Berkeley had added to its already innovative suite of trade finance products to meet the funding requirements of U.K. SMEs as they respond to the changing retail environment. The Global e-commerce market now stands at over $1 trillion. The increased success of online retail seen over the Christmas period 2014 is further evidence of the growth of e-commerce.
Berkeley can now finance stock purchases from a client’s suppliers to facilitate sales on their e-commerce site, concessions and/or retail outlets. By combining with a premier web design and marketing company and a specialist ecommerce freight and distribution company, Berkeley offers clients a full e-commerce support service with a global reach.
The facility works in the same way as the Purchase Only Finance Facility, for the purchase cycle of the transaction. However Berkeley is repaid for the purchase of goods form the receipts of sales through the client’s e-commerce web sales or in some instances concessions and/or retail outlets. Berkeley maintains title and control of unsold stock through a written agreement with the company responsible for storing and distributing the goods and through a debenture over stock.
The e-commerce funding facility can be utilised to purchase stock for e-commerce sales whether this is the sole focus of the business or part of and omni-channel sales and marketing strategy. This facility can be stand alone or as a compliment to Berkeley’s other trade finance products.
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- Luxury Gift Supplier
Case Study
The Client – A young and growing UK company with their own brand of fashion wear, has a requirement for funding stock purchases for their retail customers in the UK, USA, Europe and the Middle East. They also required stock for their own flourishing e-commerce site.
The Facility
Berkeley provides a combination of facilities including selective factoring, supplier purchase finance and e-commerce finance. The client placed their largest customer only on the selective factoring facility and in turn benefits from bad debt insurance cover. Berkeley purchases the goods from a number of suppliers based in Europe which satisfies all their retail customer requirements.
These suppliers require payment before delivery and goods are then transported by truck to the UK warehouse. On arrival goods are split for delivery to retailers and stock to be held for sales on-line. The facilities can also be used to pay for freight, duty and VAT costs where required.
Berkeley is repaid from the sales invoices raised on the customer and directly from the client as the e-commerce stock is sold.
Additional benefits
These facilities also provide the client with options to fund stock for their own retail operation or concession within some of the major high street stores. This has provided the company with the confidence to increase PR and Marketing and accept larger orders now that there is a mechanism to support their growth. It also gives the owners the confidence to take a more measured view to investment offers that their success is attracting.
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