Client Overview

When we first partnered with this fast-growing e-commerce business, sales momentum was strong but profitability was under strain:

  • Annual revenue of ₹22+ Crores
  • Presence across marketplaces and D2C website
  • 1,500+ monthly orders with high repeat customers
  • Team of 45+ members across marketing, ops, and fulfillment
  • Heavy reliance on paid ads and promotional campaigns

Despite rising orders, cash pressure was increasing month after month.

The Challenge

Cash flow grew erratic as quantities increased. Marketplace settlement cycles of 10–15 days, along with frequent returns and refunds, delayed actual cash realization. Continuous financial stress resulted from the upfront payment of advertising expenditures and the delayed receipt of revenue.

Stock keeping unit level profitability was not visible. The erroneous belief that every sale was profitable resulted from the inaccurate mapping of discounts, logistical expenses, returns, gateway fees, and platform commissions. In actuality, a number of high-volume SKUs were losing money.

Planning for inventory was reactive. While slow-moving things prevented working capital, fast-moving products ran out of stock. Input credit discrepancies and compliance strain resulted from manual, error-prone GST reconciliations across several markets. There were no real-time dashboards for management to monitor cash flow, marketing ROI, and margins. 

The Solution

At Sharda Associates, we helped introduce financial structure and clarity.

  • Implemented SKU-wise and channel-wise profitability tracking
  • Built dashboards for cash flow, margins, returns, and ad ROI
  • Introduced rolling cash-flow forecasting linked to settlement cycles
  • Automated GST reconciliation and marketplace reporting

We also advised on discount rationalization, inventory optimization, and marketing spend control to protect margins while scaling.

The Impact

  • Cash flow visibility improved by 35%
  • Gross margins improved by 18% through SKU rationalization
  • Inventory blockage reduced by 30%
  • Marketing ROI improved by 22% with data-driven decisions

Conclusion

We assisted the company in transitioning from growth at any cost to profitable scaling by improving unit economics and cash-flow visibility.

Sharda Associates’ virtual CFO services will help you scale with clarity and control if your e-commerce company is expanding but having trouble with margins, cash flow, or inventory disarray.