The Indicator | April 3, 2026
The Lead’s weekly signal for brand and retail leaders. Subscribe Below! The Indicator | April 3rd, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi, Chief Content OfficerThe Lead THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS In beauty news, Fenty launches an AI Advisor on WhatsApp and MAC Cosmetics is launching on TikTok Shop. War in Iran is causing headaches for brands with supply […]
The Indicator | March 27, 2026
The Lead’s weekly signal for brand and retail leaders. Subscribe Below! The Indicator | March 27th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi, Chief Content Officer The Lead THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS The beauty industry is seeing major M&A and brand launches, while Gap partners with Gemini. Dive deep into how Sephora is redefining loyalty beyond coupons and points. […]
The Indicator | March 20, 2026
The Indicator | March 20th, 2026 By Sonal GandhiThe Lead According to latest research, retail investment in AI is shifting significantly from backend tasks alone to customer-facing tools. Meanwhile, L’Oréal and Nvidia will collaborate on formulation discovery and Singapore is becoming a rapid growth market for ecommerce. ‘INNOVATION MOVES’ L’Oréal and Nvidia have expanded their […]
The Indicator | March 13, 2026
The Indicator | March 13th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi The Lead In this week’s news, Clinique is betting on a creator/athlete-led campaign, Every Man Jack is launching a sports-driven push featuring Baker Mayfield, and Shopify is rolling out “agentic storefronts” to surface products inside AI platforms. Meanwhile, Quince raised a $500M Series E at a […]
The Indicator | March 6, 2026
The Indicator | March 6th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi The Lead In this week’s news, OpenAI canceled its “Instant Checkout” feature, AI-driven return fraud is on the rise and Target is investing $2B in a turnaround strategy. Meanwhile Kim Kardashian gets in on the energy drink craze and fragrances got savory. ‘INNOVATION MOVES’ OpenAI has canceled […]
The Indicator | February 27, 2026
The Indicator | February 27th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi The Lead Last week’s tariff ruling continues to generate uncertainty, with brands still trying to navigate the new structure and hoping for stability. Meanwhile, in other news this week: Gap relaunched its loyalty program, and century-old personal care brands like Gold Bond and Vaseline are attempting […]
The Indicator | February 20, 2026
The Indicator | February 20th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi The Lead This morning, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration exceeded authority when he imposed tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner. While a much welcome news to many brands, it adds a bit of uncertainty on what new tariffs strategy may be put […]
The Indicator | February 13, 2026
The Indicator | February 13th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi The Lead AI dominated the innovation news this week with Google making Etsy and Wayfair items shoppable within agentic AI search, Target testing ads on ChatGPT and skincare brands optimizing content for AI search. Meanwhile, Reddit is giving Google a run for its money when it […]
The Indicator | February 6, 2026
The Indicator | February 6th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi The Lead In this week’s news, Levi’s is capitalizing on the Super Bowl being held in the brand’s hometown and its namesake stadium. Skin care brands are embracing ski care while wellness is driving DTC traffic growth in beauty. ‘INNOVATION MOVES’ Levi’s is hosting a three-day “Home […]
The Indicator | January 30, 2026
The Indicator | January 30th, 2026 By Sonal Gandhi The Lead News regarding AI and retail partnership continued this week with PVH partnering with OpenAI. As TikTok ownership changed hands, concerns about privacy and censorship began to emerge. And Crocs launched its new marketing campaign platform, a first since 2017. ‘INNOVATION MOVES’ PVH Corp is partnering […]