own article (Shoplifting and stock loss), as does reconciling the till after closing (Closing a shift and reconciling the till), and the daily opening and closing tasks are covered in the article on the shop's daily routine — here they appear only as far as they affect security.

How much cash to keep in the till

Robbers tend to pick the shop where they expect a lot of money and little resistance. Resistance is not your job — but the amount of money is your decision. The cheapest security measure there is: never keep much more cash in the till than you need for giving change.

That calls for an upper limit, a till limit. It does not need to be precise: a good starting point is the morning float plus roughly one or two average hours of cash takings. When more than that builds up in the drawer, the surplus goes into the safe. This is called skimming.

• Write the till limit under the counter, on the inside, where only staff can see it — and say it out loud during training too.
• Skimmed money goes into a sealed envelope marked with the date, time, amount and initials. A slip with the same details goes into the drawer, so the reconciliation adds up at closing.
• Do not skim in front of customers. Do it in a quiet moment, with your back to the door, or in the back room.
• Do not keep large notes at the front of the drawer. What is under the tray or in the safe cannot be seen at a glance.
• Your hourly takings show when the most money comes in. Skim straight after the peak hour, not once before closing.

The money's route: safe, counting, bank

Money goes from the till to the safe, and from the safe to the bank. At each step the same two questions apply: who can see it, and who can know in advance when it happens? The fewer people and the less predictable, the better.

• Bolt the safe to the wall or floor, and keep it out of sight of the shop floor. A safe with a deposit slot lets money go in during the day without the assistant having to open it.
• If you can, make sure the assistant cannot open the safe. You can even put up a notice at the counter — someone who knows staff have no access has no reason to demand it.
• Never count money in front of the window, on the counter or by an open door. Counting belongs in the back room or on a part of the counter that cannot be seen from outside.
• Vary the time and route of your bank runs. Anyone who leaves at the same time every day with the same bag has a habit that can be learnt in a week.
• Do not carry larger sums alone or in a conspicuous bag. If you regularly handle a lot of cash, ask your bank or a cash collection company what options exist near you.
• Whoever takes the money should not talk about it in the shop, or ask a colleague out loud whether to "take the takings now".

Closing up safely

Closing is the riskiest quarter of an hour of the day. There are few customers, it is dark, the day's takings are in the till and everyone wants to go home. A fixed order helps stop haste from overriding common sense.

1. 11. Who closes, and who knowsThe rota should make clear who is closing that day, and if possible there should be two of you. If only one person closes, the owner or a trusted contact knows when to expect the message saying they have left safely.
2. 22. The last quarter of an hour: a walk roundBefore closing, walk through the shop, the toilet and the stockroom to check nobody is still inside. Keep an eye on the street too: if someone is loitering near the entrance for a long time, do not hurry out alone.
3. 33. First the door, then the moneyLock the entrance, turn the sign round, and only then touch the till. Never count money with the door open, or with the thought that "it's nearly over anyway".
4. 44. Count out of sightTake the drawer to the back room, or count on a part of the counter that cannot be seen from outside. This is where you close the shift and reconcile the till; anything not needed as tomorrow's float goes into the safe.
5. 55. The till empty and openMany shops leave the till empty with the drawer open overnight, so that a burglar can see there is no money. If your till allows it, this is a cheap and effective habit.
6. 66. Leaving and checking inBefore stepping out, look out at the street. Set the alarm, lock up and leave by your usual, well-lit route. From home or the car, send a short message: "Closed up, all fine."

Reconciling the till at closing has a security benefit too. If you know how much cash should be in the drawer, you see straight away when something is off — and you do not have to sit in the middle of the shop at ten at night trying to work out where an envelope went.

Alone in the shop

In most small shops the evening or weekend shift is covered by a single person. That is not a problem in itself, but a lone worker needs different rules from someone whose colleague is within shouting distance.

• The phone should be charged and within reach — not in a coat pocket in the stockroom.
• There should be a way to raise the alarm that can be reached unnoticed — a button under the counter, a portable alarm or an agreed phone signal. Exactly which is worth discussing with a security provider or the local police.
• Have someone you know next door: another shop, a café or a resident you can turn to, who knows you are on your own in the evenings.
• Have a fixed "check-in": a short message to the owner or a trusted person halfway through the shift and after closing. If the message does not arrive within an agreed time, they call — and if you do not answer, they know what to do.
• Do not take rubbish out alone into a dark back yard, and do not open the door after closing to anyone you are not expecting — not even if they "just need one thing".
• If something feels wrong, it is fine to close early or to call someone and keep them on the line. The owner should say this in advance, so the assistant does not feel it is a failure.

Visibility, lighting, attention

People up to no good do not like being seen. A bright shop that is easy to see into from outside, where the assistant looks up at whoever walks in, is a less attractive target than a dim room with posters plastered over the window. The same principles help against shoplifting; we covered cameras and sightlines in detail in the article on shoplifting.

• Do not cover the window with posters or stack it high with goods. The counter and the assistant should be visible from outside — so a passer-by or a patrol can notice if something is wrong.
• The counter should be well lit, with a view of the entrance and the aisles. A convex mirror helps a lot where needed.
• There should be light around the entrance and the back door too. Keep the back door locked at all times — do not wedge it open with a box for ventilation.
• A camera deters and helps afterwards, but it will not protect you during a robbery. Make it clearly visible, and if signage is required, put the sign up.
• A bell above the door or a simple door chime tells you when someone comes in while you are in the stockroom.

Suspicious signs and a calm response

Odd behaviour usually means nothing. A nervous customer or someone browsing aimlessly is not a robber. The aim is not suspicion but attention: someone who can see they have been noticed will often think again.

During a robbery: do and don't

Hopefully you will never need this section. But if you do, there will be no time to think it through — which is why you need it now. There is one rule, and everything else follows from it: life and physical safety come before money. Money can be replaced; the insurer or the shop will absorb it. An injury or a life cannot be replaced.

„In a robbery, the good outcome is not that the money was saved but that everyone goes home that evening.”

The owner has to say this in advance and clearly: "If anyone demands money, hand it over. Nobody will hold you responsible." Assistants often resist because they fear being blamed for the shortfall. Without that fear, instinct points in a better direction.

After a robbery

Once the robber has left, a lot happens at once in the first few minutes, and most people are shaking, confused or in tears. That is normal. A short order, known in advance, helps make sure the important things are not missed.

• Lock the entrance if you can do so safely, and let nobody in except the authorities.
• Check whether anyone is hurt. If so, call an ambulance first.
• Call the police on the local emergency number, even if the loss is small. Tell them which way the robber went and what they looked like.
• Do not touch anything the robber touched: the counter, the door handle, an object left behind. Leave the scene untouched until the authorities have seen it.
• Everyone who saw it should write down what they remember, separately and straight away — before talking it over with each other. Shared memories blur the details.
• Ask any customer who was inside to stay, or at least to leave their contact details.
• Inform the owner and, later, the insurer. Count the till only when the authorities allow it; the closing reconciliation will tell you the shortfall.
• Do not reopen the shop that day. No amount of takings is worth more than letting the person affected go home.

After a robbery, the most important thing is the member of staff. Even without a physical scratch, an experience like this can stay with someone for days or weeks: trouble sleeping, anxiety at the sound of the door chime, fear of the evening shift. Talk to them the same day, do not blame them for anything, give them at least one day off, and for the first few days do not put them on an evening shift alone. If the symptoms do not ease, it is worth seeking professional help — in many places a victim support service or the insurer can help with this.

Less cash, less risk

Money attracts trouble; less money attracts less. Every card payment is a payment whose amount is not sitting in the drawer waiting for closing time. That is no reason to refuse cash — many customers insist on it, and a customer turned away is a loss too. But it is a good reason to make card payment convenient and visible: a working terminal, a sign at the entrance, and no minimum spend.

What cards and cash really cost is covered in a separate article (Card or cash). From a security point of view, one thing matters: the higher the share of card payments, the lower the till limit, the less often you need to go to the bank, and the less a robbery is worth. Closing each shift and an hourly breakdown — in a notebook or in an app such as Boltom App — show how much cash builds up in which hour, and so when it is worth skimming.

Training

The best rule is worthless if it only exists in the owner's head. Every new assistant needs to know the security basics in their first week — not from a sheet of paper, but standing behind the counter in their own place.

• Say the one rule out loud: in a robbery they hand over the money, and nobody will blame them for it.
• Show them the till limit, how skimming works and the envelope. Have them do it once with you.
• Show them the alarm, the phone numbers and the neighbour they can turn to.
• Walk through closing together, from the door to the check-in message.
• Go over the "do and don't" table. There is no need for a drill; it is enough to say out loud once what they would do.
• Once a year, or whenever something changes, go over it with long-standing staff too. A rule nobody repeats gets forgotten.

Common mistakes

Checklist

• Is there a written till limit, and does every assistant know it?
• Does skimming happen after the peak hours, with an envelope and a slip?
• Is the safe bolted down and out of sight?
• Do you count money out of sight, with the door locked?
• Do the time and route of bank runs vary?
• Is there a set closing order, and does everyone know who is closing that day?
• Does a lone worker have a phone, a way to raise the alarm and an agreed check-in message?
• Is the window clear, are the counter and entrance well lit, and is the back door locked?
• Does every member of staff know the one rule and the "do and don't" table?
• Does everyone know what to do after a robbery, and where the emergency number is?

Summary

• In a robbery, life and physical safety come before money: hand over what is demanded, do not resist, do not follow.
• Keep only the float and one or two hours' takings in the till; skim the surplus into an envelope and the safe.
• Count money out of sight with the door locked, and vary the time and route of your bank runs.
• Closing needs a fixed order: walk round, door, money, safe, alarm, check-in message.
• A lone worker needs a phone, a way to raise the alarm, a neighbour they know and an agreed message.
• After a robbery: lock up, call the emergency number, leave the scene untouched, write notes separately — and give the member of staff support and a day off.

Frequently asked questions