How a UK brand's US Amazon channel grew bigger than its home market
A real UK-to-USA Amazon case study: how we built a UK watersports brand's US channel from zero until it outsold the UK — including the months that went wrong.
When we started working with a UK watersports accessory brand in spring 2023, its US channel barely existed. In our first full month, the UK did a little over a thousand pounds. The US did a single sale, and that was before the US listing was properly live.
Two and a half years later, the US was the bigger business.
This is the story of how that happened, based on our monthly reports. We've kept the brand anonymous and rounded the figures, and we've included the months that went backwards, because a case study with only good news isn't much use to anyone.
Where it started
The brand had one hero product, a solid UK following and a sensible hunch that American buyers would want it too. What it didn't have was the time or know-how to open a second marketplace three thousand miles away while running the UK.
That's a very common starting point. The product is proven at home, the demand abroad is a guess, and the founder's week is already full.
Year one: the US overtakes the UK
Over our first year, roughly, the numbers came out like this:
- Amazon UK: just under £50k, from around 1,300 units
- Amazon USA: close to $90k, from around 1,900 units
Converted at a typical exchange rate, the US was already comfortably bigger than the UK in year one. It sold more units, too, so this wasn't just a higher price point flattering the numbers.
Then it kept growing
By calendar year 2025:
- Amazon UK: roughly double year one, at around £95k
- Amazon USA: more than double year one, at around $185k
The US was now selling close to 4,000 units a year. The best month came in December 2025, with the UK clearing £20k and the US clearing $55k in a single month.
Along the way we also opened Canada, Mexico and five EU marketplaces. But the US did the heavy lifting.
What actually drove it
No single trick did it. These four things mattered most:
1. The range grew. The brand went from one hero product to six product lines. A bigger catalogue meant more search terms to rank for, more add-on sales and more reasons to buy from the brand rather than a lookalike.
2. The US was built properly, not mirrored. We didn't copy the UK listings across and hope. American shoppers search differently, compare differently and expect different things from a listing. The US got its own keyword research, its own copy and its own advertising.
3. Advertising was run for profit, not volume. In December 2025 we spent far less on UK ads than the year before, because stock was tight and there was no point paying to send shoppers to a product about to sell out. Ads are a tap, and you have to be willing to turn it down.
4. Stock stayed in stock. In year one the UK had just two days without stock. Across an ocean, with longer lead times, staying available is half the job.
The months that went wrong
We said we'd be honest, so here they are:
- December 2025 in the UK was down on December 2024 — by roughly a tenth. Fewer sales of one particular product drove it. The US carried that year's growth.
- February 2026 in the US came in slightly down on the year before. One of the bestsellers was out of stock all month, and we deliberately paused advertising rather than burn money sending shoppers to an empty listing.
- The first half of 2025 was soft in both markets. The fourth quarter carried the year.
Growth on Amazon is rarely a straight line. Anyone showing you a chart that only goes up is either very lucky or not showing you the whole chart.
What other UK brands can take from it
If you're a UK brand selling well at home, the US is often a bigger opportunity than you think — sometimes bigger than the UK itself. But it pays back when it's treated as a market in its own right, with its own listings, its own advertising and serious attention on stock across a much longer supply chain. We've also written about the practical steps of expanding from the UK to the US.
We're a UK-based agency that runs both the UK and US marketplaces for brands every day. If you're wondering whether your product would travel, drop us a line at enquiries@uksourcedltd.com — we'll give you an honest view, including if we think it won't.