7 January, 2026
The European AI Act 2026, what does it mean for your business continuity?
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Sectoren
Escrow for the retail industry
Certainty for your online and in store retail operations, always.
Introduction
De retail industry and her systems
The retail sector runs on continuously available digital systems and reliable data.
In retail and wholesale, uninterrupted access to IT is essential for sales, logistics, customer experience and financial processing. From point of sale systems to webshops, and from inventory management to loyalty programs, software forms the backbone of your daily operations.
Retail organizations rely on digital solutions such as POS systems, ecommerce platforms, ERP, inventory and warehouse management, pricing and promotions, customer data platforms and omnichannel processes. These systems ensure that your stores remain open, orders are processed and customers receive the service they expect.
When business critical applications fail unexpectedly or a software supplier becomes unavailable, this can immediately lead to lost revenue, empty shelves and dissatisfied customers. In a sector where speed, availability and data integrity are essential, these risks are simply unacceptable.
The escrow services of Escrow4all give you certainty by guaranteeing continued access to source code, data and critical applications. With Software Escrow, Data Escrow, My Sourcecode Escrow and SaaS Escrow, you safeguard the continuity of your retail operations, even if a supplier is no longer available.
energie
Escrow for retail industry
1) Critical retail systems as your foundation
From checkout and inventory management to online sales and logistics, without IT your retail chain comes to a standstill.
With Software Escrow, you secure source code, configurations and technical documentation for POS systems, ERP solutions, ecommerce platforms and custom applications.
With Data Escrow, you ensure access to product data, customer information, transaction history and inventory data, including data structures and export procedures.
With SaaS Escrow, you retain guaranteed access to essential cloud services and related data, allowing sales and fulfilment processes to continue even if a SaaS provider fails.
2) Continuity of sales and customer service
In the event of outages, cyber incidents or supplier failure, you must be able to act quickly. Escrow enables release so that your internal teams or a third party can take over management and maintenance. This limits revenue loss, supply chain disruptions and negative impact on customer experience.
Release conditions are carefully aligned with your operational risks and continuity requirements within retail and wholesale.
3) IP protection and retail specific customization
Many retailers work with custom solutions for POS integrations, omnichannel flows, inventory optimization and connections with logistics partners. Escrow guarantees access to this customization without compromising the intellectual property of the supplier. At the same time, it documents what is needed to continue operations safely, such as version control, deployment steps, test scenarios and environment requirements.
4) Laws and regulations: GDPR, NIS2 and ISO 27001
Escrow supports demonstrable measures for information security and business continuity. This includes recovery procedures, audit information and control of supply chain risks. Verification reports support audits, supervision and accountability towards management and stakeholders.
For retailers subject to NIS2 or stricter compliance requirements, escrow is a practical tool to strengthen digital resilience.
5) What we secure exactly
Source code, configurations and architecture documentation
Product data, customer data and transaction data
Integrations with POS systems, webshops, logistics platforms and external partners
Installation, upgrade and recovery manuals
Runbooks for emergency scenarios, RTO and RPO agreements and fallback processes
6) Verification and operational reality
In addition to integrity checks, we perform build verifications and functional tests where appropriate. Reports provide insight into dependencies such as infrastructure, platforms, security components and external integrations. We also document the steps required to safely activate systems in an alternative environment.
Partners in the retail
In retail, everything revolves around availability, speed and reliability. Together with our partners, retailers, franchise organizations and IT suppliers, Escrow4all ensures uninterrupted digital continuity of business critical retail systems.
Every client is unique to us, which is why we follow a proven process:
01
Analysis
A close look at your unique business case and requirements.
02
Advice
What solution fits best, based on our expertise and years of experience?
03
Execution
A secure process — both technically and legally sound.
An escrow agreement is a legal and technical safeguard in which an independent third party, such as Escrow4all, securely holds business critical software, data and documentation. These materials are released only when predefined conditions are met, such as the bankruptcy of a supplier, prolonged unavailability of a SaaS platform or a structural failure to meet maintenance obligations.
For IT managers and CTOs, this ensures that core systems for sales, point of sale, inventory management, ecommerce, logistics and customer processes remain available. For compliance and risk managers, escrow provides demonstrable assurance of continuity and risk control in line with regulations and standards such as GDPR, NIS2 and ISO 27001, while the intellectual property of the supplier remains protected.
Escrow is particularly relevant when your organization depends on:
Critical IT systems or cloud services provided by external suppliers, such as POS systems, ecommerce platforms, ERP solutions, inventory and warehouse management systems or customer portals
Legal, regulatory or contractual requirements that demand demonstrable continuity and fallback capabilities
Business critical data, such as transaction data, product information, inventory data or customer data that must remain accessible at all times
SaaS solutions without internal control or local fallback scenarios
In these situations, escrow functions as a structural safety net to safeguard operational continuity, cyber resilience and compliance within your retail organization.
The cost of an escrow arrangement is determined by three main components:
The type of deposit, such as source code, SaaS, data only or a sector specific custom deposit
The required level of verification, ranging from a technical integrity check to a full build and functional verification
The number of releases and updates per year. The more frequent the releases, the more intensive the verification
Would you like immediate insight into the costs for your organization? Use our escrow calculator and receive an instant indicative price estimate.
Control and process oversight
Escrow4all ensures that any release or disclosure request is handled in accordance with the contractually defined steps and timelines. We verify whether the request has been submitted correctly and completely and act strictly within the framework of the escrow agreement.
Escrow4all does not take a substantive position in disputes and does not act as a decision maker or arbitrator.
Release procedure
When the conditions for release are met and the procedure has been correctly followed, the deposit is released in accordance with the provisions of the escrow agreement. If the parties do not reach agreement, the dispute is submitted to the designated independent arbitrator, as specified in the agreement.
This approach ensures a neutral allocation of roles, legal certainty for all parties involved and a careful and transparent release process.
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