For the second time in less than a year, Walmart has announced major managerial changes, shuffling executives and making integrated online and on-ground retail a priority.
According to Reuters, the retailer circulated an internal memo stating that that it will reshuffle its executive structure on Friday January 13. This announcement marks the second time since August of 2016, when the company acquired Jet.com, that the company will make major changes to its top brass.
In November of 2016, Walmart announced a number of management changes and tasked Nate Faust, Co-Founder of Jet, with leading fulfillment operations for both Jet.com and Walmart.com. Analysts expect the latest changes to Walmart’s executive structure to continue the integration of Jet into its business.
According to Friday’s memo, the company now intends to extend broader authority to Faust in an effort to integrate the management of brick-and-mortar and online operations.
Among the other changes described in the company’s announcement, Jeremy King, Walmart’s current CTO of Global E-commerce, will now oversee technology teams for the retailer’s physical stores as well as its e-commerce business.
Michael Bender, COO for E-commerce, will be leaving the company, as will current Chief Information Officer Karenann Terrell, who will be replaced by GE Power executive Clay Johnson come February.
Tony Rogers, CMO of Walmart, will now be responsible for overseeing online marketing efforts as the retailer makes strides to grow its online presence.
Walmart surpassed $14 billion in e-commerce sales last year, but those sales remain sluggish when compared to sales at the retailer’s physical stores, and the company has a long way to go to catch up to Amazon in the way of online sales.
What will Walmart’s restructuring and new focus on e-commerce mean for the deli industry? Stay tuned to Deli Market News for developments as they occur.
