International ecommerce expansion: where UK brands should look now
TL;DR
We live on a small island in the top right corner of the Atlantic. If you want to scale your ecommerce business beyond a certain point, international expansion isn’t optional. The UK market has a ceiling. Eventually, you hit it.
For years, the answer was obvious: go to America. The biggest consumer market in the world, with the most rampant consumerism, was accessible from UK warehouses with minimal tariffs and increasingly cheap shipping. Any ecommerce business that didn’t take advantage missed out.
Then we all got Trumped.
“Up until very recently it all used to be about the US. We were in halcyon days of international trade. But now we have to deal with a very different situation. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but what we do know is that there’s going to be a headwind and it’s going to be around for a long time.”
Luke Jonas, CGO, Nest Commerce
The question facing UK and European brands now: should you look for new avenues? Is there an offset strategy?
The shift is already happening
Nest works with 35 ecommerce clients, predominantly in fashion, beauty, and home. Of brands that were advertising in the US, 66% are now planning to shift their investments elsewhere.
That’s a significant change. The brands still leaning into the US tend to be those where America represents upwards of 50% of their business. For them, finding solutions is critical. For everyone else, the calculus has changed.
The advertising data tells a similar story. Meta CPMs in the US have been dropping since Trump’s return to power, before the tariff announcements even hit. Advertisers are pulling out of the auction. Shein and Temu pulling out made headlines, but UK advertisers, German advertisers, Australian advertisers, anyone outside the US, are also pulling back or dialling down.
“A year ago, UK CPMs were a third of the US. Now they’re only half. We’d expect those lines to get closer.”
Luke Jonas, CGO, Nest Commerce
The implication: if your business can still trade in the US, your supply chain may be more expensive, but your media might be cheaper. Both sides of the equation need consideration.
Where are brands going instead?
When Nest clients consider pulling back from the US, the most common destinations are:
Europe. Before Brexit, UK brands looking to expand internationally considered France, Germany, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands first, before the US. They’re closer, logistics costs are lower, entry is simpler. Then Brexit happened, apparel tariffs of around 12% went up, and there was significant European pullback. America became the primary export destination.
Now Europe is back on the table. Germany in particular offers a large, affluent population. But entering German markets requires significant localisation. Not just language and payment methods, but cultural approach in advertising. Germans respond differently to messaging. There’s effort required to crack it.
The Middle East. The UAE has always been relatively accessible for UK brands. You can test the expat population without localisation. But real scale means going into Arabic and considering Saudi Arabia alongside the UAE.
Meta’s data suggests the Middle East is seeing the most interest from brands pivoting away from the US. Saudi Arabia is set to double its population by 2030. There’s significant spending power, though interestingly, audiences there still love a bargain.
Australia. The population is only 20 million, but CPMs are lower than in the US while Australian consumer behaviour is more like American than British. Australians buy. And localisation requirements are minimal.
Canada. The easiest option if you’ve already built logistics westbound. It doesn’t share the same tariff profile as the US.
How to crack market entry
Market entry isn’t just picking a country and running ads. Nest takes clients through three stages: market selection, media strategy, and content localisation.
Stage 1: Market selection
Before looking at the data, you need a matrix of quantitative and qualitative considerations.
Take a UK occasion wear brand selling £400 dresses. The data might suggest Germany: larger population than Australia, established ecommerce market. But when you consider localisation costs and price sensitivity for £400 dresses, Australia becomes easier. Lower friction to get revenue moving, then consider Germany next.
The factors to weigh:
Market factors
- Population size and spending power
- Ecommerce penetration
- Competition level in your category
- Price sensitivity for your product type
Operational factors
- Localisation requirements (language, payment, culture)
- Logistics complexity and cost
- Tax and regulatory environment
- Customer service requirements
Signal factors
- Organic sales already coming from that market
- Performance of low-level prospecting campaigns
- Brand search in that geography
If you’re advertising broadly, running ASC across Europe for instance, look at where you’re seeing the lowest CAC and highest volume. That’s a signal of existing affinity. That’s where to invest more.
Stage 2: Media strategy
A common mistake when brands “go international”: they run branded search on Google, retargeting, and ASC on Meta, then call it international expansion.
That approach picks low-hanging fruit. You can get profitable sales, but you’ll hit a ceiling quickly because you’re only capturing existing demand. In a new market, no one has heard of you.
“If you want to double down and properly scale a country, you need to start investing in demand generation and brand awareness. You need to make yourself known.”
Luke Jonas, CGO, Nest Commerce
The brands that succeed in new markets invest in upper funnel. They build awareness and consideration before trying to capture demand that doesn’t yet exist.
Stage 3: Content localisation
This is where most brands underinvest, and where the biggest gains are found.
Consider a US brand Nest worked with, selling to men aged 20-40. In America, their prospective customers are interested in Joe Rogan, monster trucks, Cybertrucks, fishing, climbing, American football, baseball. Their ads riff off that culture because ads work when they riff off culture.
A UK man aged 20-40 is going to the pub, likes football, has a more urban lifestyle. He’s not going to respond to those cultural hooks. The same principle applies to any brand entering any country.
Most brands don’t localise when they first enter a market. That’s fine for testing, proving the model, getting sales moving. But to scale, you need to make creative resonate locally.
Cost-effective localisation approaches:
- Add voiceover to existing video content
- Text edits and subtitle adaptations
- Regional messaging variants
The biggest win:
Localised UGC. If you’re entering Germany, get 20 German creators talking about your product. You can get this live relatively quickly. It’s native content for localisation and dramatically improves conversion rates in new markets.
The US isn’t dead
The US remains the largest consumer market in the world. For brands where America already represents significant revenue, pulling out isn’t an option. Finding solutions is.
Some approaches brands are taking:
State-by-state focus. The US population is enormous. Rather than targeting the whole country, pick your most profitable cities or states and double down there.
Moving manufacturing. Bigger brands with resources are moving production out of China to reduce tariff exposure.
Price increases. If your brand is strong enough in market, passing costs through to consumers.
Waiting it out. Some brands are holding steady, betting the situation will change.
The advertising dynamics have also shifted. With so many advertisers pulling back, media costs in the US are dropping. If your supply chain economics still work, your advertising might actually be more efficient than it was.
The opportunity for UK brands
American ecommerce brands don’t think about international expansion until they’re huge. Their home market is big enough to build a substantial business. UK brands don’t have that luxury, but that also means UK brands develop international capability earlier.
More than 90% of Nest Commerce’s client portfolio operates internationally. That experience compounds. Brands that have cracked Germany know how to crack France. Brands that have built Middle East business understand emerging market dynamics.
The current uncertainty is uncomfortable, but it’s also forcing a rebalancing that may be healthier long-term. Depending entirely on the US was always a risk. Diversifying that exposure builds more resilient businesses.
“We’re a small island in the North Atlantic and the UK market will cap out. The US is still the largest prize if you can open it up. But I’d encourage you to look elsewhere for a better deal right now for your advertising dollars.”
Luke Jonas, CGO, Nest Commerce
How Nest helps with international expansion
Nest has been scaling brands internationally for eight years. We’ve entered the US, scaled the US, built European business, Middle East business, Australian business. We’ve learned what works and what doesn’t.
Market entry strategy. We take brands through a structured process: market selection, media strategy, content localisation. Not spraying budget across countries and hoping something works.
Localised creative production. International expansion multiplies creative requirements. Germany needs German creative. France needs French creative. Not just translation, but cultural adaptation. Nest Creative AI removes the localisation bottleneck, producing market-specific creative at the volume platforms demand.
Cross-border measurement. Understanding true profitability by market, factoring in all costs including media, fulfilment, returns, currency, and customer service. Not just platform ROAS.
Platform partnerships. Deep relationships with Meta, TikTok, and Google across regions, with access to cross-border toolkits and insights.
FAQ
Should UK brands still expand to the US?
It depends on your exposure and economics. Brands where the US represents 50%+ of revenue need to find solutions. Tariffs don’t change that. For brands earlier in US expansion, the headwinds may make other markets more attractive right now. The advertising dynamics have shifted: with advertisers pulling back, US media costs are dropping. If your supply chain still works, your advertising might be more efficient. But for many, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East offer better returns for new investment.
What’s the best market for UK brands to enter first?
There’s no universal answer. It depends on your product, price point, and operational readiness. Generally, similar markets are easiest (Ireland, Australia for English-speaking). Germany offers scale but requires significant localisation. The Middle East is seeing strong interest, especially the UAE for testing and Saudi Arabia for scale. Australia has lower CPMs than the US with similar buying behaviour. Consider where you’re already seeing organic traction.
How much should we invest in testing a new market?
A minimum viable test requires enough budget to generate real signal, typically running over 30-60 days with sufficient creative volume. Don’t spread too thin across multiple markets simultaneously. Focus beats breadth. Fund what’s working, cut what isn’t, reinvest learnings.
Why is localised UGC so important for international expansion?
Ads work when they riff off culture. A British man aged 25-40 responds to different cultural hooks than an American or German man of the same age. Localised UGC, creators from the target market talking about your product in their native context, is the fastest path to cultural relevance. It’s native content that dramatically improves conversion in new markets.
How do tariffs affect advertising strategy?
Tariffs change the supply chain economics, but they also change advertising dynamics. When advertisers pull back from a market, auction prices drop. UK CPMs relative to US CPMs have narrowed significantly since early 2025. If your product can still be sold profitably after tariffs, your advertising costs may actually be lower than before. Evaluate both sides of the equation.
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