Intro: “We'll launch on Shopify and run Meta ads.” It's the plan we hear most from founders eyeing the UK — and for a signature-look brand (fashion, jewellery, homeware) it's often the slowest and most expensive way in. You actually have four routes to market, and the right first one depends on your category and how much cold-start ad spend you can stomach. Here's how we weigh them.
1. Your own D2C site
Full margin, full control — and you pay for every single visitor. Your own site is brilliant once UK demand exists and brutal from a standing start, because you're buying every click before anyone has heard of you. For most brands it's the second channel, not the first: the place you send buyers once another channel has already introduced them.
2. Amazon UK
Huge reach and fast to list — but you rent the customer. The review and the repeat purchase stay with Amazon, not you. It's strong for search-led, spec-led products people look up by name or feature, and weak when your whole pitch is the look and the story. If it fits, our step-by-step on selling on Amazon UK from India covers the registration reality — including why the £90,000 VAT threshold doesn't apply to an overseas seller.
3. Curated marketplaces
The underused route for design-led brands. Wolf & Badger (jewellery, accessories, clothing and homeware) and Studio Marché run application-based marketplaces that put you in front of a UK audience already there to discover independent brands. You hold the stock; they bring the shopper, and often handle cross-border logistics, duties and returns. Acceptance is by selection committee, and fees and terms change — check the current ones before you commit. For category-specific options, see the UK marketplaces built for design-led categories like jewellery.
4. Wholesale into curated retail
Sell to the shop, not the shopper. Lower margin per unit, but a buyer's endorsement is proof you can't manufacture with ad spend — and one order shifts real volume. It's slower to land and needs the product and the compliance buttoned up first: if you're in jewellery, that means UK hallmarking before a single piece is sold. But a stockist's ‘yes’ does for credibility what months of paid traffic can't.
The four routes, side by side:
| Route | You pay for | You own | Best first for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own D2C site | Every visitor | Margin + the customer | Already-proven demand |
| Amazon UK | Fees + ads | Little — Amazon keeps the customer | Search- and spec-led products |
| Curated marketplaces | Listing fee / commission | Your stock + your brand | Design-led, story-driven brands |
| Wholesale | Lower unit margin | The retailer's endorsement | Volume and credibility |
Earn discovery on someone else's audience first, then pull those buyers back to your own site. Don't pay to build a UK audience from zero on day one.
So which route first?
It comes down to two questions: what kind of product is it, and how much cold-start ad budget can you stomach. A design-led, signature-look brand usually starts on a curated marketplace or in wholesale, borrowing an existing audience. A search- or spec-led product can start on Amazon. Your own site comes into its own once one of those has proven the demand — which is what our guide to validating UK demand helps you establish before you commit stock. And whatever the channel, localise properly: UK shoppers judge reviews, returns and delivery before they judge your product.
What to sort first
- Match the route to the product. Design-led → curated marketplaces or wholesale; search-led → Amazon; already-proven demand → your own site.
- Borrow an audience before you build one. Start where UK shoppers already are, then pull repeat buyers to your own site, where you keep the margin and the relationship.
- Button up compliance before wholesale. A stockist won't carry jewellery without a hallmark or food without the right labelling — sort it before you pitch, not after.
Choosing the first UK route — and the entity, compliance and logistics behind it — is exactly the groundwork we run when we take a brand into the UK. If the UK is on your map, see how it works or apply for early access.