Trade

Retail Compliance Agent

The policy is new, the work instruction is last year's. The audit is where it will show.

Keeps track of regulatory requirements in retail.

Open agent
Public administration

Four processes that take up the most time today

Developed in Germany · Hosted in the EU

Developed in Germany · Hosted in the EU or on-premises

Delivered together with

STACKIT Sovereign hosting in Germany, single-tenant from the first user.
Rödl Legal, tax and compliance expertise for legally sound deployment.
4P Consulting Advisory and implementation for the public sector, starting with the AI readiness assessment.

Four weeks before the audit, the search begins for documents that have existed for ages.

Policies, work instructions and test reports sit in the DMS, batches and goods receipts in the ERP. Before every audit, a compliance manager works through the checklist and hunts for the right document for each requirement, often in several versions. What he finds goes into a folder that is out of date again once the audit is over.

34requirementsThat is how many points the checklist for the product safety audit contains.
820documentsWork instructions, test reports and approvals in the DMS, many in several versions.
2storage locationsThe evidence for a batch sits half in the ERP and half in the DMS.
23follow-up requestsThat is how often the auditor asks for a document during the audit because the folder does not contain it.

In the audit itself, that means 40% less audit effort, because the compliance manager opens the stored reference for each of the 34 requirements and the 23 follow-up requests never arise.

The 40% reduction in audit effort is this agent's headline figure. The 820 documents in the DMS and the 23 follow-up requests in the audit depict a mid-sized retailer ahead of a product safety audit; they are not taken from any survey.

Three steps through the process.

The agent compares policy and work instruction; the compliance manager assesses any deviation.

Match requirements to documents

The agent reads the checklist and finds the approved version in the DMS for every requirement. It links older versions to the one currently in force.

Product safety checklist 2026, 34 requirements, 29 backed with references

Name deviations from the policy

The agent sets the text of the work instruction next to the text of the policy. It notes every deviation with section, document version and date.

5 deviations, instruction AA-14 of 8 September 2025 compared with policy section 3.6

Provide the evidence folder for the audit

The agent compiles requirements, references and open points in one folder. The compliance manager assesses which of them count as deviations.

auditmappe_produktsicherheit_2026.pdf, 34 requirements, 5 open points

What the agent does not do.

It does not approve amended work instructions.

It shows where policy and instruction diverge. The compliance manager signs off the new version.

It does not interpret legislation.

It sets the wording of the requirement next to the wording of the instruction. How far the requirement extends is for Regulatory Affairs to clarify, with the legal department if in doubt.

It does not request test reports archived at the supplier.

It works with the reports filed in the DMS. If one is missing for a batch, it lists the requirement as an open point.

Connected systems

  • DMS
  • ERP
  • quality management system

Operations

  • Deployment modelEU cloud or private cloud
  • Data processingGDPR-compliant, no model training on your data
  • Responsible teamsLegal, management

The questions that come up before the first meeting.

How quickly is the Retail Compliance Agent ready to use?

A pilot typically runs on your own data within 4 to 6 weeks. The agent connects to your existing systems rather than running as a separate, parallel environment.

Where is the data processed?

EU cloud or private cloud. Processing is GDPR-compliant and models are never trained on your data. Details in the Trust Center.

Where does the figure “40% less audit effort” come from?

It is based on experience from comparable projects and process benchmarks, not a commitment. We establish the realistic effect for your organisation in the assessment before the pilot.

Related agents.

Intake review, case 2026/04711

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