Why the bank says no
Inventory is an asset a bank discounts heavily. Unsold stock is worth what someone will pay for it in a hurry, which is rarely what you paid, so a balance sheet full of it does not read as strength.
The margin compounds the problem. Retail turns a lot of revenue into a little profit, and a bank's model looks at profit.
The timing is the real bind: you buy stock months before the season and get paid across it, so a bank looks at you at exactly the point your cash is lowest and your borrowing need is highest.
What a revenue-based funder reads instead
Sales are read rather than inferred. Card settlement and deposit history show what actually moves, week by week, which is far better information than a year-old set of accounts.
Buying inventory ahead of a season is a well-understood use of funds, and it is self-liquidating — the stock becomes the revenue that repays it. Funders price that differently from an open-ended cash need.
Repayment moving with revenue matters more in retail than almost anywhere else, because the difference between December and February is not a warning sign, it is the business.
What to have ready before you apply
Six months of bank statements and, if you have them, processing statements.
What the stock is and when it sells. A funder pricing a seasonal buy wants to know when the revenue comes back.
Your monthly deposits, including any online channel that settles separately.