As part of WWD’s COVID-19 business insights series, “Fashion’s New World Order,” Kevin Fried, industry director of specialty retail at Google, and Blair Dunn, senior vice president of digital and e-commerce at Gap Inc., joined WWD executive editor Arthur Zaczkiewicz for a webinar called “Navigating the Path Forward.” The goal of the discussion was to unlock the mind of the consumer and examine how it has changed in the current environment and how retailers can learn to navigate them by looking at search trends from the hundreds of millions of people who use Google for shopping-related searches daily and specific data for how Gap Inc. has adapted its business for today’s dynamic market throughout the pandemic and as stores continue to reopen.
Consumer behavior is ever-changing, especially in the wake of the multiple crises this year. “The past two to three months have seen dramatic shifts in consumer behavior,” Fried said. “They’ve seen dramatic shifts in shopping behavior, and we don’t need to look any further than our own behavior to observe all of this. If your life looks anything like my life, your commute to work [has] changed to a walk to the kitchen table [and] you’re experiencing that same

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