01Retail and e-commerce
Funding for retail and e-commerce.
Minimum average deposits
Retail buys stock before it sells it, and the gap between those two events is where most of the funding in this sector goes. Online, a second gap sits on top: the processor or marketplace holds the money after the sale has already happened.
02How the money arrives
What your statements actually show.
Underwriting reads your bank account, not your industry. Knowing how revenue reaches the account in this sector is what makes the difference between a file that is understood and one that is misread.
- Revenue shape
- Card-dominant in both channels, but banked differently. A shop settles card-present takings daily. An online seller receives processor and marketplace payouts on a schedule, net of fees, and frequently subject to a rolling reserve or a hold on newer accounts.
- How it reads to a funder
- In-store, clean and daily. Online, a smaller number of larger batched payouts that arrive net rather than gross, so the account understates sales by the whole of the fee and any reserve. Sellers across several channels bank several different payout patterns at once, which is worth listing rather than leaving to be untangled.
- Seasonality
- The most pronounced calendar effect of any sector here. A large share of the year concentrates into the fourth quarter, which means stock has to be bought in the quarter before the one that pays for it, and the first quarter is correspondingly quiet.
03What it funds
What the money is usually for.
Not a list of everything money can do. These are the things owners in this sector actually come to us for.
- Inventory bought ahead of a season the business already knows is coming
- Bulk purchasing where the discount exceeds the cost of the funding
- Advertising and marketplace fees during a peak
- New lines, new SKUs, or expansion onto an additional channel
- Covering the stretch between paying a supplier and being paid out by a platform
Amounts run from $15,000 to $20,000,000, sized against what the account takes in rather than against what the money is for.
04Strength
What strengthens the file here.
The general list is on the qualification page. These are the things that carry particular weight in this sector.
Reads well
- Payout history across a full year, so the seasonal shape is visible rather than assumed
- Several sales channels rather than complete dependence on one marketplace account
- Low chargeback and return rates, which underwriters treat as a quality signal
- Inventory that turns, rather than capital sitting in stock that has not moved
05Friction
What complicates it.
None of these is an automatic no. Each one changes what is available, and each one is better raised by you at the start than found in the statements later.
Reserves and holds that hide real revenue
Rolling reserves, delayed payout schedules and holds on newer marketplace accounts all keep money out of the bank account after the sale has happened. Processor statements alongside bank statements show the real figure; without them the file is read at the net, which is lower.
Platform dependence
A single marketplace account carrying the entire business is a concentration risk of the sharpest kind, because suspension is both possible and immediate. A second channel changes how the file is read.
Seasonal borrowing against a fixed repayment
Funding bought in autumn to buy stock is repaid partly in the quiet first quarter. Sizing has to assume the slow months, not the peak that justified the purchase.
A fact that arrives with an explanation is worked with. The same fact found in the statements is a surprise, and surprises cost you terms.
06Which product fits
Not every sector wants the same instrument.
We arrange four. These are the ones that tend to suit retail and e-commerce, and why. Which one is right for you is decided on your file, not on your sector.
Rates published
Merchant cash advance
Fits the card and payout pattern directly, and moves fast enough to catch a buying window.
How it worksQuoted per file
Revenue-based financing
The better shape where the fourth-quarter swing is severe, because repayment eases through the quiet quarter.
How it worksQuoted per file
Asset-backed capital
Inventory itself can be the security where volumes are substantial and the stock is genuinely saleable.
How it worksFind out where your file stands.
The application takes about fifteen minutes and asks for 3–6 months of business bank statements. If something on this page describes your business, say so at the start: it is the difference between a file that is read correctly and one that is read twice.