Market entry strategy for exports to the United States

If the United States is a relatively unknown market for you, you need a clear market entry strategy. This may be different from the strategies you have used so far, as the market structure and the competition is different.

Key in your market entry strategy is some market research. Of course there are reports on market size and market growth, but often these are general. Specific knowledge on how your product is perceived and what your competitions is, is harder to get but more valuable.

Oppportunities for international business in the United States

The United States of America has a population of 327 million. In 2022, 83% of the population lived in the cities, and this percentage is slowly rising. The average income per capita is almost 60,000 USD. This is promising to sell your goods, but you’ll have to know where to start.

The United States (the US) has 50 states, five territories, and a federal district. The country is governed by the federal government, having fifty states and the federal district of Washington.

Market entry approach in the USA

What market entry approach you want to choose, will strongly depend on the type of product that you are selling.

Product type	Possible strategy
B2B products, high value, small volumes	One distributor or agent for the whole country may do, unless the sales process is complex and local service or maintenance is needed.
B2B products, high volumes	For logistic reasons and if applicable for service and maintenance, you may choose for regional distributors
B2C products with regulations per state, like medicines and alcohol	One distributor per state
Other B2C products	You may start with one distributor first, who is the most eager to test the market for you and support the sales with brokers. Later on you may choose more distributors and set up you local company and do some sales directly.

In the competitive USA market, you have to convince a retailer why he will make more margin with your product than with what he currently has on the shelves. We help you make the competitor analysis, position yourself in the market and present you in the right way. And we do the groundwork in approaching the right decision makers.

Five ways into a market

Your entry model decides your cost, your speed and how much control you keep: sell directly from home, work with an agent, appoint a distributor or importer, sell online, or open a local office.

Control and investment move together. Direct and online selling are cheap to start and easy to stop. A local office gives full control, but needs staff, registration and often a local company.

Most companies start light, prove that there is demand, and only then invest.

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Almost every country or trade block in the world has its own detailing on the international HS-code list. With our report you strongly reduce the risk on misclassifications, delays and higher custom duties than expected.

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Entering the market in the United States in three steps

Step 1

Validate the demand

Check market size, competitors and price levels, then speak with five to ten potential buyers. Their reaction tells you more than a general market report.

Step 2

Choose channel and price

Pick the entry model that fits your margin and your capacity, and calculate your landed cost: transport, duties, VAT and the margin the channel will take.

Step 3

Pilot, then scale

Start in one region or with one partner, agree what success looks like after six to twelve months, and expand the country plan only on those results.