Scaling a an e-commerce business can be challenging. And raising funds to aid in that growth can be one of the most taxing aspects. Without proper funding, you can struggle to invest in growth strategies like expanding your product line, increasing your marketing efforts, and hiring additional talented individuals.

Identifying financial resources to help fuel your expansion can ensure you get and stay on a growth trajectory.

E-commerce financing is a commercial financing option that is suitable for, or geared toward, e-commerce businesses – whether you sell direct-to-consumer, on an online marketplace like Amazon, or through platforms like Shopify or Magento. The company in question may be a brand that only does business with its customers online, or it may be an omnichannel brand with a combination of online, wholesale or retail sales.

There are a number of options for e-commerce financing with different features to keep in mind.

There are several options to choose from when applying for financing and e-commerce loan:

Merchant Cash Advance – For a quick ecommerce seller financing solution, a Merchant Cash Advance is a lump-sum payment in exchange for an agreed-upon percentage of credit and debit card payments the business will receive in the future. The business pays back the money directly from its bank account or merchant account on a daily or weekly basis. In most cases, the lender will simply deduct a percentage of each sale as payment until the debt is fully repaid.

Inventory Financing – If you use inventory financing to purchase your stock, then the stock itself is collateral for the loan. If you were to default on the loan, the lender would seize the remaining inventory. Inventory financing can be organized in a few different ways. You may get it in the form of a traditional loan, where you’ll receive a lump sum to purchase your inventory, and you pay it back monthly or as you sell your inventory. When the inventory has or sold, or at the end of the term, the loan is fully paid off. Alternatively, you may work with a lender that can offer inventory financing on a revolving line of credit, where you can borrow more once you pay it back. Be aware that in either case, your lender will not typically lend more than 50-80% of the full cost of the inventory.

Inventory financing offers a creative solution if you need to free up capital tied up in inventory. This type of short-term small business funding allows businesses to secure upfront cash to meet customer demand. So should you use inventory financing?

Commercial Loans – Usually issued by banks, commercial loans are loans advanced to a business rather than an individual. Banks require borrowers to submit monthly and annual financial statements. They can be secured or unsecured. In either case, banks often present the most conservative lending a company will pursue and require good credit scores and profitability, and the company needs to be in business for a minimum of 2-3 years.

Line of Credit – This works like a credit card. You agree upon a limit with your lender, and then you have an amount you can use at will. Whatever you pay back, you can use again, and you only pay interest on what you’ve borrowed. This can be a great way to manage your cash flow, but you need to be savvy with your spending and knowing your cash flow cycles to make this work best.

Peer to Peer Lending – Peer to peer lending is essentially a loan from one person or group of people to another person or business. Similar to crowdfunding, in peer-to-peer lending, users are intending to buy product from you but are looking to assist you in your goal and earn a return on their money as it is repaid.

Kickfurther funds up to 100% of your inventory costs at flexible payment terms so you don’t pay until you sell. Kickfurther’s unique funding platform can fund your entire order(s) each time you need more inventory, so you can put your capital to work growing your business without adding debt or giving up equity.
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Inventory financing leverages the resources of a financing partner to pay for inventory production. Funding can often be customized to address your business’s exact manufacturing, shipping, and sales timelines. Some providers require no payment on goods until the inventory sells. This works well with natural cash flow cycles.

The products produced typically act as the collateral for the financing, meaning that if the business reports an inability to repay the funding, the inventory can be sold to cover the debt.

Inventory financing is especially valuable to any business experiencing a significant delay between paying for inventory and receiving payment from future sales. It is also helpful for businesses that want to receive volume-based discounts by placing larger orders to support all of their sales channels. This works best when done on a quarterly or other regular basis and can help to prevent the stock-out issues that stifle growth.

Inventory Financing with Kickfurther provides the capital to purchase more inventory now  and doesn’t require a company to begin making payments on that money until inventory begins selling, which prevents the cash pinch that many traditional loans can cause or exacerbate.

With Kickfurther, your company now has the inventory it needs to prevent stockouts, add distribution partners and capitalize on strong sales.

It can help smooth out the effects of seasonal fluctuations in some types of business and cover gaps in cash flow. It can also allow a business to buy in bulk to get a great price, or order new inventory to meet a sudden rush in demand. It can help you grow without the need to put up your own assets as collateral and it doesn’t dilute equity.

As with any business decision, it’s important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of acquiring inventory financing.

Pros of Inventory Financing

• Easier to qualify for as opposed to other types of loans.
• Perfect for retailers, manufacturers, distributors, and other businesses that deal with tangible products.
• Lenders are more willing to look past bad credit because the loan is secured by the value of your inventory
• An inventory financing loan enables businesses to prepare for seasonal demand and even expand their product lines.

Cons of Inventory Financing

• If you become unable to pay back your loan, your lender reserves the right to seize the purchased inventory to recover the lent capital.
• The due diligence process can be very expensive and time-consuming.
• Inventory financing loans cannot be used for other financing needs.

Kickfurther functions completely differently from many traditional forms of business financing. In short, you’ll tell Kickfurther how much you need in order to order new inventory. Kickfurther will pay your manufacturer directly (we can also reimburse you for recently produced inventory). After you receive your inventory and begin selling, you’ll make a payment back to Kickfurther for each item sold.

To begin, create an account to see how much you may be eligible to fund. We’ll review your sales and credit to begin approving your company. We’re proud to fund 99.5% of eligible companies!

Start today by, creating an account and tell us a little about your business. Once you begin, you’ll be connected with an account representative to help answer questions and get you funded.

No immediate repayments: You don’t pay back until your new inventory order begins selling. You set your repayment schedule based on what works best for your cash flow.

Non-dilutive: Kickfurther doesn’t take equity in exchange for funding.

Not a debt: Kickfurther is not a loan, so it does not put debt on your books. Debt financing options can sometimes further constrain your working capital and access to capital, or even lower your business’s valuation if you are looking at venture capital or a sale.

Quick access: You need capital when your supplier payments are due. Kickfurther can fund your entire order(s) each time you need more inventory.

Kickfurther puts you in control of your business while delivering the costliest asset for most CPG brands. And by funding your largest expense (inventory), you can free up existing capital to grow your business wherever you need it – product development, advertising, adding headcount, etc.

We fund ecommerce businesses every day. Whether you need $20,000 in extra inventory at the end of a season or need $500,000 or more to prepare for sales, see how other ecommerce brands have funded inventory on Kickfurther and how it’s helped them grow faster than other options would have allowed. See brands like these here. Some of our success stories:

Tame the Beast funded their 14th Kickfurther co-op of $303,815 in just 11 minutes. This helped them purchase more tried-and-true products from their line which they sold on Amazon, among other places. They’ve funded over $1.5MM of inventory with Kickfurther and doubled their business.

Fresher Products Limited funded $27,952 for their popular Hungry Fan range in just 44 seconds! They sell their products across Amazon, eBay, and other stores online.

Ameretail LLC funded  $29,522 to buy popular branded toy products to sell on Amazon in just five minutes.

Good Groceries Company received funding of $114,420 on their 2nd Kickfurther funding deal. Their success funding an initial inventory run with Kickfurther and successfully paying back helped fund their second deal with Kickfurther incredibly quickly.

If you’re looking for e-commerce financing to help you purchase more inventory to sell on your own store or other marketplaces, see why growing e-commerce brands fund more inventory and grow faster with Kickfurther!

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