Marc Lore, CEO of e-commerce at Walmart
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Marc Lore, Walmart’s e-commerce business leader in the U.S., is leaving the retailer, nearly five years after the serial entrepreneur helped speed up his online business, according to a dossier released Friday.
Lore joined the company in 2016 when Walmart acquired Jet.com, the start-up it co-founded, for $ 3.3 billion. The delivery service sent groceries and other household items to mostly young customers living in the city.
With the acquisition expensive, the inherited retailer and its CEO, Doug McMillon, made a big bet to start their digital business and catch up with Amazon. The deal was seen by investors and analysts, in part, as a way for Walmart to gain digital knowledge of Lore and her team. He had deep experience in e-commerce. He also had information about his fast-growing rival after selling his former company, Quidsi, the mother of Diapers.com, to Amazon for about $ 550 million. He worked for Amazon for several years before starting Jet.com
In an 8K filing Friday, Walmart said Lore announced Thursday that the company would step down from its position in late January. He will serve as Walmart’s strategic advisor until September, the company said. This will fulfill the five-year commitment Lore made with the company when Jet.com was acquired.
Lore’s team will inform U.S. Walmart CEO John Furner from now on, according to an email from the entire company. Walmart had previously combined its store and ecommerce equipment.
In the email, McMillon credited Lore for the retailer’s pace of e-commerce growth and its ability to keep up with online demand during the pandemic. He said Lore led the redesign of the company’s website and app, transformed its supply chain to allow for two-day, same-day delivery, and expanded the range of products it sells online. .
“Marc’s leadership helped ensure we were in a position to respond to the demand driven by the pandemic this year,” McMillon said in the email. “All this progress is the result of the good work of a lot of people, of course, but Marc’s experience and aggression have been changing the game. We’ve learned a lot from him. Personally, I’ve learned a lot from him. “.
In a post on LinkedIn, the 49-year-old executive said he will take time off, but plans to continue working with start-ups.
“Reflecting on the last few years with so much pride – Walmart changed my life and the work we did together will continue to change the lives of our customers for years to come,” he wrote.
Since the acquisition of Jet.com, Walmart’s e-commerce business in the United States has grown dramatically, even before the pandemic. The company recorded 37% online sales growth in the US in 2019, surpassing its own domestic growth target of 35%. This jumped even further, as customers limited trips to the store and used sidewalk collection during the global health crisis.
It has also acquired other native brands digitally, including men’s clothing company Bonobos and the larger-sized women’s brand Eloquii, and has launched others such as the mattress brand, Allswell.
In addition, more online options are added for customers, from sidewalk pickup to Walmart Express Delivery, which can leave shopping at customers ’doors in two hours or less. It also partnered with Shopify to expand its online marketplace and reached an agreement with second-hand seller ThredUp to sell more brands of clothing, shoes and accessories.
However, some of the initiatives led by Lore disappeared or failed. Jet.com, the start-up that originally caught Walmart’s attention, officially ended in the spring. Jetblack, a member-based service that allowed customers to order a la carte items by sending a text message, became a waste of money that was discontinued before scaling.