Marc Lore, CEO, Walmart eCommerce
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Marc Lore, Walmart’s e-commerce business leader in the US, is leaving the big-box retailer, almost five years after looking at the serial entrepreneur to help speed up his online business, according to a file on 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 delivered food and other household items to younger customers living in the city.
With the expensive purchase, the old brick retailer and its CEO, Doug McMillon, has made a big bet to start the digital business and play the rhythm on Amazon. The deal was seen by investors and analysts, in part, as a way for Walmart to gain the digital knowledge of Lore and her team. He had deep experience in e-commerce. He also had information about his fast-growing rival after he sold his former company, Quidsi, the father of Diapers.com, to Amazon for about $ 550 million. He worked for Amazon for a few years before starting Jet.com
In an 8K filing on Friday, Walmart said Lore announced the company on Thursday that it would retire at the end of January. He will serve as strategic advisor to Walmart until September, the company said. This will fulfill the five-year commitment that Lore made to the company when Jet.com was acquired.
The Lore team will report to Walmart CEO John Furner in the future, according to a company-wide email. Walmart had previously combined its stores and e-commerce teams.
In the email, McMillon credited Lore with the retailer’s growth in e-commerce 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 delivery in two days and the same day, and expanded the range of goods it sells online.
“Marc’s leadership has helped us make sure we are positioned to meet the pandemic demand this year,” McMillon said in an email. “All of this progress is the result of good work from a lot of people, of course, but Marc’s expertise and aggression have changed in the game. I learned a lot from him. I personally learned a lot from him.”
In a post on LinkedIn, the 49-year-old executive said he would take time off, but plans to continue working with start-ups.
“Reflecting on the last few years with so much pride – Walmart has changed my life, and the work we have done together will continue to change the lives of our customers in the years to come,” he wrote.
Since the acquisition of Jet.com, the US Walmart e-commerce business has grown dramatically – just before the pandemic. The company reported a 37% increase in online sales in the US in 2019, exceeding its own domestic growth target of 35%. This has increased even more as customers limit trips to the store and use the pick-up on board during the global health crisis.
It has also acquired other digital native brands, including the Bonobos men’s clothing company and the Eloquii women’s plus size brand, and launched others such as the Allswell mattress brand.
And it has added more online options for customers, from picking up on the market to Walmart Express Delivery, which can give up shopping at customers’ doors in two hours or less. It has also partnered with Shopify to expand its online market and entered into an agreement with subsidiary ThredUp to sell more clothing, footwear and accessories brands.
However, some of Lore’s initiatives have disappeared or failed. Jet.com – the start-up that initially attracted Walmart’s attention – was officially completed in the spring. Jetblack, a membership service that allowed customers to order items on demand by sending a text message, became a waste of money that was discontinued before being scaled.