{"id":8783,"date":"2025-06-06T01:02:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T06:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/?p=8783"},"modified":"2026-03-16T11:59:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:59:19","slug":"whos-really-controlling-onboard-retail-and-at-what-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/whos-really-controlling-onboard-retail-and-at-what-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s really controlling Onboard Retail \u2013 and at what cost?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"8783\" class=\"elementor elementor-8783\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c2fedeb e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"1c2fedeb\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6a2ff176 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6a2ff176\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8788 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Neale_Jouques_OBE_Altura.jpg\" alt=\"\"><noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\" class=\"wp-image-8788 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Neale_Jouques_OBE_Altura.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Neale_Jouques_OBE_Altura.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Neale_Jouques_OBE_Altura-300x75.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Neale_Jouques_OBE_Altura-768x192.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Neale_Jouques_OBE_Altura-18x5.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>A quiet revolution is taking place in the retail space onboard aircraft. Its drivers are rooted in a genuine desire to offer choice \u2013 choice for airlines looking to differentiate their service offering, and choice for passengers who are increasingly discerning and whose expectations are shaped by their experiences&nbsp;on&nbsp;the high street and online.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re seeing the slow end of the \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d inflight retail model. In its place? Dynamic loading set-ups, hybrid models, offboard fulfilment, pre-order options, and tighter, more efficient supply chains. But none of it is without its challenges.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>The inflight retail world is still dominated by players who are not, in truth, retailers. The service has long been delivered by businesses motivated to protect the margins they enjoyed during the era of complimentary meals and Duty Free. That\u2019s understandable \u2013 the pivot to paid-for inflight retail made much of their traditional, asset-heavy infrastructure redundant.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>These same businesses often hold privileged, protected positions at key airports \u2013 enjoying exclusive licensing or access rights. The result? Excessive fees for loading and unloading, inflated product mark-ups, and limited product ranges that reflect bulk-buy discounts for the caterer, not the passenger or the airline. Ultimately, passengers onboard pay the price \u2013 and the evolution of onboard retail is held back.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a short-sighted model. And some airlines are starting to break away from it \u2013 with airport partnerships (think Deliveroo-style options), deals with terminal retailers, and in some cases simply encouraging passengers to bring their own. These may still be the exception rather than the norm, but with rapid developments in retail and logistics tech, more alternatives will emerge. The risk for traditional caterers? In trying to protect their hold, they risk squeezing the model out altogether.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>At Altura, we\u2019ve worked to break this pricing stranglehold in practical ways, including:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"1\"><p><\/p>\n<li>Setting up our own pick-and-pack operations<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Shifting loading to more cost-effective downroute locations<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Converting executive jet caterers into retail fulfilment partners<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Engaging ground-handling agents to expand their above-the-wing services<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Partnering with restaurants and hotels to top up fresh stock where needed<\/li>\n<p><\/p><\/ol>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>We continue to look for new ways to deliver flexible, cost-efficient solutions for our airline partners \u2013 and we know we\u2019re not alone. At the time of writing, several airlines are actively developing their own pick, pack and load solutions to help reduce onboard prices.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>That said, we\u2019d much rather collaborate with caterers than work around them. There\u2019s a real opportunity to introduce tech that brings greater transparency and efficiency into the pack and load process \u2013 from real-time stock control integration to better data sharing. Caterers who invest in the skills and capabilities needed for this new reality have a genuine opportunity to lead.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve already seen it work \u2013 examples where airline, caterer and retailer all benefit. That\u2019s the model we\u2019ll keep championing: joined-up, scalable, and focused on value.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A quiet revolution is taking place in the retail space onboard aircraft. Its drivers are rooted in a genuine desire to offer choice \u2013 choice for airlines looking to differentiate their service offering, and choice for passengers who are increasingly discerning and whose expectations are shaped by their experiences&nbsp;on&nbsp;the high street and online. We\u2019re seeing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8783"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9003,"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8783\/revisions\/9003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alturaservice.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}