What International Brands Get Wrong About the U.S. Market
- Michael Timmons
- Jun 27
- 6 min read
Let's talk about international brands wanting to enter the U.S. market.
I've been having more conversations lately with manufacturers outside the United States who have built strong, successful brands in their home markets and now see America as the next major opportunity. And on paper, I understand why. The U.S. is one of the largest, most competitive, and most opportunity-rich markets in the world.
But here's the reality: success in Europe, Asia, South America, or the Middle East does not automatically translate into success in the United States.
Over my career, I've worked with international manufacturers seeking to build products for companies here in the U.S., and I've learned a tremendous amount about how the American market operates from both the supply and sales sides.
For this article, I'm not talking about private-label or white-label products.
I'm talking about true market leaders in other countries. Brands with real market share, strong products, and proven success in their own territories that want to establish their brand in the United States.
Over the last year alone, I've spoken with several impressive international manufacturers looking to launch in the U.S. What continues to amaze me is how many of them have not taken the time to truly understand how business works here.
That's not meant as criticism, it's just reality.
And if I come across a little direct in these conversations, it's because I've seen too many companies underestimate what it takes to build a real brand in America.
The U.S. Market Is Different
Let’s use the automotive aftermarket as an example. One of the first things many international brands fail to understand is our distribution structure. In many countries, manufacturers sell either directly to consumers (D2C) or directly to retailers and installers. That’s it.
The U.S. market often operates very differently. Here, many categories are modeled using 2- or 3-step distribution models.
That means products may move through:
Manufacturer
OEM Tier 1or 2
Master Distributor / Warehouse Distributor
Jobber / Retailer / Installer
E-commerce
Consumer
That creates additional layers of margin requirements, inventory planning, operational complexity, and channel strategy. Your growth will depend on your goals.
If you’ve only ever sold D2C or directly to installers, you may not fully understand what happens when one or two additional layers are introduced into the equation. And that matters a lot.
Because every layer expects a margin.
Every layer expects service.
Every layer expects inventory availability.
Every layer expects support.
All this costs more money, time, and investment. If you price your product wrong out of the gate, you will overprice yourself in the market or end up cutting a layer listed above. This will limit your exposure and future growth opportunities.
The Biggest Misconception
The most common mindset I hear sounds something like this:
“Our products dominate in our region. We'll launch online in the U.S., drop ship from our home country, and customers will buy because our product is better.”
Or:
“We’ll hire a sales rep to visit installers and retailers. Once they see our product, they'll switch brands.”
That may work in Portugal. That may work in Turkey. That may work in India. But that is not how the U.S. market works. American customers expect fast delivery, reasonable shipping costs (or none), responsive customer service, easy returns, and reliable warranty support.
Retailers and installers expect more than a good product.
They want:
Strong margins
Reliable inventory
Brand awareness
Marketing support
Low warranty headaches
Easy ordering
Fast fulfillment
If you're asking a retailer or installer to replace an existing brand on their shelf, your product being "better" isn't enough.
You need to give them a business reason to switch. Or have the consumer give them a reason to switch by asking for it.
Questions Every International Brand Should Answer First
A few weeks ago, I started asking international brands a standard set of questions before deciding whether it makes sense to help them enter the U.S. market. These questions tell me very quickly how serious they are.
1. What is the size of the U.S. market you want to enter?
Do you actually understand the opportunity?
Or are you just assuming “America is big”?
Big markets also mean big competition.
2. How many competitors are you going up against in the U.S.?
Who are the established leaders?
Who owns the shelf space?
Who owns installer loyalty?
Who dominates SEO and paid advertising?
3. Do your products fit major U.S. applications?
This is huge in automotive.
Can your product support the top-selling vehicle applications?
If you don’t cover the top applications, your growth ceiling may already be limited. And distribution won't waste their time with your brand for only one or two low-priority products.
4. Do you have a real consumer marketing strategy for the U.S.?
And by real, I mean real. Not just: “We'll post on Instagram.”
I’m talking about:
Content creation
Paid digital strategy
Influencer strategy
Brand storytelling
UGC
Social proof
Dealer support campaigns
If consumers don't know your brand, distributors and retailers won't care. Consumer demand drives channel adoption.
5. Are you willing to stock inventory in the U.S.? - This is one of the biggest questions.
Are you willing to commit inventory here?
Or is your strategy to ship everything internationally?
Because if you're shipping every order from overseas, you're already putting yourself at a disadvantage on every e-commerce and retailer platform.
6. How many SKUs are you willing to support?
And what inventory levels are you prepared to carry?
Not every SKU performs equally.
You need a strategy around:
Core movers
Slow movers
New launches
Safety stock
Forecasting
7. What does success look like—and on what timeline? - This may be the most important question.
What are your expectations? 6 months? 12 months? 3 years?
Because building a real brand in the U.S. takes time, capital, and patience.
The typical response to these questions:
Unfortunately, most answers I get are surface-level.
Usually something like:
“We want someone to launch our brand in the U.S.”
They'll tell me they sent 4 or 5 samples to distributors or installers and received “great feedback.”
But no purchase orders.
No commitments.
No actual traction.
Just positive comments.
Then I hear:
No plan to stock inventory in the U.S.
No competitive analysis
No marketing budget
No warranty strategy
No returns process
No understanding of customer expectations
At that point, the red flags are obvious.
Many companies simply haven’t done the homework on the U.S. Market.
They don’t understand the freight costs.
They don’t understand margin compression.
They don’t understand channel conflict.
They don’t understand customer acquisition cost.
They don’t understand how expensive brand awareness is in America.
And when I explain all of this, the needs of the consumer, the expectations of retailers, and the margin requirements of distributors, they often look at me like I'm overcomplicating things.
I’m not. I’m explaining the reality of the U.S. market.
A Recent Example
Last week, I got a call from a company I spoke with about six months ago. At the time, they believed their existing international business model would work in the U.S. They politely declined my help. Instead, they tried to validate the market themselves.
They spoke with more people.
They tested ideas.
They hired a rep to try selling door-to-door.
Six months later, they came back.
This time, the conversation was different. They had learned firsthand that the U.S. market doesn’t operate like other regions. They realized product quality alone wasn’t enough. They needed a true go-to-market strategy. They needed a real plan.
Final Thoughts
I’m writing this because I genuinely believe international brands can do extremely well in the United States. In fact, some of the best growth opportunities I see involve strong international brands entering the U.S. with the right strategy.
But success here requires more than a great product and a successful business model from another country.
You must understand the customer.
You must understand the sales channels.
You must understand the margin structure.
You must understand what motivates distributors, retailers, installers, and consumers.
Most importantly, you need to understand that in the U.S., the consumer is ultimately the one buying your product. Win the consumer, and the channel will follow. Ignore the consumer, and even the best product can fail.
The U.S. market offers a massive opportunity. But if you want to win here, you need to respect the market's complexity and build a strategy tailored to the American market.
What worked elsewhere may have gotten you here. But it won't necessarily get you where you want to go next.
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