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Marc Lore, head of e-commerce for Walmart in the United States, bids farewell to a digital business monster he helped revitalize in less than five years.
The company announced Friday that Lore will retire on January 31 and will remain as a strategic advisor until September.
Lore’s new mission – although she offers only a few details in an interview with Yahoo Finance – will be to take cities around the world to the next level. Given Lore’s highly technological resume, that means focusing on accelerating the adoption of smart cities.
“I have a vision for a new model of society where people are happier and have a better quality of life and maybe compensate for some of the things that don’t fit capitalism,” Lore said.
In start-up fashion, Lore said he would like to create a new city from scratch and prove his new model, but did not decide on a location.
“The city will also be more sustainable, it will be safer, less noise pollution, it will be, you know, transport will be public transport and much more efficient. We’ll take all the learnings from existing cities and whatever we’ve learned and sort of build from scratch, ”Lore explained, adding that the city will be very tech-friendly and ideally house millions of people.
Moreover, this new city will be built on a “reformed version of capitalism”. While Lore’s views on capitalism require a much longer and more nuanced discussion than the 10-minute phone call would allow, he said he spent a lot of time thinking and talking about it.
“At some point we can talk in more detail, but the reformed version of capitalism is like not changing capitalism at all, and that nowhere approaches socialism. It is simply capitalism, with more opportunities and less disparity in income and wealth inequalities, ”he said.
According to Lore, the way to create this economic model is not done with higher taxes or socialism.
“It’s the magic and I think that’s why I’m so excited that I think we’ve found a way to do it without raising taxes without it being socialism.” In fact, if it works well, we could have both, we could have lower taxes and less inequality, still with the same benefit, you know, without capping anybody’s benefits.
Although it sounds like “the holy grail,” Lore believes there is a path that can be done with a blank slate.
“Like everything, if I went out there and explained it to people, you know some people would get it, some would believe it, some wouldn’t. It would be very difficult to implement something like this in an existing country or city, because it’s so different. It’s such a different way of approaching it. With a clean slate and a new city, you can really, you know, prove it, you know, without a hitch.
Lore told Yahoo Finance he has been considering the move for about six months as the retailer develops its long-term digital strategy.
The world’s largest retailer acquired Jet.com from Lore in 2016 for $ 3.3 billion in cash. While some on Wall Street viewed the purchase price as high at the time, there’s no denying the impact Lore and the folks at Jet.com have had on Walmart since the deal was struck in September 2016. Walmart shut down Jet.com in March 2020.
Not only have the folks at Jet.com infused the once-slow digital ranks of Walmart with new thinking and speed, but Lore has fueled the rollout of same-day delivery services that are attacking Amazon while also improving. significantly online and mobile shopping experiences.
Walmart’s online sales have increased roughly quarterly (including before the coronavirus pandemic) after the Jet.com deal was struck. Walmart shares have risen 100% since the Jet.com deal was struck (the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 70%), in large part because the street sees Walmart as a leader in e-commerce.
Maintaining the momentum online will now be the responsibility of Walmart US CEO John Furner.
CEO Doug McMillon wasted no time praising Lore’s work in an internal employee memo obtained by Yahoo Finance.
“Since acquiring Jet, we have seen the growth of our e-commerce accelerate, including rapid growth in our online grocery business. Marc’s leadership helped ensure we were able to meet the demand generated by the pandemic this year. All of this progress is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, of course, but Marc’s expertise and aggressiveness was a game-changer. We have learned a lot from him. I personally learned a lot from him, ”said McMillon.
Brian Sozzi is an editor and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
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