We’ve told you what the most overlooked and overhyped retail trends are for 2021, according to the industry experts. Now, it’s time to see where Retail Brew readers stand.

We asked you to weigh in on which didn’t get enough attention this year—and which got way too much. Here are the results.

Overhyped

NFTs: These blockchain-backed digital tokens rode the 2020 crypto wave and blew up in popularity in 2021. Brands and companies across the board, from General Mills and Taco Bell to Rebecca Minkoff and Shopify, got in on the craze in one way or another.

But most of our readers aren’t buying it. One wrote: “NFTs seem like they are going to crash. Why does it matter that someone owns an image that anyone can download on their phone and minimally tweak it and then try to sell as a new NFT?” Another said, “Collectibles are important, but still a small part of the industry.”

15-minute delivery: This year saw drop-offs made in time frames shorter than a TV sitcom. And while analysts recently told us these instant-delivery services can make sense in big cities—their long-term success isn’t guaranteed. Our audience agrees, ranking it the year’s second-most overhyped trend.

Overlooked

Buy now, pay later: Retailers have been hopping on the BNPL bandwagon in droves, we wrote earlier this week. Still, the Retail Brew audience felt the service was overlooked in a year that BNPL spending is predicted to add up to ~$226 billion.

• About 30% of college students used BNPL at least once in 2021, per a September Morning Brew poll with Generation Lab.

One reader made a suggestion for how retailers should use it moving forward: “I only notice BNPL on the product page, without much explanation, and usually on items less than $100. I think retailers, especially furniture, electronics, furnishings, could do a better job marketing the option or promoting engagement through discounts.”

The supply chain: You couldn’t escape some variation of the phrase “supply-chain crisis” this year. Ports, particularly on the West Coast, saw historic backups. Retailers like American Eagle Outfitters made acquisitions to better own the process, while Amazon and others straight up chartered their own cargo ships to bypass bottlenecks.

For the Retail Brew audience, these issues were the year’s most overlooked trend. But it doesn’t end here.

+1: Just over a quarter (25.9%) of those who weighed in on our survey believe the supply chain is the most important thing to watch in the new year. “Supply-chain bottlenecks have global economic issues more significant than the other trends,” one reader wrote. “Reversing course for these bottlenecks will be imperative in 2022.”—KM

We published a whole lot of stories this year. We hope you were into all of them, but these were the ones Retail Brew readers were really into. Check out our most popular pieces of 2021 below:

In some on-the-ground reporting, we stepped inside Jokr’s Williamsburg hub this summer to see what goes down behind the scenes. “If you build the infrastructure and you have the right logistics, you can sell anything in 15 minutes. That’s the future,” Tyler Trerotola, who helps lead the instant-delivery startup’s US operation, told us.

And, when Amazon One, Amazon’s palm payments system, arrived in New York City, we had to try it for ourselves. Our verdict: It was definitely convenient. But there’s work to be done to convince consumers to get super hands-on.

Even we can’t do a year-end wrap-up without mentioning Squid Game. We spoke to a couple of Etsy sellers on how they capitalized on the craze for Halloween.

This year, we also partnered with Emerging Tech Brew on a guide to all things virtual fitting rooms. For retailers, the key is cutting down on returns as e-comm takes off. “When someone is looking at a product, a certain percentage of people will always bracket: They’ll buy three, four, five sizes of the same item in the same color because they know that they want to get the one that’s going to fit them,” explained Richard Berwick, cofounder of virtual try-on tech company Drapr (which was acquired by Gap).

• “If we can add confidence to that user...to the point where they are going to buy one size, we just reduced a significant number of returns.”

When Paper Source filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, some small vendors felt blindsided—and shared how they’re now rethinking their retail strategy.

It’s not just you: There are some shady reviews on Amazon. We spoke to ReviewMeta, one of a few options for online shoppers who want a reality check.

We also chatted with the cofounders of Canal, a platform that emerged out of stealth this year and links DTC brands with “like-minded” companies. “We’re not the shelf or the products you put on the shelf. We are your access to inventory,” CEO Bennett Carroccio said.

Who knew selling cookie-box drops would be a viable biz? Not Matthew Jung—at least not before he joined Last Crumb. The CEO told us about the company’s successful strategy.

And in an exclusive, we dropped the news about Roman’s first retail partnership, which put its men’s health and wellness products in more than 4,600 Walmart stores.

One more buzzworthy piece: Here’s why the cannabis beverage market is bubbling with brands.—GT

Today’s top retail reads.

With labor finally under the spotlight this year, here are a few stories that show how the workforce is changing (and more):

Our time: Beholden to apps and restaurants and hungry customers, New York City’s delivery workers have had to develop systems to fend for themselves. (The Verge)

BTS: How a feud between founders led every worker to quit Great Jones. (Insider)

Striking back: Increased demand and supply-chain disruptions this year gave workers for food giants like Mondelez and Frito-Lay extra leverage to renegotiate their contracts. (Food Dive)

Influential: As more customers buy online, commission-based salespeople are building up their social media presence to drive traffic. (Modern Retail)

Quitting time: In the wake of the ongoing pandemic and increasing burnout, people evaluated the meaning of their time spent at work and their value to the company, leading to the Great Resignation. (NPR)

Don’t settle: As the pandemic moved the hiring process online, modern job hunting is starting to resemble online dating, where both employers and candidates aggressively court multiple prospects to find the one. (Bloomberg)

Hide and seek: 4.3 million workers are missing from the labor force since the start of the pandemic, leaving employers wondering where they went—and how to get them back. (The Wall Street Journal)

Drive by: Teamsters, one of the largest unions in the country, wants to talk to more and more Amazon workers. (Forbes)

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

Jessica Meher’s e-commerce career has taken her from selling fine Japanese home goods to heading up e-comm marketing at HubSpot. But when the pandemic hit and shipping became a logistical nightmare, she turned her focus to the post-purchase experience and cofounded Wonderment, where as CEO she’s helping Shopify brands like Hydrant and Ridge Wallet manage packages getting stuck at facilities, or worse: entering the dreaded “black hole.”

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? My role is to help online stores help delight their customers after they buy, so they can grow better.

One thing we can’t guess about you from your LinkedIn profile: I am obsessed with interior design and love to find old vintage decor and refurbish it. I’m one of those people who can walk into an outdated, tear-down of a house and immediately visualize how to redesign it.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Tough one, but I’m proud having launched GirlCapital.org to teach more women how to become angel investors.

Name your must-follow retail accounts: HomeGoods, One Kings Lane, The Home Edit, and Westwing.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about this year, and why? I love the trend toward profitability versus growth at all costs and how more brands are doubling down on CX and retention as a core part of their growth strategy.

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

• The evolution of buy now, pay later
• The five biggest US retail funding rounds of 2021
• In a big year for retailers going public, here are a few companies that stood out