Retail inMotion
Retail inMotion is a Dublin-headquartered onboard retail specialist serving 40+ global airlines with its proprietary Vector technology platform, fully outsourced retail program management, supply chain operations across 90+ stations, and crew engagement services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersSandyford, Ireland
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Retail inMotion does
Retail inMotion is an Ireland-headquartered, privately held onboard retail specialist serving more than 40 airlines globally, including Ryanair, the Lufthansa Group carriers (Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings Discover), Aer Lingus, American Airlines, EasyJet, Spirit Airlines, and Etihad. Founded in 2004 and acquired by AURELIUS Group in April 2023, the company operates from Dublin with regional offices in Frankfurt and Dallas, employing 300+ staff across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Its commercial offering is delivered both as a fully outsourced onboard retail program and as modular technology, anchored by the proprietary Vector cloud platform.
The technical core is the Vector platform: a modular, cloud-based onboard retail management system with a web-accessible back office, mobile applications, an in-house PCI DSS Level 1 and P2Pe-accredited payment gateway, and nearly 100 out-of-the-shelf APIs covering scheduling, loyalty, booking, caterer, and payment-acquirer integrations. Around Vector sit passenger-facing modules (Pre-Order/Pre-Select, Order2Seat, Digital Menu Card, Virtual Try-On AR), crew-facing modules (vPOS used by 35+ airlines, Kubis crew management acquired from Lufthansa Systems, reconciliation, crew commission), and service-provider modules (order management, warehouse management, invoicing). Predictive loading uses machine learning on historical sales and route characteristics, and operational scale covers 90+ stations across three temperature zones through seven central distribution centres with a documented 99% delivery and product availability KPI on the Ryanair contract.
Revenue is generated through six interlocking streams: SaaS/licensing of the Vector platform, fully outsourced managed retail programs, product distribution (food and beverage, boutique, duty free), hardware supply (POS devices, printers, the WiFi-Box), crew engagement and training services (over 25,000 face-to-face interactions annually), and design services for menus, magazines, and packaging. Pricing is bespoke, contract-by-contract, negotiated directly with airline decision-makers via enterprise field sales. Multi-year contracts (e.g., Aer Lingus 2017, Ryanair renewed June 2025 for five years) form the commercial backbone, with industry event presence (World Aviation Festival, Onboard Hospitality Awards) and earned media supplementing direct sales.
Retail inMotion firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Retail inMotion
- Legal name
- Retail inMotion Limited
- Website
- https://retailinmotion.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Retail inMotion is a Dublin-headquartered onboard retail specialist serving 40+ global airlines with its proprietary Vector technology platform, fully outsourced retail program management, supply chain operations across 90+ stations, and crew engagement services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Retail inMotion industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Onboard Retail Technology and Services for Airlines
- NAICS
- Other Commercial Equipment Merchant Wholesalers (42344)
- SIC
- Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Onboard Retail, Duty-Free & Payments (THABAMAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- In-Flight Operations Support (Cabin Logistics, Loading, Inventory) (THABAMAJ), In-Flight Alcohol & Tobacco Retail (Airline Sales) (CRANAIAF), Airline Retailing & Offer/Order Management (NDC/ONE Order) (THALABAB)
Keywords
Where Retail inMotion is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sandyford
- HQ country
- Ireland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Retail inMotion business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Technology Platform Licensing & SaaS: Revenue from licensing the proprietary Vector technology platform including POS, pre-order, back office, warehouse management, and payment gateway modules. Delivered as a modular, cloud-based SaaS solution.
- Fully Outsourced Retail Program Management: End-to-end onboard retail management including procurement, supply chain, packing, distribution, crew engagement, training, and promotions. Manages over 90 stations across temperature zones in seven central distribution centres.
- Product Distribution (Food & Beverage, Boutique, Duty Free): Supply and distribution of food & beverage, boutique, and duty-free products across airline networks. Managing complex supply chains for products sourced globally with local sourcing where possible.
- Crew Engagement & Training Services: Bespoke crew training, incentives, events, and engagement programs. The Crew Engagement team establishes over 25,000 meaningful face-to-face interactions each year.
- Design Services: Menu and magazine design, crew design, and product packaging design services tailored to airline branding and passenger experience requirements.
- Hardware Supply: Supply of payment devices, printers, custom sled cases, and WiFi-Box hardware for onboard retail operations.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Retail inMotion product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Retail inMotion provides end-to-end onboard retail solutions for airlines, combining its proprietary Vector technology platform (covering inflight POS, pre-order, payment processing, digital menus and virtual try-on) with managed retail services that include supply chain and distribution of food, beverage and boutique products, crew engagement and training, design services and onboard hardware. Airlines can either license the Vector modules or use the fully outsourced 360° Capabilities model in which Retail inMotion runs the entire onboard retail program.
Product overview
Retail inMotion operates as a platform-plus-modules architecture offering the proprietary Vector technology platform as its core product, complemented by passenger-facing modules (Pre-Order/Pre-Select, Order2Seat, Digital Menu Card, Virtual Try-On), crew-facing solutions (Point of Sale, Kubis crew communication, Reconciliation, Crew Commission), service provider tools (Order Management, Warehouse Management, Invoicing, Caterer Solutions), and professional services (Crew Training, Crew Incentives, Crew Events, Design Services, 360 Capabilities, Account Management, Operational Excellence). The Vector platform provides the unified cloud-based infrastructure connecting all modules with nearly 100 APIs, while hardware solutions support device deployment.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Vector: Proprietary end-to-end onboard retail technology platform providing passenger engagement, crew process optimisation, payment solutions, and retail management capabilities for airlines.
- vPOS
- Order2Seat (O2S)
- Virtual Try-On
- Kubis
- Pre-Order/Pre-Select
- Digital Menu Card
Products and services
- Vector Platform Vector is Retail inMotion's proprietary end-to-end onboard retail technology platform for airlines. It is modular, cloud-based and exposes nearly 100 APIs, integrating pre-order, inflight POS, payment processing, digital menus, crew engagement and analytics so airlines can run onboard sales, pre-select purchases and seamless payments.
- vPOS Inflight Point-of-Sale vPOS is the inflight point-of-sale terminal application within Vector, used by cabin crew on board aircraft to transact sales of food, beverage and boutique items, integrating with the vPay payment gateway.
- vPay Payment Gateway vPay is Vector's PCI DSS Level 1 certified payment gateway, processing bank card and digital wallet transactions for onboard purchases across multiple regions and currencies.
- Pre-Order / Pre-Select Pre-Order / Pre-Select is Vector's pre-flight ordering module, allowing passengers to place onboard purchases ahead of the flight via the airline's app or web channel, integrating with airline systems for delivery at seat.
- Order2Seat (O2S) Order2Seat (O2S) is Vector's inflight fulfillment capability, routing pre-ordered or crew-taken purchases directly to the passenger's seat during the flight.
- Digital Menu Card The Digital Menu Card is Vector's digital menu rendering solution, presenting dynamic, route-tailored onboard menus on passenger devices and seat-back screens.
- Virtual Try-On Virtual Try-On is Vector's augmented reality capability letting passengers preview onboard boutique products such as sunglasses on their own device before or during the flight.
- Kubis Crew Communication Platform Kubis is Vector's crew communication and engagement module, enabling cabin crews to receive product info, training, communications and incentives from the airline and onboard retail team.
- 360° Capabilities (Fully Outsourced Onboard Retail Program Management) 360° Capabilities is Retail inMotion's fully outsourced end-to-end onboard retail program in which the company plans, operates and continuously optimises the airline's onboard retail program — combining Vector technology with supply chain, crew engagement, design and analytics services under one managed contract.
- Food & Beverage and Boutique Product Supply Retail inMotion supplies a curated range of branded food, beverages and boutique (lifestyle/duty-free-style) products to airline customers, handling procurement, packaging, warehousing and distribution to 90+ stations globally.
- Onboard Hardware Solutions (incl. WiFi-Box) Retail inMotion supplies onboard hardware for airline retail operations, including the WiFi-Box (cellular connectivity hub that turns aircraft galley equipment into an online retail point) and other POS/connectivity devices used with the Vector platform.
- Crew Training Services Crew Training is Retail inMotion's structured cabin crew training program covering product knowledge, upselling techniques and onboard retail processes, delivered alongside the Kubis platform.
- Crew Incentive Programs Crew Incentive Programs are commission and reward schemes that Retail inMotion designs and operates for airline cabin crews to drive onboard retail performance, integrated with the Vector platform's sales reporting.
- Onboard Design Services (Menu & Magazine) Retail inMotion's design team produces onboard menus, magazines and boutique product collateral tailored to each airline's brand and route profile, complementing the Digital Menu Card and pre-order products.
- Account Management Services Account Management is Retail inMotion's dedicated customer-success layer, providing airline customers with a named account team that plans, monitors and continuously optimises their onboard retail program against KPIs.
Quantifiable outcome
- 99% delivery and product availability KPI maintained over the duration of the Ryanair contract
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Retail inMotion
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Retail inMotion technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
AI capability7 records
Feature11 records
Retail inMotion partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, minor and core.
- UnistostrategicExclusive partnership introducing Unisto Spire digital sealing solution and myU application for revolutionary inflight retail packaging and sealing technology.
- e-Mersion MediaminorPartnership with e-Mersion Media and Eurowings Discover to deliver the industry's first fully digital and immersive magazine on board flights, providing engaging passenger content.
- Lufthansa Systems (mCabin / Kubis)coreRetail inMotion acquired the mCabin application from Lufthansa Systems, rebranded as Kubis. This crew management tool integrates all essential flight information and facilitates shift assignments for airline crew.
- NX-FOODminorPartnership with NX-FOOD and Eurowings to bring innovative food products onboard, combining food innovation expertise with airline retail operations.
- LSG GroupcorePartnership with one of the largest players in inflight services industry, enabling global expansion through access to LSG Group's global network. Began with Eurowings implementation and evolved into a mutually beneficial long-term partnership. Since 2023, Retail inMotion communicates for Retail inMotion as part of the LSG Group.
- LSG Group (Eurowings)coreInitial partnership with LSG Group on implementation of global onboard retail technology solution for Eurowings, marking the start of a significant long-term relationship.
- BluefincoreP2PE (Point-to-Point Encryption) integration partner supporting Retail inMotion's PCI DSS Level 1 payment security standard. Bluefin provides the encryption technology for secure payment card processing at merchant POS terminals.
- shareminorPartnership with share (food donation initiative) and Eurowings to donate half a million portions of food in 10 days for World Food Day 2019.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Retail inMotion competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Avolta (formerly Dufry): World's largest travel retail operator (airport duty-free). Overlaps with Retail inMotion's duty-free product distribution and boutique program on the product/inventory side, though its primary channel is airport-based rather than onboard.
- Panasonic Avionics: Broad IFE/connectivity incumbent whose seatback and wireless platforms increasingly embed retail and payment workflows, overlapping with Vector's passenger-facing (Pre-Order, Order2Seat, Digital Menu Card) modules.
- Gebr. Heinemann: Major European travel-retail and duty-free wholesaler with significant onboard/inflight retail programs. Comparable on the product procurement and supply-chain layer that Retail inMotion delivers as part of its 360 Capabilities.
- SSP Group: Global food travel operator in airports and travel hubs; provides competing onboard and travel-retail food & beverage programs comparable to Retail inMotion's F&B and boutique product services. Former employer of newly appointed CCO Fi Logan-Wyeth.
- gategroup: Largest global in-flight services consolidator (catering, retail, hospitality) and former parent of LSG Group. Provides competing end-to-end onboard retail solutions to the same airline customer base; former employer of Retail inMotion's newly appointed COO.
- LSG Group: Global in-flight services and onboard retail provider with overlapping capabilities to Retail inMotion. Simultaneously a core long-term strategic partner (communications representation since 2023) and a competitor in the broader onboard retail space.
- Thales (InFlyt Experience): Major avionics and in-flight entertainment vendor whose seatback and connectivity platforms increasingly incorporate onboard retail commerce functionality, similar to where Retail inMotion's Vector platform is heading.
Emerging players
- AirFi: Specialist in onboard wireless networks and portable entertainment/retail platforms for airlines and rail operators. Competes with Retail inMotion's WiFi-Box and Order2Seat passenger engagement modules in the lower-cost / quick-deploy end of the market.
- GuestLogix (now part of Plusgrade): Historically a direct competitor in onboard retail technology and payment processing for airlines. Continues to operate in adjacent ancillary revenue optimization for travel and is comparable on the payment and POS-integration layer.
Direct peers
- Immfly: Direct competitor providing digital onboard retail and entertainment platforms for airlines. Competes head-to-head with Retail inMotion's Vector platform for the same airline digital retail RFPs in Europe and globally.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Retail inMotion social profiles
Digital presenceRetail inMotion compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Retail inMotion financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Retail inMotion leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Retail inMotion funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Retail inMotion M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Retail inMotion
What does Retail inMotion do?
Retail inMotion provides end-to-end onboard retail solutions for airlines, combining its proprietary Vector technology platform (covering inflight POS, pre-order, payment processing, digital menus and virtual try-on) with managed retail services that include supply chain and distribution of food, beverage and boutique products, crew engagement and training, design services and onboard hardware. Airlines can either license the Vector modules or use the fully outsourced 360° Capabilities model in which Retail inMotion runs the entire onboard retail program.
Is Retail inMotion a public or private company?
Retail inMotion is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was Retail inMotion founded?
Retail inMotion was founded in 2004. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Retail inMotion based?
Retail inMotion is headquartered in Sandyford, Ireland, in the Europe region.
How does Retail inMotion make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Technology Platform Licensing & SaaS are the primary driver. The others are fully Outsourced Retail Program Management, product Distribution (Food & Beverage, Boutique, Duty Free), crew Engagement & Training Services, design Services and hardware Supply.
Who are Retail inMotion's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Avolta (formerly Dufry), Panasonic Avionics, Gebr. Heinemann, SSP Group, gategroup, LSG Group and Thales (InFlyt Experience). Emerging players are AirFi and GuestLogix (now part of Plusgrade). Immfly is listed as a direct peer.
Does Retail inMotion have an API?
Yes. Vector platform offers nearly 100 standard available off-the-shelf APIs for integration with airline systems including scheduling systems, loyalty systems (accruals and redemptions), booking engines, caterers, and payment acquirers.
What industry is Retail inMotion in?
Retail inMotion's product category is Onboard Retail Technology and Services for Airlines. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THABAMAD, Onboard Retail, Duty-Free & Payments, with a secondary code of THABAMAJ, In-Flight Operations Support (Cabin Logistics, Loading, Inventory). Its NAICS code is 42344 and its SIC code is 5140.