Lagging (also known as trailing) indicators are often referenced in investing and finance as measurable economic factors that change after the economy has already begun to follow a particular pattern or trend. Lagging/trailing indicators confirm long-term trends but they do not predict them. Common examples examples include corporate profits, unemployment and interest rates.
It is largely outside our discussion of pricing strategies but you need to be prepared when you hear someone dismiss good profit with a comment like "sure, but profit is just a trailing indicator". That position is commonly used to support the argument that leading indicators (like the number of people visiting your website, liking your Facebook page or walking into your store) are more important, and that you should be aggressively discounting to generate traffic or build market share.