The first step to enter the Australian market is not advertising or exhibiting. It is making sure that when someone hears about you, they can understand the box, find a clear English product page and see reviews from local families. Get those three things right with a small group first. Ads and trade shows work far better once there is something to send people to.
Do you need to advertise or exhibit before you enter the Australian market?
Short answerNo. Ads and trade shows make you louder, but they cannot make shoppers trust a product with no English page, no local reviews and nowhere to buy.
Most shoppers check before they buy. Pattern's 2026 research found that 60% of Australians search Google for a product after seeing it on social media, and a quarter ask friends or family for a recommendation. If that search finds nothing in English, or a page translated word for word, the money spent getting their attention is lost. A trade-show booth has the same problem: buyers who stop by will look you up afterwards. Fix what they will find first, then pay to be seen. Our guide to market-entry costs shows which costs can wait until you have sales.
What is the real first step: packaging, labels or the product page?
Short answerStart with what every customer touches: the box, the label and the English product page.
According to business.gov.au, Australia's mandatory product standards can cover a product's design, construction and packaging, and information standards set what must appear on a label, such as care labels for clothing and textiles. For baby products and toys, the safety warnings matter most. Check these before the first shipment, because changing a box later costs more than getting it right once. Then rewrite the product page in natural English rather than a direct translation. Our plain-English compliance guide and our guide to localising your brand cover both steps.
Where do the first customers come from if you don't advertise?
Short answerFrom a small group of real families who try the product and talk about it, in their own language and in English.
Australia Post's eCommerce Report 2026 found that 60% of Australian shoppers use social media to discover products, and one in two have bought something after seeing it on their socials. Much of that is people sharing what they use, not advertising. In Omnisend's 2026 survey of 1,089 Australians, 84% said they trust online product reviews. So a practical start is to give your product to a few dozen families in one community, ask for honest feedback, fix what they find and let their reviews be the first thing new shoppers see. Our article on Australia's multicultural market explains why starting with one community works.
- Weeks 1–4
Fix the box, labels and English product page
- Weeks 5–8
A few dozen families try the product
- Weeks 9–12
Reviews go live; open one sales channel
- After that
Ads and trade shows amplify what already works
Our suggested timing, not statistics. Some products and categories need longer.
When do ads and trade shows make sense in Australia?
Short answerWhen your stock is in Australia, people have a channel where they can buy, and reviews already answer their questions.
At that point an ad sends people somewhere that converts, and a trade show becomes a chance to meet retailers with proof in hand: local reviews, a compliant box and early sales. Start with one channel rather than five; our guide to sales channels in Australia compares them. Our six-step Australia market-entry process shows where advertising and exhibiting sit in the bigger plan.
Worried you have to spend big before anyone buys?
You don't. The first step is making your product easy to understand and easy to trust, then letting real families prove it.
Get the box and label right: packaging and label localisation support before your first shipment, so nothing has to be redone later.
Find your first families: a product trial with parents in Baby Island, our community of more than 10,000 members, and honest reviews you can use.
Save the louder steps for later: Xiaohongshu and creator marketing, plus trade-show and exhibition support once there is something to show, inside our six-step market-entry process.
DAY Concept has helped 6 brands enter Australia.
Ask us where your first step should be →Keep reading
Questions brands ask
- What is the first step to enter the Australian market?
- Make sure the product, packaging, labels and English product page are ready for Australian shoppers, then test with a small group of real customers before you spend on advertising.
- Should I exhibit at a trade show in my first year in Australia?
- Only once you have local proof to show buyers: compliant packaging, some sales and reviews. Before that, a booth is expensive and buyers have little to go on.
- How many families should try a product before launch?
- There is no official number. A few dozen families from one community is usually enough to spot problems with the box, the instructions or the price, and to produce the first honest reviews.
- Australia Post, eCommerce Report 2026, summarised in “7 eCommerce trends you can't ignore from the Australia Post eCommerce Report 2026” (2026).
- Pattern, 2026 Marketplace Consumer Report, press release distributed by AAP / PR Newswire, 30 July 2026.
- Omnisend, survey of 1,089 Australian consumers conducted by Cint in January 2026, press release 2 April 2026.
- business.gov.au, “Product safety rules and standards” (page dated 18 January 2024).
This article is general information, not legal or business advice. Check the mandatory standards that apply to your product with the ACCC before you ship.