Walmart’s top executive in charge of its online offerings, Marc Lore, will retire at the end of January, according to a regulatory filing by the company. After Lore’s retirement, all aspects of the US retail e-commerce department, report directly to John Furner, the CEO of Walmart US.
However, this won’t be the end of Lore’s time with the retail giant as he will transition to a consulting role as a strategic advisor to the company through September 2021.
But what does Lore plan to do when he leaves Walmart in the fall? According to an interview with Vox’s Recode, he intends to embark on a lifelong journey to build a city of the future that could serve as a new model for society. A vision statement for the project seen by Recode reads, “Imagine a city with the vibrancy, diversity and culture of New York City combined with the efficiency, safety and innovation of Tokyo and the sustainability, governance, and social services of Sweden.”
Lore has been the CEO in charge of Walmart’s e-commerce business since 2016 when Walmart acquired Jet.com, a 15-month-old online shopping startup that Lore founded, for $3.3 billion. Prior to Jet.com, Lore started and ran various e-commerce and internet companies, including Quidsi, which Amazon acquired for around $550 million in 2011, and The Pit, which was sold to the Topps Company in 2001 for $5.7 million. Lore’s previous startup allowed him to accrue the experience eventually needed to help Walmart compete with massive online retailers like Amazon.
Under Lore’s leadership, Walmart was able to complete the unification of its store and e-commerce teams in 2020, allowing the company to create a single brand experience for its customers and operate as an omnichannel business. Over the past year, Walmart’s e-commerce business has been a source of growth as in Q2 and Q3 the company’s online sales spiked 97% and 79% respectively year-over-year due to the global pandemic.
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