Sheel Vora: “Pricing, and comparison of prices, is a very big pain point for the industry, and there is a lot of clutter and inconsistency.”

Travel‑retail tech startup, Sentipede Technologies, is ramping up the locations for its AI-enhanced global price intelligence platform, ZAIC, and expects to have product price comparisons for 55 locations by the end of January. The current number is approximately 35.

Airports in North America and Australia are being added to a growing list, which, on the 1 December launch, covered 1,500 product SKUs for comparison across locations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Southeast Asia. By the end of January, Sentipede expects to expand to 2,000–2,200 SKUs and will track tobacco and electronics products in addition to the initial core categories of liquor, confectionery, and perfumes.

ZAIC, one of the newest entrants in the travel‑retail technology space, has ambitions to streamline global pricing intelligence for travel retail operators and brands. Sentipede, an incubated subsidiary of India-based data science company Voiceback Analytics, has launched the AI-powered platform as a B2B price‑comparison and analytics service specifically for the duty-free channel.

Speaking to TRBusiness, Sentipede Technologies CEO, Sheel Vora, said: “Pricing, and comparison of prices, is a very big pain point for the industry, and there is a lot of clutter and inconsistency. We wanted to unify and simplify the experience and put accurate information in one place.”

Vora previously spent five years with Adani Group. Two of those were at Adani Airports, India’s largest private operator running major gateways such as Mumbai – a key airport for travel retail activations, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow, among others. At Adani, Vora led digital and analytics projects, and the idea for ZAIC emerged directly from the operational issues he observed while working with the company’s non‑aeronautical and duty-free teams.

A B2B tool, not a consumer app

ZAIC is accessible via zaic.sentipede.ai, where users can create accounts. Although anyone can technically sign up, the platform is not positioned as a consumer tool, and the free subscription, allowing comparison of up to five locations, lasts for 30 days. The complimentary service currently offers access to five locations and up to three categories (liquor, confectionery, perfumes).

A sample price comparison in USD on 16 January. Green is the cheapest and red is the most expensive.

The full subscription model is priced at $50 per month per category per location, reduced to $25 per month for annual plans. The pricing reinforces ZAIC’s positioning as a tool for professionals. “Once you go the consumer route, the entire strategy changes. For now, we are firmly B2B for brands, retailers, and airports,” said the CEO, who added that a consumer version has not been ruled out.

Sentipede has also responded to retailer feedback by integrating beauty comparisons, for example, with major online e‑commerce players such as Nykaa, Sephora India, Shoppers Stop, and Tira by the end of this month. This reflects growing demand for cross‑channel visibility in one of travel retail’s most competitive categories.

ZAIC’s competitive advantages

“The site offers users more awareness about undercutting competitors, tracking promotions, margins, pricing in different currencies, ultimately allowing them to make more strategic calls,” said Vora.

New features that the company is rolling out from this January include: price‑change alerts, historical price‑trend graphs, and expanded SKU‑level accuracy testing to ensure data reliability. A forthcoming AI assistant to make the platform more interactive is also promised. “Accuracy is the most important thing,” the CEO said. “We put a lot of effort into testing because the last thing we want is to show incorrect prices.”

Sentipede is in “advanced discussions” with several duty-free retailers and major brand owners across liquor, confectionery, and beauty. While no contracts have been signed yet, the project is still only in its first two months of rollout, and the company is still conducting demonstrations and gathering feedback as it refines the platform.

Interest appears evenly spread across categories. “We haven’t seen one category dominating demand, which is a good sign for us,” said Vora. The CEO said the partnership with Voiceback Analytics gives the startup greater reach with travel‑retail stakeholders. “It’s a synergy where we combine product development with analytics experience. We believe this is a product with global reach.”

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