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Merchant of Record

Every onboard retail programme needs a Merchant of Record. Whenever product is sold onboard, someone has to hold the legal and financial position for it, so this is not an optional extra, it is the building block the whole programme sits on. The only question is whether the airline carries it in-house or hands it to a partner who does it every day

As Merchant of Record, Altura sits at the centre of the retail value chain. We hold the legal and financial position, take commercial accountability and integrate the providers around us. Compliance, tax, financial management, governance, controls and insights sit within one accountable team.
The Merchant of Record function carries liability and risk and requires specific expertise. Outsourcing this function allows airlines to avoid the complexity while retaining essential decision-making.

Who it is for

  • Every airline selling product onboard. A Merchant of Record is legally required whenever a retail sale is made.
  • Airlines that would rather hand the liability, tax and compliance to a partner than build and carry it in-house.
  • Multi-provider programmes that need one accountable party holding the legal and financial centre.

What you get

  • Compliance, audit and liability management.
  • Tax and regulatory: VAT calculation and reporting, rebates, local taxes including airport and product specific.
  • Financial management: P&L, reporting, budgeting, forecasting, analysis.
  • Controls: stock, load planning, wastage, shrinkage, ullage.
  • Insights: BI reporting and deep dives, performance visibility down to SKU level.
  • Governance: contracting, programme reviews, integration ownership through a robust RACI.

How it works commercially

Profit share, services fee or hybrid, depending on the airline’s appetite for risk and control. Whoever bears the risk needs to control the commercial levers, and we structure the contract around that principle.

Our Experience

Our team has run Merchant of Record functions globally, including for airlines with multiple AOCs, conflicting domestic and regional regulations, hybrid service models and complex schedules where tracking retail activity at flight level is challenging.
Talk to us about Merchant of Record
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