3–6 Month Purchase Lead Times
Seasonal products need to be ordered, manufactured, and shipped months before selling season. A Q4 holiday retailer is placing purchase orders in Q2 — and paying deposits even earlier.
Industry
Capital to buy inventory now and sell it later.
Retail and ecommerce runs on a simple but capital-intensive cycle: purchase inventory months before it sells, invest in marketing before peak season, and build fulfillment capacity before demand arrives. We structure capital around that timeline.
Capital pressures
Where retail and ecommerce companies feel it most.
The retail model demands capital deployment months ahead of revenue. Inventory, marketing, and fulfillment all require spending now for revenue that arrives later — and the stakes are seasonal.
Marketing Before Peak Season
Customer acquisition spend — digital ads, influencer campaigns, catalog production — ramps weeks before peak selling periods. This marketing capital is deployed against projected, not realized, revenue.
Supplier Deposits & Payment Terms
Overseas manufacturers often require 30–50% deposits at order placement and full payment before shipment. Domestic vendors may offer net-30, but seasonal volume still creates cash pressure.
Fulfillment & Warehouse Capacity
Scaling fulfillment — warehouse space, pick-and-pack staffing, shipping infrastructure, 3PL relationships — requires investment ahead of the volume that justifies it.
How we evaluate
Underwriting that accounts for seasonal demand patterns.
A traditional lender looking at a retailer's January financials sees the lowest-revenue month of the year. We look at the full seasonal arc — when inventory is purchased, when marketing spend peaks, when revenue concentrates, and how quickly inventory converts to cash.
An ecommerce brand doing $15M annually with 60% of revenue in Q4 has a specific, quantifiable capital need: funding $4–6M in inventory and marketing between May and September for revenue that arrives October through December. We structure around that reality.
- Monthly revenue distribution and seasonal concentration patterns.
- Inventory purchase timelines, vendor deposit requirements, and payment terms.
- Marketing spend cadence and customer acquisition cost by channel.
- Fulfillment infrastructure — owned vs. 3PL, warehouse costs, shipping economics.
Common facility structures
How retail and ecommerce capital is typically structured.
Retail businesses benefit from facilities that deploy capital ahead of revenue and repay as sales convert. The right structure depends on your inventory model, vendor relationships, and seasonal profile.
Inventory Financing
Capital specifically structured around inventory purchases — fund seasonal buys, vendor deposits, and manufacturing runs against the value of inventory on hand or in transit.
PO Financing
Fund supplier payments against confirmed purchase orders from major retail buyers. Bridges the gap between an order and the cash needed to fulfill it.
Line of Credit
Flexible revolving capital for ongoing operational needs — marketing spend, payroll, 3PL fees, and vendor payments that don't fit neatly into an inventory-specific facility.
Revenue-Based Financing
Repayment tied to a percentage of daily or weekly revenue. Aligns capital costs with actual sales performance — payments scale down in slow months and up in peak periods.
Typical profile
The retail and ecommerce companies we work with most.
$3M–$80M in Annual Revenue
DTC ecommerce brands, wholesale distributors, brick-and-mortar retailers, and omnichannel businesses with growing order volume and inventory requirements.
Seasonal Demand Patterns
Revenue concentrated in specific quarters or selling seasons — requiring capital deployment 3–6 months before peak periods and creating natural cash-flow valleys between seasons.
Inventory-Heavy Operations
Physical products requiring purchase, storage, and fulfillment. Whether sourced domestically or internationally, inventory represents a significant capital commitment.
Let's build a capital plan around your selling season.
Start with a consultation. We'll review your inventory cycle, vendor terms, and seasonal revenue patterns to identify the right structure.