[ad_1]
Walmart has said its e-commerce guru Marc Lore – who many analysts credit the retail giant for helping the retail giant compete more effectively with Amazon in recent years – will leave the company late. January.
The executive vice president and general manager of the US e-commerce division notified Walmart “of his intention to step down” before Jan. 31, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday.
According to Chuck Grom, analyst at Gordon Haskett, Lore is leaving Walmart to focus on Remarkable Foods, one of six startups he created last year, and “whose mantra is decentralized living.” A number of executives who helped Lore found Quidsi – the parent of Diapers.com he sold to Amazon in 2010 for $ 500 million.
“Given his entrepreneurial background. . . it was more a question of ‘when’ he decided to leave than of ‘if’ and based on our contacts in the digital space, he’s not leaving for a competitor, ”Grom said in a Friday memo. to customers.
In a blog post, Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon noted that Lore was transitioning to a consultant role nine months before her employment contract expired.
“Marc signed up for a minimum of five years with us, which I know has been a long time for an entrepreneur like him,” said McMillon. “With our structural changes behind us, we concluded that it was time for Marc to step down from his daily role… Marc’s expertise and aggressiveness was a game changer. We have learned a lot from him. I have personally learned a lot from him.
In a LinkedIn post on Friday, Lore said he looks forward to “providing advice and ideas in the future … I’ll take some time and plan to continue working with several startups. I am happy to keep you posted on the future. “
Lore joined Walmart after the retailer in 2016 bought Jet.com, the hip e-commerce company Lore founded in 2014, for $ 3.3 billion – a striking figure at the time that signaled Walmart’s plans for s ‘attack Amazon more aggressively.
But Jet.com, which sold everything from clothing to groceries and catered to urban residents, was shut down last year after Walmart integrated it into its e-commerce division, so it was no longer a stand-alone business.
“Over the past two years, we have unified our store and e-commerce teams, which allows us to better create a brand experience for our customers,” Walmart said in a statement. “This was completed in 2020, so our Walmart US segment has operated and continues to operate as an omnichannel business.”
As Jet.com began to falter and was absorbed into Walmart’s e-commerce division, industry experts speculated that Lore would not stay at Walmart.
An entrepreneur at heart who founded several companies before Jet.com, including Diapers.com’s parent Quidsi, Lore was not seen as a cultural fit with Walmart.
Walmart said Lore will continue to play a consulting role as the company’s strategic advisor until September 2021.
“Under Mr. Lore’s leadership, Walmart pursued an aggressive and ultimately successful e-commerce strategy consisting of several acquisitions, including the picking of groceries,” wrote retail analyst John Zolidis of Quo Vadis. Capital. “We see Mr. Lore’s departure as an added drawback in removing a visionary and entrepreneurial leader from the company.
[ad_2]
Source link