Throughout all the volatility, however, one factor remains constant: eCommerce businesses need cash. 

With predictions of a global recession, eCommerce businesses should begin to consider their financial health, and the health of their supply chains, well beyond the upcoming holiday season.

CEO Today Magazine sat down with Yaron Shapira, CEO, and co-founder of 8fig, a planning and funding platform for eCommerce sellers, to share his insights for eCommerce sellers ahead of the looming economic uncertainty. Founded just two years ago, 8fig has experienced impressive company growth and is staying true to its mission of bringing 10,000 eCommerce sellers to 8-figure revenues. 

Let’s get started. 

1 – Yaron – it’s a pleasure to have you. Tell me a bit about your journey and how you came to become CEO of 8fig today.

Thanks for having me. 

I am an entrepreneur at heart and have founded multiple successfully acquired startups. My personal work experience in fintech and consumer app development and my family’s history in import trading sparked my interest in eCommerce and supply chain technology.

I met Assaf Dagan, our CTO when we worked together at Mercury 20 years ago, and we went on to co-found Qlarium, a supply chain risk platform. Once we sold Qlarium, we recognized a need for a comprehensive solution to the many challenges eCommerce sellers face. We partnered with Roei Yellin, our CRO, to develop a solution, and 8fig was born.

2 – What is 8fig all about?

8fig is a growth partner specifically designed for eCommerce sellers, providing them with the tools and working capital they need to reach ambitious growth goals. Since eCommerce businesses are typically quite lean, 8fig acts as a fully-fledged, automated CXO to power eCommerce entrepreneurs’ growth. We offer several tools and services in addition to funding, each of which covers a different element of the business operations and essentially functions as a built-in CFO, CMO, and COO. This gives eCommerce CEOs the ability to streamline any aspect of their business and scale twice as fast.

3 – How has the eCommerce market changed due to COVID-19 and where do you see it going?

The COVID-19 pandemic has had two different and pronounced effects on the eCommerce market. On one hand, the pandemic accelerated eCommerce demand to levels we weren’t expecting before 2025. However, this increase in eCommerce sales was accompanied by a global supply chain breakdown. Due to unprecedented supply chain delays and disruptions worldwide, prices increased in nearly every category, from manufacturing to freight and logistics. 

8fig was uniquely prepared to support eCommerce sellers through these opposing challenges thanks to our built-in flexibility. We give clients the ability to make changes to their business plans in real-time, which results in changes in funding and remittance schedules. This allows sellers to stay funded and in stock even when the unexpected inevitably occurs.

Moving forward, we expect to continue to see growth in eCommerce spending, and we are already witnessing a stabilization of the global supply chain. Due to the inherent unpredictability of eCommerce and the supply chain, 8fig’s flexibility will always be a tremendous benefit to sellers.

4- If there will indeed be a global recession, what’s your advice for eCommerce sellers ahead of it?

To survive, or even thrive, during a recession, eCommerce sellers should start by planning. Many eCommerce business owners have a general idea of their supply chain operations in mind, but neglect to make a detailed map of the longer term. This can lead to difficulties in understanding cash flow across the various stages of the supply chain. Simply by mapping out the supply chain on a product-by-product basis for the next year or more, sellers can visualize the flow of goods and capital, identify weak points, and come up with solutions. Sellers should also scrutinize every stage of the supply chain and cut costs where possible. 8fig offers a free supply chain mapping framework for this purpose, as well as a tool to benchmark supply chain expenses against thousands of other sellers.

I also advise ordering smaller batches of inventory more frequently. While this may be a bit more expensive in the short term than ordering larger quantities, it pays off in terms of flexibility. Smaller batches give sellers the ability to adjust to changes more quickly. If there is an issue with one batch, less product is affected and the next batch will be on its way more quickly. This is the sort of procurement strategy that 8fig can fund, eliminating concerns that come with the higher cost.

In addition, sellers should stick to what works. By focusing on their top sellers and most effective platforms during this time, eCommerce brands can continue to bring in profits without risking unnecessary expenses.

5 – So getting back to 8fig – you co-founded it in 2020 – tell me about the company’s growth.

8fig has come a long way since I founded it with Assaf Dagan and Roei Yellin in 2020. When we first started working with eCommerce sellers, we were a few eCommerce experts working off of spreadsheets and diagrams. We have now developed a unique supply chain mapping software and advanced cash flow management tools that essentially serve as an eCommerce brand’s CFO. 

Our team has grown to over 100, located in offices in Austin, Texas, and Tel Aviv, Israel, and we continue to expand.

Our goal of transforming 8fig into an all-inclusive CXO for eCommerce CEOs has led us to implement a wide range of useful features such as an analytics dashboard, marketing benchmarks, a payment feature, and even a mobile app. These growth features are available to any eCommerce seller who connects their store to our platform, not only those we fund.

6 – What does 8fig have to offer that’s different from other funding companies?

8fig is different from other funding companies in that we’re not just a funding company. While we do offer to fund eCommerce sellers, we are a growth partner. We act as an executive team for eCommerce CEOs, creating an alignment of interests, unlike other funding companies for which funding is a zero-sum game. 

We work with eCommerce brands on some levels to help them grow in the long term, rather than just injecting capital into their accounts. The 8fig platform is designed and built to assist business owners with the various processes that make up their business, from supply chain mapping to cash flow management to data collection and forecasting. All of this is done with a focus on helping sellers achieve aggressive growth. 

The built-in flexibility of our Growth Plans is another important aspect of our business that sets 8fig apart. When we say flexibility, we mean that eCommerce businesses can change every aspect of their funding plan, an enormous asset in the ever-changing eCommerce space. 

7 – Do you see 8fig expanding its offering in the future?

Our aim is for 8fig to become an all-in-one growth platform that provides eCommerce sellers with everything they need to manage and grow their businesses. We continue to develop new tools to assist eCommerce brands with the various aspects of running an eCommerce business including marketing, supply chain management, benchmarking, payments, and more. 

While growth funding is a large part of the 8fig platform, we are working on expanding our offering specifically to those businesses that are not receiving any funding. All of the tools mentioned above will be available to eCommerce sellers regardless of their funding application.

8 – Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner. Any quick tips for sellers?

The last thing eCommerce businesses want on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is to go out of stock. Therefore, I recommend planning optimistically. In this case, it’s preferable to have excess stock than to stock out during these big selling days. Forecasting based on previous years’ sales and historical trends is useful, and 8fig’s analytics dashboard helps sellers with this. However, make sure you’re planning for the unique challenges of this year’s holiday and not only relying on past data.

Capitalize on your best-selling products, those that you know you can deliver. It’s less advisable to experiment with multichannel selling, categories you don’t know well, or new suppliers. 

Finally, focus on cash flow stabilization. Don’t over-discount products or over-spend on campaigns to the extent that you no longer make a profit on your sales. This is a great opportunity to increase revenue and profits, so plan to make sure you take full advantage of the sales event.