As the global coronavirus pandemic has heightened the pressure on retailers across sectors to demonstrate corporate social responsibility, the beauty industry is feeling the scrutiny. 

Beauty brands are scrapping makeup skin-care tutorials for tips on meditation and anxiety reduction in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

When beauty companies began investing heavily in AI and AR try-on tools in recent years, they may not have anticipated that these technologies would become one of the only ways their customers could test products, amid coronavirus.

As beauty store closings have become widespread amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers and brands are turning to virtual consultations to make up for the lack of in-store services. 

Stitch Fix is reaching out to premium fashion brands at a time when they’re feeling especially vulnerable: Department store foot traffic is falling, the online marketplace is sprawled and Amazon is hardly a friendly retail partner to brands.

Stitch Fix is launching wholesale partnerships with more than 100 contemporary luxury brands, including Alice + Olivia and Helmut Lang. With its strong hold on customer data and a policy against promotional pricing, the online styling service is becoming an appealing outlet for brands hurt by department store struggles.