Coronavirus has grounded the retail industry to a halt. An article published in Business Insider says to deal with this crisis, brands and retailers should adopt technologies that speed innovation in design decisions.

Without physical samples, showrooms, markets, line reviews or in-store testing, smart retailers and brands should implement 3D-enabled digital product development, more agile sourcing with differentiated development tracks, options for smaller, closer production runs and a more transparent, smart-connected supply chain and improved production automation. It is also important for retailers and brands to leverage new data now.

It will likely be months before the retail industry can return to some semblance of normal. And the new version of normal will likely looks much different than the version from January. That said, understanding customer expectations on styles and prices will likely remain at the foundation of success for those retailers. Therefore, retailers/brands should look at seasonless retail. In fact, runway brands and designers were already moving to seasonless fashion. The concept is backed by sustainability and growth of global consumers whose seasons can look very different depending on where they live.