If international business was ice hockey, successful penetration to the US would probably be something like winning the Stanley Cup. One of the most competitive online markets in the world offers endless business opportunities and enough space for both established companies and ambitious start-ups. And as always, success is when preparation meets the opportunity. Be sure to do your homework before trying to seize the American dream.
Go mobile or go home
The percentage of people using smartphones grows throughout the whole world and the USA isn’t any different. Their usage might have been rather rare back in 2005, but nowadays they are used by more than 70 % of Americans. That doesn’t just mean that mobile optimization is a must, but also that you won’t stand a chance without working with voice search.
Source: https://www.statista.com/
One Amazon to rule them all
The newest estimations talk about more than $100 Billion spent on digital advertising in the USA in 2018. It comes as no surprise that the largest share of this budget goes to Google and Facebook – these two platforms together total more than $60 billion. The third place goes to Amazon with spendings reaching almost 5$ billion.
Don’t be sorry for Amazon. They might never catch the Google-Facebook advertising duopoly, but they’re the unquestionable leader of American online retail. With average monthly traffic reaching nearly 2$ billion, they get over 50 % of the overall traffic share.
That doesn’t mean that American customers are unreachable. It means that you shouldn’t underestimate the initial market research to find your niche, your target customers and the USP that will help you stand out. Don’t forget to take into account Americans’ cultural specifics and possible minorities.
It’s a sidewalk, not a pavement
The Americans might share the English language with their more traditional, smaller relatives, but make no mistake, that’s where the similarities end. The shops are different and usually located elsewhere and even the shopping habits aren’t the same. A good example of these dissimilarities is Best Buy, a successful American company failing miserably in the UK.
