According to a McKinsey survey report conducted with Women’s Wear Daily, top fashion companies today are using data analytics and consumer insights to develop concepts and plan lines.

These companies can deliver a product to market in less than six to eight weeks. They have adopted a more sophisticated model based on understanding what the consumer wants. This model allows them to incorporate what has been selling and respond quickly to what is generating early sales.

As companies often complain that they are stuffed with data but starved for insights, they can analyse consumer research where they can explore what topics are trending on major search engines and track the search rankings on peers’ websites.

Retailers can use advanced visual recognition tools to identify styles and colors trending on social-media sites. Aggregate product ratings by attribute, price, and style—either from the merchant’s own site or from retailers’ sites—can provide insight into what is trending with a specific type of consumer.