National products are made for a specific national market whereas international products are made for regional and multinational markets. Global products are standardized and sold worldwide.
National vs. international products
A national product is offered to a single market. Sometimes national products appear when a global company caters to the needs and preferences of particular country markets. For example, Coca-Cola developed a non-carbonated, ginseng-flavoured beverage for sale only in Japan and a yellow, carbonated flavored drink called “Pasturina” to compete with Peru’s favorite soft drink, “Inca Cola.” Such examples show the reasons why national products, even those that are quite profitable, may represent a substantial opportunity cost to a company. First, the existence of a single national business does not provide an opportunity to develop and utilize international leverage from headquarters in marketing, R&D and production. Second, the local product does not allow for the transfer and application of experience gained in one market to other markets. The third shortcoming is that a single-country product lacks the feature of transfer-ability of managerial expertise acquired in the single-product area.