Unpacking Kickfurther’s 2025 CPG Annual Report

Posted on by Amanda Levine

The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is always evolving, and Kickfurther’s 2025 CPG Annual Report provides a snapshot of where things stand and where they’re headed in 2025. While we don’t want to spoil all the surprises (you’ll want to dive into the full report for that), here’s an overview of the key highlights, emerging trends, and practical tips for navigating the ever-changing CPG landscape.

Let’s dive into the highlights.

2024 Industry Trends and Challenges: Are You Ready to Tackle What’s Next?

In 2024, the CPG industry continued to grapple with inflation, labor shortages, and evolving consumer expectations. However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Brands that embraced innovation, sustainability, and data-driven strategies flourished, setting the stage for a promising future.

Key Achievements in CPG:

  • Growth Milestones: From revenue increases to market expansions, brands showcased resilience.
  • Innovation: Forward-thinking CPGs leveraged AI and data analytics to streamline operations and understand their customers better.
  • Sustainability: ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) claims became a driving factor for consumer choices, with products featuring these claims growing faster than those without.

Top Trends to Watch

  • Shifting Consumer Loyalties: Private-label products are gaining momentum as consumers look for value without compromising quality.
  • Funding Innovation: Brands are moving away from traditional loans and exploring options like revenue-based financing and inventory financing to support their growth.
  • AI and Automation: From inventory management to customer insights, technology is playing a pivotal role in reducing costs and improving efficiency.
  • Sustainability as a Strategy: Consumers are increasingly drawn to brands that reflect their values, with clean-label and eco-conscious products leading the way.

Challenges (and How to Tackle Them)

Here’s a look at 2024’s biggest challenges:

  • Inflation Pressures: Price sensitivity among consumers has forced brands to rethink their pricing strategies.
  • Labor Shortages: Many companies are addressing workforce challenges by investing in automation.
  • Regulatory Hurdles: New FDA regulations and sustainability expectations mean staying compliant is more important—and complex—than ever.

Opportunities on the Horizon: What’s Next for 2025

Are you prepared for growth opportunities in 2025? 

  • Innovation and New Product Launches: Don’t just innovate—be bold! Consumers are eager for genuinely new offerings that solve problems or add value.
  • Sustainability Leadership: Go beyond buzzwords. Authentic ESG initiatives resonate with today’s savvy shoppers.
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: With the rise of AI tools, even smaller brands can harness analytics to optimize margins and drive growth.

Partners in Growth: Collaboration as a Catalyst

Why go it alone when partnerships can scale your brand to new heights? Our 2025 report showcases real-world examples of brands that leveraged strategic collaborations to overcome challenges and achieve rapid growth as well as the service partners you need to add to your stack in 2025.

These stories highlight how aligning with the right partners—whether for funding, operations, or inventory management—can transform your brand’s growth journey. 

Conclusion

Our 2025 CPG Annual Report is more than a snapshot of the CPG industry. It’s a guide for navigating its complexities and capitalizing on its opportunities. With insights on industry trends, case studies of successful brands, and strategies for growth, this report is an essential tool for CPG businesses looking to innovate, adapt, and succeed in 2025.

Ready to learn more? Download the full 2025 CPG Annual Report and equip yourself with the insights to make 2025 your year of growth and innovation.

 

Is a Merchant Cash Advance Right for your CPG Brand?

Posted on by Amanda Levine

In 2024, consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands face a rapidly evolving funding landscape. Choosing the right funding strategy has become more critical than ever, as it directly impacts your brand’s ability to scale, meet demand, and remain competitive. Whether you’re looking to boost production, expand distribution, or enhance marketing efforts, securing the right type of funding—especially for inventory management—is key.

One financing option that has gained attention is the Merchant Cash Advance (MCA). While it offers quick cash, it’s not the best fit for every CPG brand. 

Let’s explore how an MCA works and its pros and cons.

 

What is a Merchant Cash Advance?

A merchant cash advance provides a lump sum of cash in exchange for a portion of your future sales. Unlike traditional bank loans, MCAs don’t require collateral and have a much quicker approval process. Lenders assess your sales—typically through credit card receipts—to determine how much you qualify for and how quickly you can repay the advance.

This funding is often repaid daily or weekly through a percentage of your sales, known as a “holdback.” While this may seem convenient, it can create challenges for brands with seasonal or fluctuating sales.

 

Is a Merchant Cash Advance Right for Your CPG Brand?

In 2024, consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands face a rapidly evolving funding landscape. Choosing the right funding strategy has become more critical than ever, as it directly impacts a brand’s ability to scale, meet demand, and remain competitive. Whether you’re looking to boost production, expand distribution, or enhance marketing efforts, securing the right type of funding—especially for inventory management—is key.

One financing option that has gained attention is the Merchant Cash Advance (MCA). While it offers quick cash, it’s not the best fit for every business. Let’s explore how an MCA works, its pros and cons, and why alternatives like Kickfurther might better suit your CPG brand’s needs.

Pros and Cons of MCAs for CPG Brands

Pros

  1. Fast Cash Access: MCAs provide funding quickly, making them useful for covering urgent expenses like increased production costs, unexpected repairs, or marketing pushes.
  2. Credit Flexibility: MCAs are generally available to businesses with less-than-perfect credit scores.
  3. No Collateral Required: You don’t need to risk your business assets to secure funding.

Cons

  1. High Costs: MCA fees—called “factors”—are significantly higher than traditional loan interest rates, leading to a higher overall repayment amount.
  2. Impact on Cash Flow: The daily or weekly holdback can strain your cash flow, especially during slow sales periods.
  3. Short Repayment Periods: The need to repay quickly can create financial pressure, leaving little room to reinvest in growth.

 

Is an MCA Right for your CPG Brand?

While MCAs can provide quick cash, they may not be the best option for every CPG brand. They work well for businesses with steady, high-volume sales and short-term funding needs. However, if your brand experiences seasonal sales fluctuations or operates on thin margins, an MCA could lead to financial strain.

Do you have a MCA term sheet? Use our MCA Calculator to discover the true cost of your MCA.

FIND THE TRUE COST OF MY MCA (1)

Instead, CPG brands should consider alternatives that align better with their long-term growth strategies and inventory cycles.

Inventory Financing: An Alternative to MCAs

Inventory financing allows CPG brands to leverage the resources of a financing partner to pay for inventory production. This type of financing is especially helpful for brands that experience significant delays between paying for inventory and receiving payment from future sales.

With inventory financing, the products produced act as the collateral for the financing, which means that if your brand reports an inability to repay the funding, the inventory can be sold to cover the debt. This can provide a level of security for the financing partner, which can result in more favorable terms for the brand.

One of the key benefits of inventory financing is that it can be customized to address your business’s exact manufacturing, shipping, and sales timelines. Some providers even offer payment terms that align with natural cash flow cycles, meaning that no payment is required until your inventory sells. This can help to improve your cash flow and reduce the risk of running out of working capital.

Inventory financing can also be helpful for brands 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 regular basis, such as quarterly, and can help to prevent stock-out issues that can stifle growth.

 

Inventory Financing with Kickfurther 

For physical product companies (CPG companies), or those producing shelf-stable consumables, a growth funding option that provides larger amounts than traditional financing and at faster speeds is inventory funding with Kickfurther.

Kickfurther funds up to 100% of your inventory costs on flexible payment terms that you control. Kickfurther’s unique funding platform can fund your entire order(s) each time you need more inventory, so you can put your capital on hand to work growing your business without adding debt or giving up equity.

Why Kickfurther? 

No immediate repayments: You don’t pay back until your product sells and you control your repayment schedule. 

Non-dilutive: Kickfurther doesn’t take your equity.

Not a debt: Kickfurther is not a loan, so it does not put debt on your books, which can sometimes further constrain your access to additional capital providers and diminish your valuation if you approach venture capital firms.

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

Interested in inventory funding through Kickfurther? See how much capital you can access by creating an account today at Kickfurther.com!

Conclusion

Funding is the lifeblood of any growing CPG brand. While MCAs might seem appealing for their speed, they often come with high costs and rigid repayment terms that don’t align with the unique challenges of the CPG industry. Alternatives like Kickfurther offer a smarter, more flexible way to fund inventory and drive growth.

Before deciding on any funding option, take the time to evaluate your brand’s cash flow, sales patterns, and growth goals. The right funding strategy will empower you to scale sustainably while maintaining control of your business’s future.

Learn more about how Kickfurther can help your CPG brand grow here.

How Baseball Lifestyle Grew 190% in 6 months using Kickfurther

Posted on by Amanda Levine

Inventory management is often one of the most significant challenges for CPG brands looking to scale. Brands constantly face the dilemma of needing more capital to fulfill increasing demand, expand their product lines, and invest in new products and marketing. For Baseball Lifestyle 101, a dynamic brand that connects baseball lovers around the world with trendy apparel and accessories, these challenges were no different. However, with the help of Kickfurther, a unique inventory financing platform, Baseball Lifestyle overcame many of these obstacles, fueling rapid growth and ensuring sustainable scalability.

Baseball Lifestyle 101: A Brief Overview

Baseball Lifestyle 101, founded by Josh Shapiro, is more than just a brand—it’s a community. Dedicated to connecting baseball enthusiasts worldwide, the company offers a range of products that allow fans to represent their love for the sport off the field. From apparel to accessories, Baseball Lifestyle has made a name for itself as a go-to destination for baseball lovers seeking high-quality, stylish, and authentic gear.

As the brand grew, so did its challenges. Increased customer demand and imperfect inventory levels threatened to stall Baseball Lifestyle’s momentum. To continue growing and expanding its product lines, the company needed a solution to its cash flow problems, particularly the financial burden of funding inventory ahead of sales. This is where Kickfurther stepped in, offering a tailor-made solution to help Baseball Lifestyle meet its growth opportunities.

The Challenges of Inventory Financing

Inventory management is one of the most complex challenges for consumer product brands, especially those that are scaling rapidly. For Baseball Lifestyle, the company faced several hurdles, including:

  1. Capital Allocation: With limited cash flow, Baseball Lifestyle had to make difficult decisions on how to allocate its available capital. Should it go toward expanding the product line, acquiring new warehouse space, or investing in marketing efforts to drive more sales?
  2. Imperfect Inventory Levels: Balancing customer demand with available inventory is a tough challenge for many brands. Stockouts lead to missed sales opportunities, while overstocking can tie up valuable capital in unsold goods.
  3. Meeting Growing Customer Demand: As the brand gained popularity, Baseball Lifestyle saw a significant increase in customer demand. However, without the necessary capital to invest in inventory upfront, meeting that demand became a struggle.
  4. Ordering Delays: The lead time between manufacturing products and generating revenue from those products can be long, especially for small to mid-sized businesses. These delays often create a cash flow gap that can stunt growth.
  5. Cash-Constrained Growth: As with many growing businesses, Baseball Lifestyle’s growth was constrained by its access to capital. The company needed a financing solution that would allow it to grow without taking on burdensome debt or giving up equity.

The Kickfurther Solution: Flexible and Scalable

Kickfurther provides a unique solution to the inventory financing problem faced by many consumer brands. Instead of relying on traditional loans or giving up equity, brands can partner with Kickfurther to fund their inventory in a flexible and scalable way. Here’s how it worked for Baseball Lifestyle:

  1. No Immediate Repayment: Unlike traditional loans, Baseball Lifestyle didn’t have to start repaying Kickfurther until sales for the specific inventory began. This was a game-changer, as it allowed the company to use its revenue from sales to fund inventory repayment, reducing the strain on cash flow.
  2. Non-Dilutive: Baseball Lifestyle didn’t have to give up any equity in exchange for Kickfurther’s funding. This was a crucial benefit for founder Josh Shapiro, who wanted to maintain control over his company’s growth while still securing the necessary funding to fuel that growth.
  3. Not a Debt: One of the most significant advantages of Kickfurther is that it isn’t considered a loan. Therefore, it didn’t add any debt to Baseball Lifestyle’s balance sheet, which can sometimes limit a company’s ability to access additional capital. Instead, the funding from Kickfurther is tied directly to the company’s sales, allowing for more flexibility.

The Results: Baseball Lifestyle’s Growth with Kickfurther

With the help of Kickfurther, Baseball Lifestyle was able to overcome the challenges it faced and achieve impressive growth in a relatively short period of time. Over the course of eight funding deals worth over $700,000, the company saw a remarkable 190% growth in just six months. This explosive growth can be attributed to several key factors:

  1. Increased Inventory: With the capital provided by Kickfurther, Baseball Lifestyle was able to invest in more inventory upfront. This not only helped the company meet growing customer demand but also allowed it to take advantage of volume order discounts, thereby reducing its cost of goods sold and improving overall profitability.
  2. Product Expansion: The influx of capital enabled Baseball Lifestyle to expand its product offerings. By introducing new products, the company was able to attract a broader customer base and increase sales.
  3. New Warehouse Space: As the brand grew, so did its need for additional space to store inventory and accommodate new staff. Thanks to the funding from Kickfurther, Baseball Lifestyle was able to acquire new warehouse space, further streamlining its operations and setting the stage for continued growth.
  4. Improved Cash Flow Management: With flexible repayment terms, Baseball Lifestyle was able to maintain a healthy cash flow, even as it expanded its operations. The company could focus on growing its business rather than worrying about the immediate financial burden of repaying a loan or giving up equity to investors.

Why Kickfurther Was the Perfect Fit

For consumer product brands like Baseball Lifestyle, traditional financing options often come with limitations. Loans add debt to the balance sheet, making it harder to access additional capital down the line, while equity financing requires giving up control of the company. Kickfurther, on the other hand, offers a unique solution that fits perfectly with the needs of growing brands:

  1. Flexible Payment Terms: Companies like Baseball Lifestyle can control the terms of repayment, only paying back as sales occur.
  2. Scalable Solutions: Kickfurther’s model is scalable, meaning that as Baseball Lifestyle continues to grow, it can continue to access more capital to fund even larger inventory orders.
  3. No Debt, No Dilution: Kickfurther’s model ensures that brands can grow without adding debt or giving up ownership of their company.

Conclusion: A Partnership for Success

Kickfurther’s partnership with Baseball Lifestyle has proven to be a powerful driver of growth. By offering a flexible, scalable, and non-dilutive inventory financing solution, Kickfurther allowed Baseball Lifestyle to overcome its cash flow challenges, meet growing demand, and ultimately achieve 190% growth in just six months. As more brands look for innovative ways to finance their inventory, Kickfurther stands out as a valuable partner for those looking to scale without the burden of traditional financing options. Baseball Lifestyle’s success story is a testament to the transformative power of the right financing solution at the right time.

How Crunch Cup Fulfilled Large-Scale Orders from Target, Kroger and Walmart using Kickfurther Funding

Posted on by Amanda Levine

In today’s fast-paced consumer products market, managing inventory, fulfilling large purchase orders, and sustaining growth can be daunting for scaling CPG brands. Crunch Cup, a brand known for its innovative solution that allows cereal lovers to enjoy their favorite breakfast on the go, faced these exact challenges. However, with the help of Kickfurther, Crunch Cup was able to overcome financial constraints and unlock new growth opportunities. 

About Crunch Cup

Crunch Cup was founded by Kevin Meyer and his team at Crunch Tech Inc. Their dual-chambered, reusable tumbler made from durable, BPA-free Tritan material was a game-changer for cereal enthusiasts. With Crunch Cup, customers could enjoy cereal and milk separately without sogginess, whether at home, in the car, or on the go. The product quickly gained popularity, attracting significant interest from retailers, which created the challenge of fulfilling large-scale orders.

The Growth Challenge

As Crunch Cup’s popularity surged, so did the demand for its product. They received substantial orders from major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Kroger, which represented a huge growth opportunity. However, these orders also presented a significant challenge: managing inventory and cash flow. Fulfilling large purchase orders required substantial upfront capital to produce and ship the necessary inventory, but like many young companies, Crunch Cup faced constraints.

Traditional financing options often come with rigid terms, unfavorable repayment schedules, and high-interest rates, which can deter growth for a CPG brand. Crunch Cup found itself in a position where it could either take on burdensome debt or miss out on key growth opportunities. They needed a flexible financing solution that would allow them to scale without sacrificing their financial health.

Meet Kickfurther

Kickfurther offers a unique alternative to traditional financing by enabling CPG brands to fund their inventory needs without taking on debt or giving up equity. Kickfurther funds up to 100% of your inventory costs on flexible payment terms that you customize and control.

Crunch Cup took advantage of our innovative model and funded $750k in inventory with Kickfurther, ensuring they had the necessary resources to fulfill orders without dipping into their own cash reserves or taking on additional financial risks.

Overcoming Cash Flow Constraints

One of the most significant benefits of Kickfurther’s funding model is that it allows companies to avoid the cash flow strain that often accompanies large-scale production. For Crunch Cup, this meant that the company didn’t have to make any repayments until the products started selling, allowing them to focus on production and fulfilling orders without worrying about immediate cash outlays.

This cash flow flexibility gave Crunch Cup the breathing room to focus on other critical areas of the business, such as product development, marketing, and expanding into new retail channels.

Navigating the Path to Success

With the help of Kickfurther, Crunch Cup was able to streamline its inventory management, ensuring that it could meet the demands of its growing customer base without running into stockouts. This was especially important as the company expanded into new retail markets and took on larger purchase orders from major players like Walmart, Target, and Kroger.

By securing flexible funding, Crunch Cup not only kept pace with growing demand but also negotiated better terms with suppliers, giving them more control over their production and supply chain. Kickfurther’s model gave the company the financial flexibility to capitalize on market opportunities without overextending their resources.

Kevin Meyer
Kevin Meyer

Avoiding Stockouts and Capitalizing on Market Demand

One of the critical issues that CPG brands often face during periods of rapid growth is stockouts—when demand outpaces supply and products go out of stock. These gaps can have devastating effects on a brand’s reputation, and it’s something Crunch Cup was determined to avoid. With the funding from Kickfurther, Crunch Cup was able to keep up with market demand and avoid stockouts that could damage its brand.

By leveraging this inventory financing model, Crunch Cup could focus on scaling its business with confidence, knowing that it had the financial resources to meet customer demand and fulfill orders in a timely manner.

Conclusion

By using Kickfurther’s funding, Crunch Cup has been able to grow without the traditional financial constraints that often hinder CPG brands. By leveraging flexible, non-dilutive funding, Crunch Cup has successfully expanded its reach into major retailers, avoided stockouts, and negotiated better terms with suppliers. As more brands look for alternatives to traditional financing, Crunch Cup’s story serves as an example of how innovative funding models like Kickfurther can help CPG brands achieve sustainable growth.

10 Years and $300M Later…Celebrating a Decade in CPG Inventory Funding at Kickfurther!

Posted on by Amanda Levine

No one ever said launching a new company, particularly one with an untested business model, would be easy. And it hasn’t been! But with a lot of support, a great team of colleagues, great supporters, and a little luck, Kickfurther has evolved from an idea to a firmly established funding provider in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry.

Kickfurther was formed ten years ago because of a cash-flow problem facing my own CPG merchandising company. After Dodd-Frank, legislation ostensibly designed to prevent “too big to fail” moments in the finance industry, we saw the largest consolidation in the finance industry in history. Originations from small and medium banks tanked and they were absorbed by the biggest banks getting even bigger. 

This created an absolute dearth of finance for small and medium businesses, the kinds of clients that small community banks were well designed to serve, but weren’t worth the time to underwrite for the growing megabanks. They weren’t interested in making loans to a business my size, and factoring services wanted to eat too much into our margin. I was able to take out a personal loan, but that wasn’t a long-term solution and I didn’t want to do an equity raise just to fund inventory runs.

This was during a zero interest rate policy environment and it seemed like a massive disconnect in the market that my money was earning 0% sitting in a bank account but my profitable growing business was being charged north of 50% for inventory funding. I saw an opportunity to provide a great funding solution to product entrepreneurs while also creating access for anyone interested in earning profit in the world of product goods through a digital-first inventory consignment marketplace.

 

Ten Years Later

Ten years in, Kickfurther is still the world’s first and only inventory funding consignment marketplace. We have funded more than $300 million in inventory across over 2,300 consignments.  One of our early learnings is that if our marketplace was going to be successful, we needed to create a process to review and qualify CPG companies.

That process developed over the years from an initial checklist, to a scorecard heuristic, to what we have today, the Kickfurther Metrics Model (KMM), a machine learning tool that has greatly improved our ability to review and qualify businesses.  We’re proud of the KMM, as it has become the core of our qualification process, and continually increases in both its efficiency and predictive power.

 

Moving forward

It took ten years, but Kickfurther is now deeply rooted and the future looks bright. More than $160 of the $300 million funded occurred in the last two years and we’re on track to fund over $100M in inventory in 2024 alone. We are the only organization offering inventory on consignment to the market segment we operate in, the best cash flow alternative to the merchant cash advance solutions that plague our market.

At the same time, we’re continuously improving the KMM to attempt to ensure positive outcomes for our users and client businesses. 

We believe we are currently in a position to sustainably build toward our vision. That vision is informed by our history that’s steeped in supply chain management. I’ve seen how much wealth has been created in trade over the years and we believe that trade has historically been one of the greatest wealth-creation engines in history. Inventory is the physical asset that underpins trade, and the trade of physical goods only continues to grow. 

Our vision is to use the best technology to build the world’s first and best digital exchange where users and businesses form a partnership through the medium of inventory and both profit as a result. Our success creates unprecedented direct access to one of the most liquid, high-turn and vast classes of assets: physical goods inventory.

So, congratulations Kickfurther on its ten-year anniversary! Looking back, it’s amazing what we’ve accomplished, and reflecting on everything it took to get here. Looking forward, our plan is to fundamentally change the way the world thinks about inventory

Shopify Capital Eligibility Review: What You Need to Know

Posted on by Amanda Levine

Access to capital and funding is essential for eCommerce businesses to succeed. Shopify Capital is a business funding program that provides financing to pre-qualified sellers to help them cover inventory costs, marketing expenses, hiring needs, and other growth initiatives.

Borrowers receive a lump sum and agree to a fixed borrowing fee offered by Shopify Capital. With a Shopify term loan, you can get up to $2,000,000, depending on your business’s eligibility, and manage repayments directly through an online dashboard.

While Shopify Capital loans offer you the flexibility to run your business and get financing from one place, you should fully understand the Shopify Capital eligibility review process before considering this option.

Breaking Down Shopify’s Eligibility Criteria

For merchants seeking inventory funding, the Shopify Capital eligibility review considers these factors:

  1. You must have an active online store hosted on the Shopify platform for at least 90 days.
  2. You need a consistent track record of revenue demonstrating your business’s stability and growth potential.
  3. Shopify Capital favors stores with at least a few months of sales history. Higher sales volumes further increase your chances of approval.
  4. Shopify Capital looks out for red flags in your finances, such as excessive chargebacks, legal issues, or sudden drops in sales.
  5. You must be able to repay the funding.
  6. You need a proven track record that positions your business as stable and unlikely to fail. (Newer stores may struggle to meet this requirement.)
  7. Offering a variety of products shows adaptability and enhances your eligibility.

Unfortunately, Shopify doesn’t share specific eligibility guidelines for what they consider stable businesses, so if your business is ineligible for funding, you may not know how to improve your chances.

Sellers who do pass the Shopify Capital review have the following main options for funding:

Short-Term Business Loans 

Shopify provides a lump sum payment that must be repaid in full plus a flat borrowing cost. Payments are broken up into installments, and the typical repayment period is 12 months.

Merchant Cash Advances (MCA)

Shopify essentially purchases a share of future sales. As the borrower, you receive a lump sum from Shopify Capital that you’ll repay via deductions from your daily revenue until the loan plus costs are repaid. On days without sales, MCA loans often will not be deducted from your account.

Shopify Capital’s funding options vary according to your business location. Shopify term loans are only available to businesses in Australia and the United States, while merchant cash advances are available to businesses based in the US, Canada, and the UK.

Understanding Shopify Capital’s Review Process

The Shopify loan underwriting process consists of the following two stages:

Pre-Qualification

During pre-qualification, Shopify determines if your business is eligible to apply for financing. This is based on your sales history, engagement with the Shopify platform, and other criteria as outlined above. If you are eligible for funding, you will either receive a message on the homepage of your Shopify admin or be contacted by a Shopify sales representative. If you aren’t contacted by Shopify, that means your store doesn’t meet the requirements.

As part of the loan application process, you’ll need to submit financial documents with your application. You may be wondering, “Does Shopify Capital report to credit bureaus?” No, Shopify Capital does not report to credit bureaus or require a personal credit check. 

Application Review

During the Shopify Capital eligibility review process, Shopify’s lending team will assess your application and financial information and confirm whether you are approved for term loans. Your application is reviewed within 1-3 business days, but it can take longer in certain cases. If your request is approved, your loan amount is transferred to your business bank account, typically within a few business days.

According to Shopify, its underwriting model analyzes many data points to calculate eligibility and what loans it will offer you. As a pre-qualified seller, you’ll typically receive three funding offers and can choose to move forward with the one that best fits your needs. However, it’s important to know these offers are non-negotiable.

When it comes to your Shopify Capital interest rate, Shopify’s process doesn’t align with traditional market rates. Rather, Shopify uses a factor rate, which is a fixed fee. Under your Shopify Capital loan or merchant cash advance purchase agreement, you’ll agree on a total payment amount: your loan amount plus the fixed borrowing fee. Loan repayments are automatically pulled from your daily sales, so you’ll repay the loan more quickly if your sales increase. If, however, you have days with no sales, you won’t make a payment on those days.

You can view and manage your daily sales revenue, balance, and payment history from your Shopify account.

Is Shopify Financing the Best Choice for Your Business?

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Shopify Capital loans to help you determine whether this financing option works for your business.

Pros

  • No personal credit check required
  • Funding is delivered quickly
  • Substantial loan amounts
  • Use funding on anything business-related

Cons

  • Application process by invitation only
  • Lack of transparency about eligibility criteria
  • Loan amounts are non-negotiable
  • High interest rates

Shopify Capital is helpful for your business if you have been in operation for some time and need quick funding to expand. However, Shopify Capital loans and cash advances are only available by invitation. For newer businesses, this exclusivity is a substantial barrier.

Can’t Get Shopify Capital? Consider This Alternative

If your business doesn’t meet Shopify Capital eligibility requirements, you’re not out of options—Kickfurther is here to help.

Kickfurther is a trusted alternative funding platform for business owners seeking inventory financing. Unlike traditional lenders, Kickfurther’s funding is not a loan, so costs are structured to support your business needs.

To provide funding, Kickfurther connects your business with a community of eager backers who fund your inventory on consignment. Traditional lenders don’t serve the unique needs of merchants; Kickfurther solves this problem by funding up to 100% of your inventory costs at flexible payment terms that you control. 

Other funding providers may debit your account without concern for your sales cycle, but with Kickfurther, you control your repayment schedule. Kickfurther’s funding won’t affect your access to other capital or lower your store’s valuation.

You’ll get quick access to funds for 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.

Skyrocket Your Shopify Sales with Kickfurther 

Kickfurther brings considerable expertise to the inventory funding process, bridging the gap between production costs and sales revenue. It’s the perfect alternative to Shopify Capital as it offers businesses flexible and affordable funding with fewer hurdles. 

By funding your largest expense—your inventory—with Kickfurther, you’ll free up capital for other things, such as product development, advertising, and expansion. 

Let Kickfurther be your trusted funding partner and get funding for up to 100% of your inventory at competitive rates. Contact a Kickfurther expert today to take your Shopify business to the next level.