We might be in a crypto winter heading into the holidays, but the last 12 months have seen retail’s courtship of Web3 morph into something more…serious. Brands ranging from Nike to LVMH have demonstrated their belief in and commitment to this next era of the internet, and they aren’t showing signs of slowing as 2022 draws to a close.

Part of retail’s desire to join the elite group of early Web3 adopters likely stems from the industry’s still-painful memories of being late to social media, and its struggle to create online experiences that are as engaging as their brick-and-mortar offerings, Olga Dogadkina, co-founder and CEO of VR platform Emperia, said.

“It really makes sense for an industry that has been struggling…when it comes to digital channels versus the beauty of their physical channels,” she told Retail Brew. “That’s why there’s this kind of natural appeal.”

The technology hasn’t reached peak usability, but that’s not stopping brands from placing their bets that Web3 is coming for retail—in 2023 and beyond. And the rapid movement in this space means the last 12 months have been packed with learnings and improvements as the retail world finds its Web3 legs.

The one-off NFT drops and branded games of earlier in the year are no more, replaced by the longer-term inclusion of Web3 in omnichannel strategies and a focus on ROI, Dogadkina said.

Digital fluency reigns: One brand that dove headfirst into Web3 in 2022 is beverage company Liquid Death Mountain Water. The brand already had a cult-like following among younger consumers—it has 3 million followers on TikTok—when it rolled out the Murder Head Death Club in March, a limited-edition NFT collection of 6,666 severed heads by artist Will Carsola.

Keep reading here.—MA

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

After spending 4+ years at arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels, Stephanie Turner joined fashion accessories brand Fossil, where she’s director of CRM Marketing, North America, this year. Now, she’s focused on acquiring and engaging shoppers through email, text, and direct mail for the retailer.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? When people ask me what I do at Fossil, I usually say, “Anytime you read an email or text, or maybe get a holiday catalog in the mail, that’s my team.”

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? My guilty reading pleasure is web comics, specifically on the platform Webtoon. I’m currently reading 10 series simultaneously in my bed at night after I put my kid to sleep.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Rebranding at Michaels. Throwing all biases out the window to design a new customer brand experience was the toughest challenge I’d had to that point, and then we launched at the beginning of the pandemic (April 2020). It tested me in ways I didn’t fully understand, and I’m grateful for that opportunity.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about this year, and why? VR integration into shopping experiences.

What’s your go-to coffee order? Venti iced vanilla coffee with half-and-half, year round (I live in Texas. It’s always hot outside.)

Worst piece of advice you’ve received? “Don’t be the first to speak in a meeting. It makes you look too assertive.”

What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? Then: my brand new flip phone. Now: my growing collection of Fossil accessories.

Our final monthly theme of 2022—Year in Review, fittingly enough, kicked off above by Retail Brew’s Maeve Allsup—promises to be full of insights about the year that was and, undoubtedly, in the process, a glimpse at the year ahead.

But in the spirit of looking back, we thought it worth taking a moment to review the month that just was: November (we hardly knew ye), when we tackled the annual deluge of discounts and how retailers are leveraging them this year.

Deal with it: To kick us off, our own Katishi Maake delved into how shopping events from earlier in the year might offer insight into how consumers were approaching Black Friday.

• Check out some of the lessons retailers learned from Prime Day and Target Deal Days, among others.

The deal with luxury discounts: Next, Jeena Sharma dove deep on how discounting impacts a luxury retailer’s brand image.

• Here’s what’s driving luxury bands to do the previously unthinkable: marking down products.

Infrequent flyer: “The weekly circular, like the paperback novel and the vinyl album…has its fans among retailers and consumers. The future may be digital, they say, but print still has its place,” writes Andrew Adam Newman.

• Find out why it’s not time to write the obituary for print circulars just yet.

Taking it to go: Erin Cabrey told the remarkable story of an app focused on preventing food waste and how consumers use it (ostensibly, to save money on their groceries).

• Learn how Too Good to Go reached an audience beyond people interested in its environmental mission.

Discount double-check: And finally, Katishi Maake pulled double duty in November, diving back into the theme with a piece about coupon and cash-back services in the current retail environment.

• This is how the likes of Rakuten and Groupon are navigating tough economic times.

Today’s top retail reads.

Second chance: After a slew of retail closings over the past few years, a strip of vintage clothing shops on New York City’s Lower East Side are thriving. (The Cut)

Food for thought: A new independent report on the Food and Drug Administration could lead to changes for its Human Foods program. (Politico)

Off the wall(et): With revenue dipping in the fiscal first half of the year, this is how Vans is working to drive growth. (WWD)

Learn: Get yourself the gift that keeps on giving and lock in your seat for the Brew’s Leadership Accelerator so you can realize your dream of becoming the next Steve Jobs. Sign up here.

Let’s get cookin’: To whip up delicious meals, you need a high-quality fry pan. This 10-inch one’s ideal for cooking at high heat, and it’s dishwasher- and oven-safe, too (hello, easy cleanup!). Buy it on Wayfair.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Will consumers pay the premium price for a biodegradable water bottle?
• Macerich dishes on its leasing and holiday shopping strategies
• Retailers grapple with returns