Welcome to Friday, futurists.

A few members of the team were able to get away from the tariff turmoil for a bit this week (but not really) when we hosted Salon Twenty-Six with our friends from Klaviyo.

We gathered at SAGA on 70 Pine Street, a landmark Art Deco tower in the Financial District for some fine dining and even finer conversation around how brands are actually planning and responding to tariffs. While we can wax poetic about the emails we receive and the newsletters we see crossing the wire, there’s something incredibly enlightening about hearing, directly from the brands, how these internal conversations, tests, and roll outs take shape.

In fact, that’s why we plan to periodically survey you, our community, to understand how tariffs are driving long-term disruption and change.

In the first round of our data collection, all respondents agreed that tariffs would have an impact on their business, with most concerned about the rates in the EU and China. But a lot of the details are still a bit squishy. For one, folks are still not sure whether they’ll plan to raise prices. But the most fascinating takeaway is that they still don’t know how transparent they should be with customers about how tariffs are impacting the business, product manufacturing, pricing, and other areas.

Stay tuned for our next pulse survey on this issue, as well as our ongoing coverage and commentary on tariffs and other related topics. Plus members are already getting exclusive access to The First 100 Days, our rolling coverage of the Trump Administration’s Commerce Department. Become a member to get access.

— Alicia

Members Only: Benchmark Your Word Of Mouth Against Your Peers

The latest round of updates from our Word of Mouth Index reveals that consumer electronics brands acquired the greatest share of buzz across all categories as of March 31, beating out even apparel and accessories and sporting goods.

However, these three sectors share one commonality: they all have the greatest number of consumers saying word-of-mouth is their primary purchase driver.

Developed in partnership with Fairing, the Word of Mouth Index allows Future Commerce+ members to measure how and when those authentic moments of influence lead to clicks and conversions.

We have another update coming soon, so become a member to get exclusive access to the data. We’ll definitely be digging in to see whether apparel and accessories make a rebound following the Coachella hype cycle.

Join Future Commerce+ →

Could Tariffs Make Coachella Buzz Go Bust? 

There’s a whole subculture of brands immersed in festival culture–ones powered by Shopify, with global supply chains, and big growth goals. But will their global operations work against them as they calculate the true cost of tariffs? Although consumers say they’ll spend up to 25% more on brands they love, how can merchants develop the best possible response plan, without employing the manipulative marketing tactics so many have turned to?

Alicia Esposito digs into how tariff turmoil may stall Coachella’s earned-media buzz.

Get the insights here →