Amazon has revealed that Doug Herrington will become the CEO of the e-commerce titan’s Worldwide Amazon Stores business. He replaces Dave Clark, who recently decamped to become the CEO of global logistics upstart Flexport.
The role, previously called CEO of Worldwide Consumer, places Herrington in charge of Amazon’s physical stores and online retail and delivery operations.
Herrington is a 17-year Amazon veteran who joined in 2005 to build the company’s Consumables business. He subsequently helped launch AmazonFresh in 2007 and assumed leadership of the tech and logistics company’s North American Consumer business in 2015.
In a message posted on Amazon’s website, CEO Andy Jassy called Herrington a “terrific inventor for customers” and said he “thinks big, has thoughtful vision around how category management and ops can work well together, is a unifier, is highly curious, and an avid learner."
Herrington’s promotion and title change are part of a more extensive restructuring that will unite the company’s Operations organization under SVP of Global Delivery Services John Felton, who will report to Herrington.
The changes come as Amazon looks to recover from a growth slowdown caused by overextending its resources, supply chain issues and inflation.
Among Herrington’s top priorities will be addressing staffing issues. The company has privately expressed concerns about its high turnover rate and predicts it could run out of new warehouse workers in 2024, according to a leaked memo seen by Recode. Herrington will also have to contend with a growing unionization push among the e-commerce company’s warehouse staff that has already seen some success.
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