A US Brand's First 90 Days In The UK

Decide the channel before anything else

Most brands do not need every channel on day one. Amazon first, DTC first and retail first are three different plans with different cost bases. Picking wrong is expensive and hard to unwind.

VAT, EORI and the entity question

You will need UK VAT registration and an EORI number. Whether you need a UK entity depends on the channel and whether you hold stock here. Get this wrong and stock sits at the border.

Compliance is category-specific

Textiles, cosmetics and eyewear all carry their own labelling and testing requirements, and UK rules have diverged from the EU since Brexit. Assuming your US packaging is compliant is the most common blocker.

Fulfilment before traffic

Get stock into a UK 3PL, or into FBA, before you spend anything on acquisition. Shipping from the US to UK customers produces delivery times and duty surprises that generate returns and poor reviews.

None of this is interesting and all of it is load-bearing. Brands that start with marketing and retrofit the operations spend the first quarter firefighting rather than trading.

Weeks six to twelve: trading properly

Rebuild the listings for UK search

UK shoppers search differently. Spelling, sizing conventions and category language all differ, and translated-from-American copy reads as foreign. Listings should be rebuilt on UK keyword research, not copied.

Price for the market, not the exchange rate

Converting your US price at spot and adding VAT produces prices that look arbitrary. Price to the UK competitive set and work back to whether the margin holds.

Expect a slow start on DTC

Your brand has no recognition here. Marketplace demand exists on day one because the traffic is already there; DTC demand has to be built. Most US brands overestimate how much of their brand equity travels.

Set a weekly trading rhythm

Eight to twelve weeks of setup, then weekly review of rank, stock cover, advertising efficiency and contribution. Monthly is too slow to catch a launch going wrong.

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