The award for Best Integrated Working Capital Project goes to Turkish ecommerce platform Hepsiburada for a supplier-centric merchant financing programme that judges hailed as truly win-win. The multi-bank programme – which is embedded in Hepsiburada’s supplier portal and can facilitate competitively priced funding as early as the same day an invoice is issued – has enabled merchants on the site to cut their selling prices. This has fuelled sales growth for Hepsiburada, which is using some of those financial gains to also support micro, women-owned and earthquake-affected merchants with subsidised dynamic discounting.
The challenge
Nasdaq-quoted Hepsiburada is a giant in Turkey’s vibrant ecommerce sector. With a local market share that is roughly three times bigger than Amazon’s, it provides a venue for over 100,000 mostly SME merchants to sell directly to 12 million consumers via more than 100,000 daily transactions. But the relationship is symbiotic. For Hepsiburada to maintain its double-digit sales expansion, it needs sellers on the site to also be reliable, resilient and empowered to grow.
So to ensure the sustainability of its merchants – and of its own business model – Hepsiburada wanted to provide sellers with access to affordable working capital while they wait to collect payments from it for goods sold through the site. Merchants had expressed a desire to receive that working capital boost as soon as possible after making a sale and they wanted a solution that was easy to use, offered transparent pricing, did not oblige them to have an account with a specific bank, and offered them visibility of and control over their own purchase orders and invoices.
A supplier-centric solution
Through a partnership with Turkish start-up fintech Faturalab, Hepsiburada devised an end-to-end supply chain finance (SCF) merchant financing programme that is able to provide merchants with access to cash on the very same day that they make a sale.
Judges were especially impressed with how carefully Hepsiburada crafted the programme to meet the needs of suppliers. For example, to make the 100% digital solution easier to use, it is embedded in the ecommerce platform’s supplier portal, where merchants access and manage their purchase orders and invoices in one location with a single sign-on.
Merchants of all sizes have the option of requesting finance as often as they want for all or part of their receivables, with up to four banks simultaneously providing competitive, transparent and real-time quotes. If for some reason none of the banks is able to offer finance to a merchant, Hepsiburada can step in with a back-up offer of dynamic discounting support at the same rate as banks would usually charge.
As well as being easy to use and fully automated, the solution also allows merchants to receive payments into the bank account of their choice, rather than an account held with the funding bank. And because invoices are all electronic and stored in a central registry, the risk of fraudulent double discounting is avoided.
Positioned for growth
The solution is highly successful. Over 6,000 suppliers have been onboarded so far and $1.8 billion of invoices uploaded and financed on the same day as funding was requested – 28 days earlier on average than merchants would ordinarily have had to wait for payment by Hepsiburada.
Hepsiburada is now working to double the number of financial institutions providing financing through the solution, aiming to onboard another four by the first quarter of 2026.
Having access to cash if and when they need it, has provided merchants with financial predictability. They have the liquidity to continue selling goods through Hepsiburada and are more resilient in the event of any external shock or economic downturn.
The positive impact for merchants is so great that many have been able to reduce their selling prices on the site. This has given Hepsiburada a competitive edge against its rivals and helped stimulate sales growth – all at zero cost for the ecommerce platform.
Paying it forward
The solution has also provided a boost for Hepsiburada’s own sustainability strategy – and the sellers that benefit from it.
As a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), Hepsiburada has committed to supporting human rights and labour rights, protecting the environment and combating corruption through its operations.
The merchant financing programme has helped strengthen Hepsiburada’s ability to in parallel support selected merchants – ranging from women-led micro enterprises to merchants based in earthquake zones – with subsidised micro-finance and dynamic discounting that allows them to borrow at cheaper rates and more favourable tenors or in larger amounts.
“Hepsiburada has demonstrated how powerful SCF can be when corporates really listen to their suppliers,” said Mike Hewitt, CEO of Working Capital Forum. “By embedding in its site a solution that is flexible, intuitive and fairly priced, it has not only strengthened its suppliers and sharpened its competitive edge, but generated resources to support more marginalised entrepreneurs through its sustainability efforts.”