Today in Retail: Facebook’s New Online Shopping Tools; Amazon Gets Over 1M Job Applicants

Facebook Shopping

In today’s top retail news, Facebook is introducing new tools for businesses to connect with consumers, while Amazon says it’s received over 500,000 applications for jobs in the U.S. and over one million applications globally. Also, a menswear resale marketplace received $60 million in funding to improve its platform, and an omnichannel retail management platform has agreed to acquire Inventory Planner.

Facebook Unveils New Online Shopping Tools

Facebook is introducing new tools for businesses to connect with potential customers on its app in a bid to become a destination for online shoppers. The new features will allow businesses to send emails to consumers through Facebook Business suite, will enable employees to manage business pages without needing to log in with their personal accounts and will add a WhatsApp button to business profiles on Instagram.

Amazon Career Day Sees Over 1M Job Applicants

More than one million people from more than 170 countries applied for jobs at Amazon during its virtual Career Day earlier this week, with over 220,000 job-seekers logging onto the website to get advice from business executives and experts. Amazon has seen more than 500,000 people apply for jobs in corporate, tech and hourly roles in the U.S. since announcing Career Day on Sept. 1.

Menswear Marketplace Grailed Notches $60M in GOAT Group-Led Round

New York-based curated menswear resale platform Grailed has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round led by the ownership group of sneaker marketplace GOAT. Grailed intends to use the funding to improve its authentication services and boost its existing payment processing system, among other goals.

UK-Based Brightpearl Snaps up Inventory Planner

Omnichannel retail management platform Brightpearl has closed a deal to acquire inventory projection solution Inventory Planner for undisclosed terms. The tie-up gives Brightpearl, which is headquartered in Bristol, England, enhanced inventory forecasting capabilities that complement its retail operating system, which helps merchants quickly and seamlessly scale and automate.

Sears to Close Final Store in Home State of Illinois

Sears will close its last Illinois-based department store, located at Simon Property Group’s Woodfield Mall, on Nov. 14, bringing an end to the retailer’s time in its home state. Sears Holdings, which also owned Kmart, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2018 before Transformco acquired Sears and subsequently closed a large swath of locations across the country. When it filed for bankruptcy, Sears had about 700 stores; it now has less than 40.

The Great Retail Conundrum: Easy Returns Are Costly, but Drive eCommerce Loyalty

David Morin, senior director of retail and client strategy at Narvar, told PYMNTS that as merchants continue to face an increase in returns, “it’s really critical for retailers to think about how to make the overall experience as easy as possible, as frictionless as possible, as seamless as possible.” Still, retailers need to be wary about preventing fraud and protecting revenue, which may mean limiting the number of returns a customer can make or promoting exchanges rather than full returns.