It’s a new year, which means a new crop of companies will tackle the IPO market. This year, however, there are fewer contenders, as investors are a lot more weary given the economic conditions.

But what’s the outlook for companies that have already filed an IPO and are expected to go public? Here’s what experts told us.

Instacart: The grocery delivery service shelved plans to go public last year, as factors such as inflation, fears of a recession, and the war in Ukraine scared off Wall Street. The pandemic ratcheted up the adoption of grocery delivery rapidly, but that effect essentially wore off by June of last year, Daniel McCarthy, assistant professor of marketing at Emory University, told Retail Brew.

The pandemic boost allowed the public to get a better idea of how Instacart would fare on the market, and McCarthy believes the company has a solid value proposition—so long as it targets a reasonable valuation.

Klarna: The buy now, pay later firm had a busy 2022, rolling out a slew of social shopping tools for customers and its merchant partners, while expanding its services to more brick-and-mortar locations. In July, the company took a major hit to its valuation, falling from $45.6 billion to $6.7 billion after a funding round. Klarna also laid off more than 10% of its workforce last year and lost $580 million in the first two quarters.

It’s been long speculated that Klarna will file an IPO at some point, and this year may be the time. The company is still adding new users despite decelerating transaction growth that peaked last January, Michael Maloof, director of strategy and marketing at Earnest Analytics, said. Plus, the company is officially top dog as far as BNPL companies are concerned, with a larger market share (44.5%) than Affirm (19.6%) of total Q3 app downloads.

Keep reading here.—KM

“As brands keep finding new ways to advertise their products, are marketers worried about unconventional campaigns feeling stale or becoming oversaturated? According to those involved in some of [2022’s] most out-there campaigns, the road signs aren’t pointing to a slowdown in 2023,” writes Marketing Brew’s Katie Hicks.

[Last year], Johannes Leonardo also worked with Kraft Heinz on Oscar Mayer’s “Cold Dog” ice pops and bologna sheet masks. “Prior to this, I don’t think there was a cycle of thinking, ‘What is Velveeta gonna do next?’ [or] ‘What is Oscar Mayer gonna do next?’” he said. “We want to change that.”

Making a new product can require partnerships, investments, and risk-taking that perhaps traditional ad campaigns do not. Chris Steele, senior director of marketing for Coors Light at Molson Coors, told us that to execute these campaigns, it’s important to “be in an environment that allows you to try some things that don’t always work.”

Read the whole story here on Marketing Brew.

Okay, okay, we know…it’s not a popularity contest, and also that it’s not 2022 anymore (we’ll move on after this, we promise), but here are the 10 most “popular” (aka, the most read) Retail Brew stories of 2022:

• Is earned wage access the future of hourly pay?
• Behind the curtain of NYC department stores’ holiday window displays
• Adore Me’s push to become eco-friendly isn’t landing with shoppers, but they’re doing it anyway
• Why Van Leeuwen was slapped with more fines for not accepting cash than all other NYC violators combined
• What does it mean for a company to use a ‘Made in USA’ label?
• A look back at the Great Recession and how it changed the retail landscape
• Gen Z in five charts
• We went for a ride-along with a DHL driver to see what he thinks of their electric-vehicle fleet
• Tools of the trade: How the clothes hanger found its hook
• What retail gets right—and wrong—about Gen Z, according to a Gen Z investor

But wait, there’s more (and then we’ll put 2022 behind us, really). These were the stories we determined to be the most engaging* of the year, at least in terms of the number of you who read them all the way through (or scrolled all the way to the end perusing the pictures—we’re not judging):

• The categories likely to take a hit as consumer spending slows
• Logo big or go home: How Nike got its swoosh for just $35
• How DTC menswear brand True Classic is built to grow
• Goodbye, minimalism: How Gen Z is reshaping retail product design
• Sayonara, sweatpants: Sales of dressy clothing are surging

*Some of the most read were also among the most engaging—namely, holiday windows, the Great Recession, the DHL ride-along, “Made in USA,” and the Gen Z charts—but we don’t want to repeat ourselves.—EW

Today’s top retail reads.

Foodbot: Despite the food world’s many automation announcements last year—Chipotle, Sweetgreen, and Starbucks, to name a few—and the industry’s labor-related challenges during the pandemic, the use of robots in restaurants is still very much in an experimentation phase. (CNBC)

Slow burn: 2022 was a momentous year for labor organizing at Amazon warehouses around the country, with one warehouse on Staten Island voting to unionize. In 2023, organizing efforts may play out more slowly. (the Wall Street Journal)

Resale reboot: The resale world is lush with cash, thanks to massive acquisitions and funding rounds in 2022. But heading into the new year, resale is facing all of the usual challenges that businesses grapple with: competition, consolidation, and the push for profitability. (Glossy)

What happened in the world of retail this week in…1994 and beyond? Retail Brew takes you way, way, way back.

• On January 1, 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, eliminating tariffs on trade between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Today, our biggest import from Mexico isn’t tequila, but computers, while the top Canadian import (to nobody’s surprise,) is mineral fuels.
• On January 1, 1998, California became the first state in the country to ban smoking inside at bars and restaurants.
• On January 2, 1990, Campbells introduced its Cream of Broccoli Soup, alongside a nationwide recipe contest: “How to get President [George] Bush to eat broccoli.” The winning recipe? Broccoli lemon sauce over steamed vegetables. A copy of the recipe was reportedly sent to the head chef at the White House.
• On January 3, 2002, Alfred Henry Heineken, former head of one of the world’s largest brewers, died at his home in the Netherlands, at age 78. “Freddy” first began working at his grandfather’s brewery in 1942, at age 18.

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

• Retail Brew’s year in review 2022: Looking forward, labor, beyond our borders
• Retail Brew’s year in review 2022: Beauty, Gen Z, and QSRs
• Retail Brew’s year in review 2022: Payments, sustainability, and luxury