With the festive season around the corner, retailers are trying every trick in the book to enhance customers’ shopping experience during the busiest phase of the year. For instance, Macy's, Inc. M unveiled hiring plans to deal effectively with the guests during the holiday season rush. Management informed that it intends to hire associates for more than 41,000 full- and part-time seasonal jobs targeting the upcoming festive period at Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury stores, along with supply-chain locations and call centers.Macy’s seasonal executives will access new opportunities, as they are converted to permanent job roles. The job opportunities cover entry-level roles for candidates possessing various skills and interests in leadership positions to drive a customer-centric culture. The associates are entitled to a merchandise discount and eligible to earn unlimited referral bonuses of up to $500 for the person they recruit. They have a chance to earn extra bucks via several programs like Path to Growth Incentive, a quarterly bonus given to the qualifying members.We note that M has been the preferred employer for its approximately 90,000 colleagues across its nameplates and provides exclusive benefits and unlimited career paths. Macy’s prioritizes and supports the welfare of colleagues. In 2021, above 10,300 seasonal associates were converted to permanent roles throughout the holiday period. Permanent colleagues can earn an average base pay of more than $17 an hour and an average total pay of $20 per hour with the opportunity to work extra hours in flexible schedules.Macy’s and Toys“R”Us unveiled Geoffrey’s 2022 Hot Toy List. The Toy list features exciting toys for the ‘Toys R Us’ kid from popular brands like Barbie, Fisher-Price, LEGO, Disney, Pokemon, Hot Wheels and a lot more. Geoffrey’s curated list has a selection of well-known labels created by Toys“R”Us, including You & Me, Just Like Home and Imaginarium.Starting Oct 15, Toys“R”Us shops will open officially across all Macy’s outlets throughout the nation. Guests can shop toys from the Hot Toy List and thousands more through October via in-store and online across macys.com and toysrus.com, and also on the Macy’s app.What Else?Macy's came up with a host of initiatives to deliver customers a seamless shopping experience. Its collaboration with Swedish buy now, pay later group Klarna is enabling it to offer shoppers financial ease and payment flexibility with their online purchases. Here, shoppers can choose to pay four equal and interest-free installments at the online checkout. This presently Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) player’s tie-up with DoorDash for expediting delivery service is also encouraging.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchHowever, macroeconomic pressures, waning consumer confidence and a pullback in spending activity hit consumer discretionary stocks, and Macy’s is not immune to the same. Inflationary headwinds, changing consumer behavior and inventory gluts persistently hurt M’s performance. Shares of this omni-channel retailer have lost 21.5% compared with the industry’s 12.9% decline.Solid Picks in RetailSome better-ranked stocks are Designer Brands DBI, Buckle BKE and Capri Holdings CPRI.Designer Brands, the leading footwear and accessories designer, presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Designer Brands’ fiscal 2022 sales and earnings per share (EPS) suggests growth of 6.9% and 23.5%, respectively, from the corresponding year-ago levels. DBI has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 55.1%, on average.Buckle, a leading retailer of apparel, footwear and accessories has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. BKE has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.3%, on average.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Buckle’s fiscal 2022 sales and EPS suggests growth of 6.8% and 4.5%, respectively, from the year-ago corresponding figures.Capri Holdings, a global fashion luxury group of iconic brands like Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors, carries a Zacks Rank of 2.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Capri Holdings’ current financial-year sales and EPS suggests growth of 3.3% and 10.1%, respectively, from the year-ago comparable numbers. CPRI has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 32.4%, on average. Just Released: Zacks Unveils the Top 5 EV Stocks for 2022 For several months now, electric vehicles have been disrupting the $82 billion automotive industry. And that disruption is only getting bigger thanks to sky-high gas prices. Even titans in the financial industry including George Soros, Jeff Bezos, and Ray Dalio have invested in this unstoppable wave. You don't want to be sitting on your hands while EV stocks break out and climb to new highs. In a new free report, Zacks is revealing the top 5 EV stocks for investors. Next year, don't look back on today wishing you had taken advantage of this opportunity.>>Send me my free report revealing the top 5 EV stocksWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Macy's, Inc. (M): Free Stock Analysis Report Buckle, Inc. The (BKE): Free Stock Analysis Report Capri Holdings Limited (CPRI): Free Stock Analysis Report Designer Brands Inc. (DBI): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research