My recap of top industry news from last week.  All sources can be found in the hyperlink after the headline:

Retailer + Brand News:

• Target partners with Story for the holidays. Link
• USPS adding Sunday deliveries in some areas for holidays. Link
• H&M’s Alexander Wang collection selling out and crashing the website. Link and Link
• Magazines turning to ecommerce. Link
• ShopRunner beefs up retail partnerships. Link
• Home Depot hackers also snagged 53 million customer email addresses. Link
• Amazon introduces Echo, a voice controlled speaker. Link
• Marc Jacobs x Urban Ears headphones can be thrown in the wash like a t-shirt. Link
• The head of Google Same-Day delivery joins Uber. Link
• Living Social lays off 20% of staff. Link
• 8Tracks launches DJ analytics and better music recommendations. Link
• Amazon is testing taxis for deliveries. Link
• American Eagle wants to be outfitter for your dog this holiday season. Link
• Amazon Prime’s new perk: unlimited cloud photo storage. Link
• TopShop unveils 5^th Ave flagship. Link
• Two dozen retailers that will not open on Thanksgiving. Link
• Ellen Degeneres launching ecommerce site and interior design book. Link
• Bringing online retail products into a real life apartment. Link

Social Media + Marketing:

• Facebook hands over more control of the newsfeed to users. Link
• Tumbler expands merchandise offering. Link
• Verizon Wireless under fire for ad targeting program. Link
• Marc Jacobs beauty makes Instagram shoppable. Link
• New app attempts to better organize tweets around events. Link
• How StyleHaul built a YouTube network on branded entertainment, not Google Ads. Link
• What’s next for Instagram: Discovery, Accessibility, and “Time Spent.” Link
• Facebook bans brands from trading “likes” for incentives. Link
• Adidas leverages athletic star power in winter sports campaign. Link
• Facebook launches a donate button for Ebola. Link
• Kohl’s ups TV spend for holiday campaign. Link
• Dollar Shave Club takes to TV in a big way with new campaign. Link
• The next frontier in digital media will be physical products. Link
• Lowe’s new vines offer up helpful DIY tips in six seconds. Link

Start-ups:

• Powa raises $80M to launch its mobile, ecommerce payments in U.S. Link
• Spark Capital’s new growth fund aims to catch the ones that got away. Link
• Blurb launches Dream Team talent network to help authors improve and complete their books. Link
• Ten exciting early stage startups to look out for. Link
• Kidizen, mobile marketplace for secondhand kids’ stuff raises $500K. Link

International:

[APAC]

• Ecommerce is so huge in China, some brands skip opening an actual store. Link
• Gap speeds up China expansion. Link
• China gears up for world’s biggest shopping day. Link
• Why Twitter is opening an office in Hong Kong despite being blocked in China. Link
• Small boutique ecommerce startup is undaunted by fashion giants like Zalora. Link

[EU]

• Crew expanding presence in Europe. Link
• Online retail growth speeds up in Russia. Link

[CA]

• Amazon’s same-day delivery comes to Canada. Link

Mobile, Tablet, + Wearables:

• Free People launches a redesigned mobile site. Link
• Android Lollipop hit by battery life problem. Link
• Marketers embracing beacons will have competitive advantage this holiday season. Link
• Android Lollipop is grown-up and accessible. Link
• Macy’s takes letters from Santa mobile. Link
• WalMart beefs up mobile app features for the holidays. Link
• Apple now lets you deregister phone numbers from iMessage. Link
• The Economist launches Espresso, a daily news roundup for mobile readers. Link
• Momofuku’s David Chang launching food delivery app in NYC. Link
• Groupon launches new app, Getaways, for travel and hotel offers. Link

Other:

• Trends that will revolutionize the retail industry. Link
• Macs hit market share milestone in the US. Link
• Square passes 1 Billion payments. Link
• Tom’s influences another humanitarian brand. Link
• Can teen retailers turn things around? Link