The US e-commerce market is the second largest in the world. Surpassed only by the Chinese, which underwent an almost improbable development in the last ten years. The Americans are keen and experienced online shoppers. According to the IPC* Cross-border E-commerce Shopper survey 2022, more than 50 percent of the US online audience shopped online at least once a week. That is considerably more than the total average in the 39 countries covered by the study, which was 34 percent.
This enthusiasm is also reflected in how online spending in the US has developed in recent years. In 2017, the retail e-commerce revenue was 416 billion U.S. dollars. In 2022, it had increased to 850 billion U.S. dollars, and is forecasted to reach 1 357 billion U.S. dollars by 2025.
26 percent of American cross border consumers made purchases from the United Kingdom in 2022, making it the number two foreign destination after China. For those UK e-tailers who are not yet offering their products to the US market that number should be of interest. The top three product categories that US online consumers are buying from abroad are Clothing, footwear and apparel, consumer electronics and accessories, and personal care and beauty products.
So, UK products are in demand in the US and have a strong reputation for quality. The US is the UK’s largest export market for both goods and services. In general terms, it’s quite unadventurous to export to the US, with low regulatory barriers and minimal language barriers.
However, the US is not a single national market. It’s a federal system which means that you as an exporter need to do your homework and treat each state as a separate entity with its own procedures and regulations.
Contact Direct Link UK department to see how they can help you with your e-commerce deliveries from the UK to US!
*International Post Corporation
