93% of Ecommerce Leaders Changed Inventory Strategy in the Last Year, Clearco Research Finds

According to Clearco's new report, brands are moving in rapidly shifting directions as tariffs, AI, and omnichannel expansion make financial agility increasingly important to ecommerce growth

TORONTO, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Clearco, the leading provider of non-dilutive funding for ecommerce brands, today released the report, Ecommerce Growth, Explained 2026: The Playbook Has Changed. Based on a survey of over 200 U.S. finance and operations leaders at B2C ecommerce companies, Clearco finds brands adjusting everything—from how they finance growth, acquire customers, invest in AI, and expand into new channels. These strategic shifts signal a new ecommerce growth playbook built less on rigid capital planning and more on financial flexibility.

A key finding: while 93% of ecommerce leaders made at least one significant change to their inventory strategy over the past year, the strategies vary significantly. While 39% hold more safety stock due to unpredictable demand, 35% hold less inventory and rely on faster replenishment. At the same time, 37% of brands order inventory earlier, while 34% place smaller orders more frequently. This lack of consensus among ecommerce companies extends beyond inventory.

"It's not the 93% that stands out. It's that ecommerce leaders are responding to the same pressures in completely different ways," said Andrew Curtis, CEO of Clearco. "Some are carrying more inventory. Others are carrying less or buying earlier. There isn't one playbook for growth anymore. The brands that are best positioned to grow are the ones that don't let capital dictate their decisions and maintain enough financial flexibility to change course rapidly."

Capital Is Available, But Using It Efficiently Is Getting Harder

Accessing capital isn't the bottleneck. Using it efficiently is. Nearly 87% of respondents can access growth capital within four weeks, including 36% within the same week. Access ranked behind other challenges related to capital planning, including managing the cost of capital, accurately forecasting demand, and bridging the gap between paying suppliers and receiving revenue.

Rising costs drive much of this uncertainty. 64% of respondents cite inflation and higher input costs, 55% point to tariffs or trade policy changes, and 49% cite the rising cost of capital as challenges affecting planning. Tariffs and supply chain costs also emerged as the main source of uncertainty in growth planning, with 30% of respondents selecting it as their top concern compared with just 8% who selected customer acquisition cost inflation.

The pressure extends beyond acquisition into the broader economics of growth. Tariffs and duties rank as the top source of margin pressure, followed by cost of goods, technology and AI tooling, and financing costs. As brands navigate these pressures, they must rethink how they allocate capital, inventory and resources.

AI Moves From Experimentation to Budget Allocation

While AI is becoming an increasingly meaningful area of investment, companies are balancing innovation with cost control. Technology and AI tooling ranked as the top area where ecommerce companies increased investment over the past year. Nearly 80% of respondents already use AI in finance or operations, including 34% who say it is central to forecasting, capital planning, and inventory management. AI also dominates customer acquisition strategies, with 61% planning to shift acquisition dollars toward AI- or agent-optimized discovery over the next year.

Brands see AI as an important part of future growth. But AI remains under scrutiny, ranking third among areas where businesses reduced spending and third among cost centers facing the greatest margin pressure.

Additional key takeaways from the research include:

• DTC remains the foundation, but expansion continues rapidly: while DTC remains the primary model for 59% of respondents, only 13% say they aren't planning to expand into additional channels over the next year. Amazon leads planned channel investment at 44%, closely followed by wholesale and retail partners at 42%.
• Growth beyond DTC creates new financing needs: When asked about financing gaps associated with expanding beyond DTC, 35% cite fulfillment and logistics costs as the biggest financing gap, followed by larger upfront inventory investments at 22% and longer retail payment terms at 20%.
• Brands build more diversified capital stacks: Companies use a mix of funding sources, including business-generated cash (63%), traditional bank lines of credit (47%), corporate credit cards (42%), equity or investor capital (40%), and revenue-based financing or ecommerce-specific lenders (39%).

This research follows Clearco's closing of a $100 million asset-backed financing facility from Macquarie Group, which will support approximately $900 million in funding to ecommerce brands over the next two years. To access Ecommerce Growth, Explained 2026: The Playbook Has Changed, visit www.clear.co/blog/ecommerce-growth-report-2026.

Research Methodology
Clearco and Centiment surveyed 208 U.S. finance and operations professionals at the director level or above whose companies sell physical products online to consumers. Respondents met at least one of the study's company-size criteria of 10–250 employees or $6 million–$120 million in annual revenue. Respondents included directors, vice presidents, senior vice presidents/executive vice presidents, C-suite executives, and owners or partners across DTC, marketplace-first, omnichannel, and subscription/DTC businesses.

About Clearco
Clearco introduced non-dilutive funding to ecommerce and remains its leading provider. Built for the realities of ecommerce, its flexible funding supports inventory, always-on marketing, major purchase orders, and expansion across DTC, wholesale and retail. Qualifying brands can access up to $10 million with estimated terms of 4 to 12 months, no personal guarantees and no all-asset liens. To date, the company has provided more than $3.3 billion in funding to over 11,000 businesses.

Media Contact
Ryan Hecker
PANBlast for Clearco
[email protected]

SOURCE Clearco