Uber Eats will offer delivery of goods through nearly 2,200 Rite Aid pharmacies in 17 states under a new partnership, they said Friday. “Consumer shopping preferences are changing, so we are continuing to evolve” the Rite Aid brick-and-mortar business by “doubling down on an omnichannel approach,” said Chief Operating Officer Jim Peters.

American Express estimates the pandemic accelerated “preexisting trends” in e-commerce “engagement levels” by 18 to 24 months, Doug Buckminster, vice chairman and president-global consumer services group, told an Autonomous Research investor conference Friday. “We're very focused on continuing to win as that commerce digitizes.” When Buckminster started working on the Amex consumer business about six years ago, “I remember there being tons of anxiety among investors” about the brand’s “generational relevance” with younger demographics, he said. More than 70% of new American Express customer “acquisitions” since this pandemic began are millennial or Generation Z accounts, he said. The “common wisdom” 10 years ago “was if you want to do business with younger customers, you needed a low-priced, easy, yes-type of product that people would trial and then you could kind of bring them up, and I think what we've learned over the last decade is that's not necessarily true,” he said. “Some of our premium products, Platinum and Gold, have the richest mix of Gen Z and millennials.”

Conn’s temporarily closed five of its 10 Louisiana stores before Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday to give employees time to evacuate, said CEO Chandra Holt on a call Wednesday for fiscal Q2 ended July 31. Holt joined Conn’s from Walmart Aug. 9, when former CEO Norm Miller moved to executive chairman. “While we are still fully assessing the impact from the storm, we do not expect Hurricane Ida to materially impact our third quarter financial results,” said Holt. “We remain dedicated to supporting our team members and helping our communities recover and rebuild from this devastating storm.” Conn's existing “back-end infrastructure” can support “a much larger e-commerce business as we grow,” Holt said. Q2 e-commerce sales increased 211% year over year to a quarterly record of $17.3 million and were up 60% sequentially, she said. “The company is well positioned to grow e-commerce sales to approximately $70 million this fiscal year compared to e-commerce sales of $26 million last fiscal year.” She thinks Conn’s can grow e-commerce “to levels in line with best-in-class omnichannel retailers.”

Refurbished electronics is a big area of growth across eBay’s largest markets, said CEO Jamie Iannone on a Q2 earnings call Wednesday. “Our certified refurbished experience is strengthening relationships with best-in-class brands by opening new sales channels.” Samsung Galaxy joined the nearly year-old program last month (see 2107290043). Global active eBay buyers totaled 159 million at the end of Q2, down 2% from the 2020 quarter when the world went into COVID-19 lockdowns but 3% over 2019, said Iannone. Changes in eBay’s “marketing mix and product investments” are focused on attracting and retaining “enthusiast buyers,” especially Generation Zers and millennials, he said. “In parallel, we have discontinued legacy tactics that led to low-value, infrequent or one-and-done buyers.” The proportion of “high-value buyers” is growing compared with a year ago, “and their spend on eBay is growing even faster,” said Iannone. “This higher-quality mix of buyers increases value for sellers and will lead to improved health of our ecosystem over the long term.” EBay’s aim is turning buyers “into lifelong enthusiasts on the platform and moving away from the tactics that we had in 2019, where it was really just about the number of active buyers, even low-value buyers, or one-and-done buyers,” said Iannone. “The whole organization pivoted to focusing on those high-value buyers” who spend more than $800 on the platform, buying six times a year or more, he said. These top 20% of buyers generate 75% of the platform’s gross merchandise volume, he said.

EBay is extending its “Up & Running” grants program for another year to help small-business sellers on its platform thrive online, said the company Friday. The mentorship program will expose an additional 50 U.S. small business sellers to $10,000 grant packages including cash, premium access to guided online learning content and coaching from expert sellers.

Amazon was the only tech-related merchant to make the National Retail Federation’s “Hot 25 Retailers List” for biggest U.S. sales growth in 2020 from 2019. All retail companies with domestic sales exceeding $300 million were eligible. Amazon placed seventh with 33.7% growth. Target was the only general-merchandise big-box retailer to qualify at No. 20 with 19.8% growth. For some retailers, “2020 was a decidedly good year,” said NRF Wednesday. Topping the list of Hot 25 was Wine.com, with 99.4% growth.

EBay expanded its inventory of “certified refurbished” goods to include a selection of Galaxy mobile products sourced directly from Samsung Electronics America at up to half off their introductory pricing, the e-commerce marketplace said Thursday. It introduced the program in October (see 2010210045).

COVID-19 restrictions “started to relax” in Q2 across PayPal’s core markets, “and we saw the beginning of a return to normalcy in consumer behavior,” said Chief Financial Officer John Rainey on a quarterly call Wednesday. “Consumers are spending again in verticals that had been severely affected and have become more comfortable shopping in person and dining out.” Merchants in the PayPal ecosystem “are repositioning for the post-pandemic world,” said Rainey. “Relative to our expectations, which were for reopening spend to closely track vaccination rates, we've seen travel and events volumes return more rapidly.” Even in markets that have reopened fully for in-person shopping, “elevated e-commerce spending above pre-pandemic levels is ongoing and indicative of permanent shifts in consumer behavior,” he said. “We continue to see the categories that benefited from quarantine measures and shelter in place activities last year maintain higher levels of e-commerce volumes in comparison to pre-COVID levels.”

Verishop and Snap teamed to debut Verishop Mini as a “curated” e-commerce service enabling Snapchat’s 280 million daily users exclusively to shop fashion and beauty products without leaving the app. The online store will feature a “rotating selection” of labels, said the companies Tuesday. “Snapchatters will have the chance to virtually sample popular beauty products and accessories available from Verishop through Snap’s new augmented reality try-on experiences,” they said.

Though eight in 10 Americans shop online most frequently with Amazon and big box retail “goliaths” for their low prices and convenience, e-commerce consumers are increasingly “conflicted in aligning their principles with their purchases, creating new market opportunities,” reported Kenco Tuesday. The logistics company canvassed 1,300 U.S. consumers in May, finding more than a third “associate shopping online with Amazon or big box retailers with feelings of guilt,” it said. Of those who feel guilt, three-quarters worry they’re taking away from small businesses and 68% feel “they’re contributing toward unsustainable practices involved in packaging, manufacturing, and labor,” it said. Half worry “they’re not supporting more socially responsible companies,” it said. Amazon didn't comment.