Ebay wants its own holiday to celebrate pre-loved items

In case you missed it, eBay declared May 21st the world's first ever "Recommerce Day" to promote buying and selling secondhand goods.

• To celebrate Recommerce Day, they redesigned their homepage to showcase the joy of pre-loved items.

• They hosted a special eBay Live program featuring exclusively secondhand items.

• Throughout the day, lucky viewers had the chance to win pre-owned and refurbished prizes.

According to eBay’s own Recommerce Report, 70% of global consumers surveyed plan to buy pre-loved goods this year. The reasons for this surge in pre-loved love are varied.

• 45% choose to buy pre-owned simply to save money.

• Another 51% reported that eco-friendliness is a big factor in their decision to buy pre-owned.

This eco-conscious movement has even caught the eye of actress Alicia Silverstone, a longtime eBay shopper.

• She donated pre-loved items from her own closet to be auctioned off on eBay to celebrate Recommerce Day.

eBay is working hard to make it an official state holiday in California. They've even partnered with California State Senator Dave Cortese to introduce a resolution in the state legislature.

Forget cookies, Walmart Connect wants stronger ads its own way

Walmart Connect (Walmart’s advertising arm) is expanding its reach to become a one-stop shop for brands looking to target Walmart's massive customer base.

• Walmart Connect lets advertisers to reach customers in different channels, like Walmart’s website, app, store displays, and smart TVs.

• This means that advertisers can show you ads no matter where you are in your shopping journey

The main reason they do this is because of smart targeting.

• Brands are ditching cookies and turning to retail media, the newest trend in digital marketing.

• Stores like Walmart offer better ad measurement and buying, making it an attractive option.

Take the recent partnership between Disney Advertising and Walmart Connect.

• Combining Walmart's shopper data with Disney's family-entertainment-audience insights lets advertisers target exactly them.

• A new streaming agreement with Disney opens doors for future advertising collabs.

Walmart is also making acquisitions like their recent purchase of Vizio, a smart TV manufacturer.

• Vizio gives them access to viewer data for even more effective video ads.

Walmart Connect is opening its doors to smaller businesses and international suppliers, making its platform more accessible than before.

The results speak for themselves. Walmart's advertising business is booming.

• Sales for Walmart Connect in the US grew by 26% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.

Pepper: This startup could be the secret weapon for food distributors

Founded in 2019 by Bowie Cheung (an old employee at Uber Eats), Pepper offers an ecommerce platform designed for independent food distributors.

• Their mission? To help these distributors find new customers, boost revenue, and streamline operations.

• They just secured $30 million in a Series B funding round led by ICONIQ Growth.

Since their last funding round, Pepper has doubled its customer base to over 140 food distributors and 16,000 operators according to Digital Commerce 360.

• They’ve been releasing over 50 upgrades/new features every year.

• Pepper plans to use the fresh funds to add Gen AI and targeted advertising.

For its targeted ads, it’s Pepper's "Smart Solutions" that takes the spotlight.

• It allows manufacturers to advertise directly to distributors through the Pepper app.

• It includes targeted banner ads, sponsored search terms, and easy lead generation through sample requests according to Perishable News

So far, their platform has led to a 23% more sales, 93% buyer retention and 20% more sales productivity.