How does a merchant build a line and know what quantities to buy when she doesn’t know how long the pandemic will last, how many stores will stay open, and how consumer behavior will evolve? In this episode, we hear from: NPD about how consumption has changed; IBM on the ability of machine learning and AI to forecast demand to the store level; Pauline Brown, who argues that Aesthetic Intelligence, or, as she calls it “the other AI,” is the only way bricks-and-mortar retailers can fend off Amazon; WGSN on the changes in trend forecasting and how the pandemic impacts future fashion trends; and Justice’s design and merchant VPs on their challenges and triumphs through this absurdly difficult period.