International cross-border e-commerce is forecast to reach $7.9 trillion by 2028, up 23% from 2025. And the United States, the world’s largest economy, is a critical part of this massive opportunity.
For businesses looking to pursue international expansion, a strategic approach is essential for the U.S. The country is vast, and there are unique cultural nuances to keep in mind.
This includes understanding its immense demographic diversity — such as the nearly 42 million Spanish-speaking consumers — as well as the distinct rhythm of its retail calendar. Key moments like Memorial Day and the Labor Day/back-to-school season offer crucial opportunities for brands to connect with multifaceted American shoppers.
Navigating the U.S. market’s complex economic dynamics and consumer behaviours can present a challenge for marketers tasked with maximising ROI with less. That’s why we’ve compiled key insights from experts to help you master this diverse market:
Redefining the American consumer
The profound economic, political, and technological changes of the 2020s have prompted Americans to re-evaluate things that are core to them.
This is reflected in how Gen Z has reimagined the American Dream. Traditional markers of this, like “homeownership” and “financial security”, have become harder to obtain and, as a result, have fallen behind “personal freedom” and “success”. And that’s just one example of how people are channeling their ambition toward what they can control.
This is creating a new American reality that is redefining five key fundamentals:
- Generations: Archetypes are changing. This shift is reshaping who holds power (Gen X is the economic and family anchor for multiple generations), what adulthood means (Gen Z is delaying traditional milestones), and what’s attainable.
- Ethics and values: Values are being redefined as trust in traditional institutions, like media and government, is eroding. This is creating an opportunity for brands to fill the void, but requires a careful balance to show authentic alignment without overstepping.
- Belonging: People are finding their identity and community in local and cultural groups instead of a single national narrative. These aren’t niche market segments; they are primary markets.
- The human-AI equation: Americans have clearly defined the rules of engagement for AI. They want brands to use AI to make things faster and easier, but not at the expense of human connection. And 79% insist that companies disclose their use of AI.
- The “good life”: Being healthy is the #1 life goal for Americans, ranking above financial security.1 And this extends to mental health too — with 87% of Americans believing it’s just as important as physical health.2
Understanding these fundamentals is the only way to build a growth strategy that forges a lasting connection with the new American consumer.
Capturing the U.S. opportunity with a strategic framework
The scale of the opportunity for international growth to the U.S. is immense, but so is the competition. To win in this environment, you need a strategic, AI-powered framework.
We frame this journey with three core pillars:
- A data-driven strategy. Go beyond simply picking cities and states. A winning strategy uses granular analysis and competitor benchmarking to understand not just demographics, but also the interests, values, and lifestyles that truly drive your target audience. It’s about grounding your vision in validated data to ensure you know why and how you’ll grow.
- Operational mastery. Capturing the opportunity in a market the size of the U.S. requires genuine operational excellence. Localised operations are not just an advantage in this vast market, they are the industry standard.
- Localised marketing and creatives. People are increasingly conducting research with longer, more complex search queries, and they're even including pictures when they’re searching for information. Your marketing approach and creatives must evolve to adapt to this changing consumer behaviour and be there in the moments that matter. Using AI-powered, localised ad solutions is critical to engaging this high-value audience and capturing their commercial intent.
Belgian earplug company Loop worked with their Google team to trial Google’s AI Video Ads dubbing to scale their creatives into more languages and markets. They were also one of the first in the industry to produce a fully AI-generated campaign for YouTube, created entirely with Veo 3 and Gemini’s Nano Banana. This helped the team reduce their go-to-market for YouTube campaigns from months to weeks, and, in some instances, even days.
Don't treat these pillars as a checklist. True acceleration happens when strategy, operations, and marketing work as a single, integrated system to compete — and win — in the world’s largest economy.
Turning “On” U.S. growth with a city-level, culture-driven approach
When our Swiss sportswear brand — On — wanted to break into the world's most competitive athletic market, we knew we couldn't just show up. We had to stand out.
The U.S. is a large and complex market that requires a deep understanding of your consumer and community. We had to start by breaking our strategy down by state, city, and neighborhood. Using Google Search insights, we identified and doubled down on high-potential cities. For example, we selected New York as a key market when we found it had the strongest search interest for running shoes per capita.
We matched these insights with cultural relevance, where we could play authentically and speak to a dedicated and everyday consumer. As we expanded into categories outside of our core running DNA, standing out and playing in a bold way were most impactful. We worked with American tennis player Ben Shelton, for instance, on our immersive Clubhouse Nights.
And our campaign with Zendaya was amplified on YouTube to reach new audiences and bring new fans to the brand:
Non-skippable, big-screen moments in YouTube Select and Video Reach Campaigns gave us enormous exposure, with about 90% of impressions on connected TVs. And YouTube Shorts let us connect in culturally relevant spaces and start building long-term brand love.
This was all backed by operational readiness — local warehousing and U.S.-based support — to meet consumer expectations for speed and choice.
The results are powerful: our U.S. business has grown with a 66% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past five years, projecting 1.5 billion Swiss Francs in net sales for 2025. With brand awareness soaring, we are now building towards future cultural milestones, like the LA 2028 Summer Olympics.
Our key advice for brands wanting to grow in the U.S. is to not try to win everywhere at once. Pick the right cities, show up with cultural relevance, and scale from there.
Sign up here for access to the Think Global New York digital event and gain more insights into the complexities of the U.S. trade environment. The event covers the latest consumer trends from the above speakers and other industry experts, including Shark Tank’s Daymond John.
