A loan made by a manufacturer or another party higher in the retail channel to a retailer to allow that retailer to buy stock to offer for sale in its showrooms – on the “floor.” Floor loans are common in a number of industries, most notably automobiles. Thus a new car dealer will typically buy the inventory in its showrooms with a floor loan from the auto-manufacturer secured against the vehicles, which is repaid with a fixed amount of the sales price of each vehicle. The dealer pays interest on the floor loan, which in a slow market can cut into the dealer’s profits. Contrast Sale or Return [basis] (SoR).