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PHP patch day, 21 October: if your site or your vendors run WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Drupal or shared hosting, update to PHP 8.2.35, 8.3.36, 8.4.27 or 8.5.12 today and ask your host in writing. Sites on PHP 8.1 or older get no full fix. Read why →
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Ranked by the pour ISABELLA'S ISLAY HENRI IV MACALLAN 1926 LOUIS XIII PAPPY 23 JOHNNIE BLUE WELL POUR
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Issued Monday, October 26, 2026 · 18:00 UTC Edition Every 3h · 6 papers From the chopped neck Latest Issue Archive Corporate AccountsArt Forgotten
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Pinned · Editor's pick

The Website You Never Think About Was Open Before Breakfast

PHP is the engine under 69% of the websites whose language is known, which means it is under the website in your company you have not thought about in a year: a dealer portal, a company store, the system that sends your email. The flaw had been in it for more than a decade. Researchers working with AI found it in August. The disclosure broke on Monday night, the attacks began before dawn Tuesday, and the patch landed at 10 a.m. Eastern while governments in Europe took their own websites down to wait for it. No company has reported a breach yet, and that is not the comfort it sounds like: the week between "nothing reported" and "the first one reported" is the week the checking happens. If your site is built on a platform that does not run PHP, this does not touch it. If a vendor's does, it may already have. One email, sent today, tells you within the hour which is which.

Read the full analysis →
ISABELLA'S ISLAY Event & Experiential Oct 26, 2:03 PM EDT

QVC built a flywheel linking TikTok shows to TV live sales for holiday 40th season

QVC connected TikTok exclusive shows and mega-lives to TV broadcasts and curated products, creating a unified holiday sales engine ahead of its 40th season.

ReadingThe steal: the product is the bridge, not the platform. Build one launch sequence that works on TikTok's short-form loop (teaser → exclusive → restock notification) and TV's long-form sell (host demo → scarcity clock → call-to-order), then run both at once. The same item ships from the same warehouse. Coordinate the live-show timing so TikTok clips feed TV viewers who missed the show, not a separate audience. Test by running a single SKU across both channels on the same day — measure which platform drives higher AOV and which drives repeat.
WatchWatch for QVC to publish the conversion lift between TikTok-sourced buyers and TV-sourced buyers, or announce exclusive product batches made only for TikTok.
Read full analysis → Original ↗
live-sellingtiktoktvomnichannel
HENRI IV Brand-Story Play Oct 26, 2:03 PM EDT
Bath & Body Works
Glossy ↗

Bath & Body Works enlisted Zooey Deschanel to anchor its holiday gifting push

Glossy reported that Bath & Body Works tapped Zooey Deschanel to front its holiday season amid rising fragrance competition and a need to drive gifting momentum.

ReadingThe steal: in a crowded gifting season, rent existing trust instead of building it. Deschanel owns a specific demo (millennial women, gift-shoppers, TV watchers) that Bath & Body Works already targets. Instead of asking her to post, embed her into the paid media (TV spot, print, social), the unboxing (gift-set packaging or a coded message), and the retail floor (point-of-sale). The lift happens because she feels like a peer recommendation, not an ad. Test this by running a control (regular holiday creative) against her version in one region and tracking gift-set attach rates.
WatchWatch for Bath & Body Works to release holiday set sales data or announce a Deschanel-branded limited edition.
Read full analysis → Original ↗
celebrity-partnershipholidaygiftingfragrance
MACALLAN 1926 Community Play Oct 26, 2:03 PM EDT
SharkNinja
Glossy ↗

SharkNinja turned fans into beauty sellers with 15% commissions ahead of holidays

Glossy reported that SharkNinja is deploying customers and employees as beauty creators, offering commissions up to 15%, and running holiday gift-guide challenges to expand its creator network.

ReadingThe steal: your customers are your best sellers because they own proof. Instead of paying external creators to demo, pay your buyers to sell. Build an affiliate dashboard that lets customers generate a unique link, set a 15% commission, create a simple gift-guide template, and run a leaderboard challenge ('top 5 referrers win $X'). Launch this 6–8 weeks before your biggest season. The customer who bought your product 6 months ago will sell it harder than a cold influencer because her friends already trust her. Test by offering 15% to 20% of your customer list and tracking which tier produces the highest AOV referrals.
WatchWatch for SharkNinja to publish referral volume or the number of customers who turned into active sellers.
Read full analysis → Original ↗
affiliatecustomer-sellerscommunityholiday
LOUIS XIII Influencer & Seeding Oct 26, 2:03 PM EDT
Fashion brands (Bellingham, Yamal partnerships)
Glossy ↗

Fashion brands are tapping soccer stars like Bellingham and Yamal 3 months after World Cup

Glossy noted that fashion brands are extending partnerships with soccer players who gained World Cup visibility, capitalizing on residual energy months after the tournament.

ReadingThe steal: ride athlete halo windows instead of building them. If a player spiked in visibility (World Cup, Olympics, championship), move fast. Lock them for 6–12 months while their search volume is high and the partnership feels timely, not opportunistic. For a DTC brand, offer exclusive colorways or co-designed products (not just endorsement). For wholesale, pitch exclusive retail bundles. Do not wait for the moment to cool. Test by tracking search volume for the athlete's name and launching the partnership within 2–4 weeks of their peak visibility.
WatchWatch for one of these players to drop an exclusive apparel line or for a smaller fashion brand to announce a micro-partnership with a rising soccer player.
Read full analysis → Original ↗
athlete-partnershipsports-halofashiontiming
PAPPY 23 Distribution Play Oct 26, 2:03 PM EDT
TikTok Shop & DoorDash
Modern Retail ↗

TikTok Shop and DoorDash prioritized easy returns to unlock more Q4 sales

Modern Retail documented that TikTok Shop and DoorDash are making easy returns a central focus, treating frictionless returns as a driver of higher purchase intent.

ReadingThe steal: returns are not a post-sale problem; they are a pre-sale selling point. In your product description, test adding a single line: 'Free returns within 30 days' or 'Return label included in every box.' Then measure whether that line moves conversion. For DTC brands, add a visual (return shipping label mockup) next to the guarantee. For marketplace listings, put the return window in the headline or the first bullet. The brands winning this are naming the return policy BEFORE the customer buys, not hiding it in the footer.
WatchWatch for TikTok Shop to announce a returns-rate metric or a 'Hassle-Free Returns' badge for sellers.
Read full analysis → Original ↗
returnsmarketplaceacquisitionq4
JOHNNIE BLUE Community Play Oct 26, 2:03 PM EDT
Emerging fashion designers (Net-a-Porter, Moda Operandi buyers)
Business of Fashion ↗

Buyers from luxury retailers expect emerging designers to show owned channels and customer data

Business of Fashion reported that major luxury retailers (Net-a-Porter, Moda Operandi) now require emerging designers to demonstrate DTC traction, owned customer lists, and proof of repeat buyers before offering wholesale placement.

ReadingThe steal: do not pitch wholesale without DTC proof. Build your email list first (target: 500–2K engaged subscribers before pitching). Run one collection through your own site and capture the repeat rate (shoot for 15%+ repeat within 90 days). Screenshot the data and lead with it in your wholesale pitch. Retailers are not asking 'Do you have a nice product?' They are asking 'Did you sell it twice to the same person?' If you can answer yes, the wholesale conversation opens. Test by emailing your list a simple second collection before approaching a retailer — the repeat rate becomes your pitch deck.
WatchWatch for a luxury retailer to publicly announce that DTC traction is now a prerequisite for new brand onboarding.
Read full analysis → Original ↗
wholesaledtcemerging-designerscustomer-proof
WELL POUR Distribution Play Oct 26, 2:03 PM EDT
Marc Jacobs (via WHP Global & G-III & I.T Group partnership)
PRNewswire ↗

Marc Jacobs announced a Greater China expansion via multi-partner distribution network

WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group partnered with I.T Group to accelerate Marc Jacobs growth in Greater China, signaling a coordinated omnichannel push in the region.

ReadingThe steal: when entering a new region, do not bet on a single distributor. Identify the bottleneck for your brand (supply chain, retail floor space, brand awareness, fulfillment) and recruit a partner who owns that specific asset. Marc Jacobs needed all three: manufacturing scale, retail floor, and operational know-how. A smaller brand entering a new region could recruit a local distributor (retail), a 3PL (fulfillment), and a local media agency (awareness) — three single-asset partners, not one all-in-one. Test by sketching your own regional expansion and naming the three specific capabilities your brand is missing, then identifying who owns each.
WatchWatch for Marc Jacobs to announce a flagship or pop-up in a major Greater China city, or for I.T Group to release sales data on the brand.
Read full analysis → Original ↗
distributionregional-expansionpartnershipsasia
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