‘Ship Now, Pay Later’ Helps Manufacturers Clear Supply Chain Hurdles, Get Vendors Paid

Supply chain issues have been a hot topic in the media for some time now. Take, for example, the images of ships backed up at the Port of Los Angeles that were widely circulated a few months ago.

“All of that is a cash crunch because people still need to be paid all throughout that cycle of activity,” Josh Allen, chief commercial officer at Inxeption, told PYMNTS.

That’s where financial services come in, helping manufacturers quickly get their vendors paid and get themselves back to business while their products are being delivered.

Offering ‘Ship Now, Pay Later’

Inxeption offers a variety of financial services through its Industrial SuperApp. Through the app and an online platform, the company helps manufacturers and other businesses grow by boosting online sales, dealing with working capital and facilitating logistics and payments.

For logistics customers, the company offers a “ship now, pay later” product that enables them to reduce the amount of capital tied up in shipping-related expenses while waiting for buyer payments. The payment terms for shipping are available in a range of options of up to 180 days.

“Customers that have extended supply chains or more complex supply chains where the cash demands are really intense is when this comes into play,” Allen said.

With a working capital solution like this, manufacturers can manage their cash flows and have cash on hand to buy raw materials, make their products and speed up their sales cycle.

“Cash is so critical and important, especially in the smaller businesses — otherwise they slow their growth,” Allen said.

Enabling Merchants to Invest in Other Things

Another strategy deployed by companies is supply chain finance, which enables them to get paid up front for large orders. This helps them deal with the upfront payments on orders and transportation now required during the supply chain disruptions.

“With supply chain finance, you are interacting with the vendors, and you are taking cash demands off of our customers,” Allen said.

Companies also can employ a merchant cash advance option, which provides an advance on future revenues to those who need short-term working capital.

“We have a strategy with merchant cash advance that solves for the same thing,” Allen said. “You can basically provide liquidity and capability for customers to invest in other things — could be marketing, could be raw materials and product, could be several other things.”

Looking for Knowledge, Transparency and Solutions

During the supply chain crisis, companies have seen that knowledge is key, so they’re looking for data that will help them be more attuned to what’s going on in the market. By being better informed, they can make better buying decisions and prepare the capacity they need to keep their products moving.

“There’s a lot of ways to consume that data, but they’re looking for knowledge, they’re looking for transparency and they’re looking for solutions,” Allen said.