The Estée Lauder Companies grew net sales 7% to $3.7 billion in the quarter to September and lifted its full-year guidance. Fragrance rose 20% organically and nearly doubled its profit. Makeup grew 1%. The turnaround is real, but it has one engine.
By the numbers
BeautyThree beauty deals in two days, and each one prices a different shelf
CVC is exploring a sale of Dr. Teal's owner Arthea, Belle Brands bought Sephora-exclusive Vegamour, and a16z led 30 million dollars into Highstock, a marketplace for surplus beauty stock. Read together, they map where beauty value sits in 2026.
AI & TechGroceryshop 2026: AI wants to be grocery's front door. Kroger says the key is the data.
The grocery industry met at Mandalay Bay from September 22 to 24. Instacart promised the biggest shift in grocery's history, Kroger talked about trust and data integrity, and retail media stopped being described as advertising.
E-commerceShein's first results as a listed company: revenue flat, operating profit halved, Europe shrinking
Four weeks after its Hong Kong debut, Shein reported first-half revenue up 1% and operating profit down by half. Europe fell 14% in the second quarter, and the rules that made ultra-cheap cross-border parcels possible are now the ones pricing them.
Next raises its forecast again, and the growth is coming from everywhere except the UK
SEP 18 · E-commerce
Returns are still the line that breaks DTC unit economics
MAY 15 · E-commerce
The authentication arms race in luxury resale
APR 28 · E-commerce
StoresH&M's profit rose 23%. Its sales did not follow, so it is changing how it buys.
Third-quarter operating profit reached 6.04 billion kronor on sales up just 1% in local currencies. The margin came from purchasing, costs and a one-time tariff effect, and the answer to flat sales is more buying inside the season, Inditex's home ground.
Nearshoring to Mexico: the second wave is more careful, and slower
The first nearshoring rush was about announcements. The second wave, now underway, is about getting the contracts, the labor, and the ports to actually line up.
Inside Inditex's real-time machine: what the 2025 numbers actually show
APR 15 · Supply Chain
Red Sea reroute, 18 months in: what stuck and what reverted
APR 14 · Supply Chain
Apparel sourcing: vendor consolidation accelerates after the Bangladesh year
MAR 22 · Supply Chain
PaymentsBNPL after the regulatory pivot: who survived, who pivoted, who quietly shrank
The post-2024 regulatory tightening on buy-now-pay-later thinned the field. We map where the surviving players added retail value and where they just added friction.
Stablecoin acceptance in retail: the 2026 pilots worth watching
APR 30 · Payments
Interchange: the EU-US gap is widening, and merchants are noticing
APR 2 · Payments
Tap-to-pay on phone: where merchants actually stand
FEB 19 · Payments
SustainabilityCSRD: what retailers actually disclosed in the first cycle
With the first full CSRD reports landing in early 2026, retailers had to put numbers next to commitments. The first lesson: scope 3 is still mostly an estimate, and everyone knows it.
Resale takes its first real hit: the unit economics problem catches up
APR 11 · Sustainability
Fashion rental's unit economics still don't work, and the market is noticing
MAR 28 · Sustainability
Packaging EPR fees across Europe: a 2026 country-by-country reality check
MAR 12 · Sustainability
Industry calendar
Full calendar| Dates | Event | Where | Desk |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 9–12, 2026 | Web Summit 2026 - Retail track | Lisbon, Portugal | On the calendar |
| January 10–12, 2027 | NRF 2027: Retail's Big Show | New York, USA | On the calendar |
| January 26–28, 2027 | Cosmoprof North America Miami 2027 | Miami Beach, USA | Reporter assigned |
| July 13–15, 2027 | Cosmoprof North America 2027 | Las Vegas, USA | Reporter assigned |
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