THE GROWTH LAB
What’s changing. What matters. What to do next.
Insights and practical guides for Asian brands and businesses growing through AI discovery, advertising, and commerce in North America.
AI Shopping
How AI Became the Shopper's Shortlist
US shoppers now ask AI assistants which product to buy. The brands named in those answers make the shortlist. The rest are left out of the decision.
Oct 28, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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Organic, Paid and Agentic: Three Ways Brands Show Up in AI
Being recommended, being advertised and being bought are three different problems in AI shopping. Each one needs its own plan.
Oct 21, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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From Keywords to Conversations: How Shopper Intent Is Changing
A search is three words. A conversation is a full brief. Brands that plan around shopper needs, not keywords, will be the ones AI recommends.
Oct 14, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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US Growth
From Core Shoppers to the Mainstream: The US Growth Path for Asian Brands
Demand for Asian food and beauty is rising in the US. Many brands win the first wave, then stall. The difference is sequence, not budget.
Oct 27, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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Beyond the Core Community: How Local Asian Businesses Can Reach New Customers
Asian grocers, restaurants and beauty businesses across the US have loyal customers and room to grow. AI search is changing how new customers find them.
Oct 20, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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Fix the Fundamentals Before You Buy Media
Media amplifies whatever is already in place. A practical checklist for making sure every dollar of US ad spend has something worth amplifying.
Oct 13, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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Agentic Commerce
When AI Shops: Competing to Be Selected, Not Just Seen
As AI assistants start to build baskets and check out for shoppers, the product the AI picks gets the sale. The battle moves from attention to selection.
Oct 26, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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The Four Gates: Can AI Find, Understand, Justify and Select Your Product?
Before an AI recommends a product, it has to clear four gates in order. Many brands fail the first one without knowing it.
Oct 19, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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The Agentic Commerce Landscape: What OpenAI, Google, Amazon and Walmart Are Building
Every major platform is putting ads and shopping inside AI. Here is where each one stands, and what it means for brands.
Oct 12, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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Retail Media04 — Retail Media
Retail Media in 2026: From Growth to Proof
Retail media is one of the fastest-growing ad channels in the US, and one of the most concentrated. Advertisers now want proof that it adds sales.
Oct 25, 2026 · Read time: 2 min
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Choosing Retail Media Networks When You Can't Afford Them All
Large brands spread budgets across many networks. Growth-stage brands have to choose. A simple way to decide where retail media will work hardest.
Oct 18, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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Retail Media Meets AI: Why Retailers and AI Platforms Need Each Other
Retailers know what shoppers buy. AI assistants know why they are deciding. The two are starting to connect, and brands stand to gain.
Oct 11, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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Measurement
Attribution Is Not Incrementality
A high return on ad spend does not prove an ad created sales. How to tell the sales your marketing caused from the sales it only claimed.
Oct 24, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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Incrementality Testing on a Growth-Stage Budget
You do not need a data science team to measure what your ads add. Four test designs that work for smaller brands, and how to run them.
Oct 17, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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Measuring AI's Influence Beyond the Click
Much of AI's effect on buying never shows up as a click. The signals that capture it, and the new metrics brands should start tracking.
Oct 10, 2026 · Read time: 3 min
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