With the holiday season coming soon, it's important to have a social media marketing plan in place. In addition to setting a goal, small-business owners need to decide what to publish and when, who will create the content and which platforms to target, writes Armando Roggio.

Nordstrom has promoted Chief Digital Officer Ken Worzel to the new post of chief operating officer. Worzel, who has worked at the upscale department store retailer for nearly 10 years, will work to coordinate physical and digital retail in his new role and most recently was focused on Nordstrom's omnichannel efforts.

Plus-size fashion brand ELOQUII and media platform Refinery29 have launched the Weekender, a line that's the result of two years of research and data gathering. The partners surveyed more than 1,000 plus-size women and selected 29 ambassadors to share the insights that went into creating the crowdsourced collaboration.

Massachusetts-based fashion brand The Range took a selective approach to signing new wholesale partners. Sisters Mia and Brittney Rothweiler co-founded the brand in 2017, and have since signed deals with five major online retailers and e-commerce platforms including Shopbop, Net-a-Porter and Revolve.

Smartphone case company BodyGuardz is expanding into smart home security with a lineup that includes a portable door camera, a portable security camera and a portable emergency hub. The products are in beta testing and are expected to launch early next year.

Roku will launch updated versions of its Express and Ultra devices in the coming weeks and is introducing a revamped operating system, Roku OS 9.2. The new operating system will curate search results in a feature called Roku Zones.

A recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission suggests that Microsoft's Surface Pen is being redesigned with wireless charging capabilities. Details are expected at the company's fall hardware event next month.

JR Raphael shares some of his favorite efficiency-enhancing Gmail features, most of which are free. They include single-click forwards, delivery of starred Slack content and syncing with Evernote.

Roughly two-thirds of US distributors and wholesalers sell online, although most companies surveyed by Digital Commerce 360 generate 25% or less of total sales through e-commerce. Many distributors lack the proper investment of time, focus or technology, said Karie Daudt, senior commerce consultant for Perficient Digital.

Small- and medium-sized businesses are one of the hot markets for Tech Data, CEO Rich Hume says. "[W]e're very focused on cloud, analytics, IoT, security and services, and we believe that those are the growth areas for the future moving forward," he says.