LTM 95: Think big, Act Carefully - how to enter the US market with a small team

How does a small brand manage to do good business in the US? Niko
Moll from the children's sunglasses brand Mausito has shown how
it's done and in this episode he talks about his strategy: he
focused on Amazon, accepted the marketplace's support, learned a
lot about logistics – and paid a price.


For example, because he spent far too much money on advertising.
Or because he thought that if he could do the business in Europe,
he could do it in the US. Nevertheless, he is now successful and
enjoys advantages such as no VAT, low return rates and lower
Amazon fees. He is also expanding the B2B business as a further
mainstay, putting out feelers to other marketplaces such as
Allegro and bol, and pushing ahead with his own webshop.





Note from Sponsor Base.com:


Anyone looking to expand into Eastern Europe will encounter a
different marketplace landscape than in Western Europe. And
therefore needs different marketplace integrations! The
e-commerce SaaS solution Base.com can help: the platform
specializes in marketplace integration and the automation of
e-commerce marketplace processes such as order fulfillment and
inventory management and can offer connections to over 250
marketplaces. The company was founded in Wroclaw, Poland, and
scores particularly highly in terms of its many connections to
marketplaces in the CEE region. Find out more at
https://www.base.com or in episode 85 of “Let's talk
Marketplace”.





Note from Sponsor byrd:


byrd is an European logistics provider with operations in
Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, UK, France, Italy and Spain.
With seamless integrations into platforms like Amazon, Shopify
and WooCommerce, byrd helps merchants optimize supply chains,
reduce costs and offer fast delivery. They have a proprietary
dashboard which enables you to see to track all your orders in
real time. Furthermore, they offer specialized services like
organic product certification or dangerous goods, shipping or
handling of products with expiry dates or serial number tracking
for electronics. Clients like Refurbed, WeAreKnitters and Bababoo
and friends trust byrd to streamline their fulfillment processes.
Find out more at https://www.getbyrd.com.





Newsflash:


-        TikTok chaos in the US: Offline,
online, extended deadlines - what happens next? 


- Zalando's figures for the final quarter of 2024 are promising.


-  Galaxus is happy with the development of its
internationalisation. Galaxus.de performed well in 2024
 





Chapters:


02:58 Marketplace Updates and TikTok's Uncertainty


05:58 Introducing Niko Moll and Mausito


11:27 Newsflash


20:49 Mausito’s Marketplace Strategy and Expansion Plans


25:11 Pricing Strategies and Consumer Trust


29:10 Logistics Challenges in the US


31:03 Sales Performance and Market Differences


32:13 Lessons Learned from Market Expansion


40:13 Future Internationalization Plans