What the ports are telling you

On September 9 the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker raised its forecast for September imports to 2.31 million twenty-foot containers, up 9.6 percent from a year earlier and enough to make September, not July, the busiest month of 2026 at the major U.S. container ports. October is forecast at 2.11 million, November at 2.0 million and December at 2.03 million. The report also notes vessel delays from bad weather in China and reports of longer transit times through the supply chain, alongside tariff increases, inflation and higher fuel prices. NRF’s Jonathan Gold put it plainly: the peak season the industry expected to be over is not.

For a business that imports or buys imported goods, the practical translation is that a season’s worth of inventory is arriving in a compressed window, later than planned, with more cost attached to every container. The goods for Black Friday and the December weeks are being paid for now, in September and October, and the cash that pays for them will not come back until the registers ring.

The cost stack: goods are only the first bill

Owners who budget the purchase order and nothing else are the ones who run short in October. A container of holiday goods generates a sequence of invoices, each due before the next:

A Los Angeles home-goods importer that sells to boutiques and online, a Seattle outdoor-gear retailer, a Brooklyn toy and gift wholesaler and a New Jersey distributor supplying pharmacies and convenience stores across the Northeast all face the same sequence. What differs is how long the gap lasts: a direct-to-consumer retailer is paid by card in December, while a wholesaler ships in October and is paid by its retail customers in January or February.

A New Jersey distributor’s fourth quarter

A seasonal and gift wholesaler in Bergen County that supplies about 300 independent retailers across New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania places its holiday orders with overseas suppliers in May and June. This year its containers, delayed by roughly two weeks, are landing at the Port of New York and New Jersey through late September.

The wholesaler needs to carry most of $792,000 for 90 to 120 days, with the money coming back in two waves. That is a large, predictable, seasonal gap with strong collateral behind it: purchase orders from known retailers and the invoices those orders become.

Matching the financing to the season

Inventory orders: working capital loan or merchant cash advance

A defined order with a defined selling season fits a working capital loan or merchant cash advance sized to the order: funding within 24 to 48 hours of a signed offer, a term that matches the season, and repayment that tracks sales rather than a fixed schedule that ignores the slow weeks in January. For a retailer paid by card, this is usually the whole answer.

Freight, duties and warehouse costs: business line of credit

The costs that arrive in a stream through October belong on a business line of credit: draw when the freight invoice lands, draw again for duties at entry, repay as December sales clear, and the line is there again next season. It typically wants a year in business, $250,000 or more in annual revenue and a credit score of 650 or higher, which describes most established importers and distributors.

Wholesale invoices paid in January: invoice financing

A wholesaler that ships in October and is paid in January has receivables, and receivables are collateral. Invoice financing through the RAN Funding lender network advances most of each invoice on issue and settles when the retailer pays, underwritten on the retailers’ credit. Purchase-order financing can pay the overseas supplier directly against confirmed orders from creditworthy customers. A business term loan fits a permanent step-up in warehouse capacity rather than a seasonal one.

California, Washington, New York and New Jersey: the local wrinkles

West Coast businesses in California and Washington are closest to the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma, which shortens transit but concentrates the cost: duties, port fees and warehouse charges hit the account within days of a vessel’s arrival, and warehouse space near the ports is priced accordingly. California businesses also receive the state’s standardized commercial financing disclosure with every offer, which makes comparing a line against a working capital loan against invoice financing a matter of reading three documents laid out the same way.

In the Northeast, goods moving through the Port of New York and New Jersey feed a dense retail market where sell-through is fast but rents, wages and warehouse costs are among the highest in the country, and where wholesalers serving independent retailers wait longest to be paid. New York’s commercial financing disclosure law, in force since 2023, applies the same standardized comparison to offers there. In all four states, the strongest file is the one that shows last year’s fourth quarter: twelve months of statements so the underwriter sees the season, the purchase orders for this year’s goods, and the customer list if invoices are being financed.

What a holiday inventory file needs

• Twelve months of business bank statements, so last year’s fourth quarter is visible.
• Purchase orders or supplier invoices for this season’s goods, with due dates.
• Freight, duty and warehouse estimates, so the facility covers the whole cost stack rather than the goods alone.
• The customer list and aging report for wholesalers and distributors financing invoices.
• Every open position, including any existing advance, so the new payment is sized around what is already being paid.

Checking your options is a soft inquiry and takes about five minutes. One application goes to our lender network, and one dedicated funding specialist comes back with the offers that fit the season, with every term explained before you sign. Apply online or call 877-522-6045.

The containers are already on the water. Check your holiday inventory financing options — about five minutes, twelve months of statements, and a soft inquiry only.