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By Gerald Baldino Global sporting goods brand Decathlon embraces 3D Systems to streamline prototyping and product development Buyer’s Side A s the pandemic continues to drag on into the fourth quarter, many global retailers still are dealing with operational and sup- ply chain disruptions. At this point, just about everyone is waiting for things to re- turn to the way they were before COVID-19. Yet, the uncomfortable truth is that the world has changed — and when the dust settles, the retail land- scape will look different than it did before the pandemic. This is because the market is being impacted by a vari- ety of influencing factors apart from COVID-19. At the recent American Shipper’s Global Trade Tech Summit, IBM Services managing partner Jona- than Wright urged executives to break through past methodologies and find new ways to meet customer requirements during these challenging times. According to Wright, the process of basing future predictions on historic data from previous seasons worked in a stable environment. However, this strategy is no longer as ef- fective as it once was. “We’re entering a period of high volatility,” Wright ex- plained. “This volatility is not going to go away, whether we’re looking at COVID, whether we’re looking at trade, whether we’re looking at changing consumer behavior — volatility is the new norm and our supply chains need to be prepared for that.” Innovating in a Volatile Market Inside Outdoor | FALL 2020 34