Walmart reshuffles executive ranks at Jet.com, its rockstar $3 billion acquisition
The mothership beckons for Jet.com.
Walmart (WMT) U.S. e-commerce CEO — and Jet.com founder — Marc Lore said Wednesday in a blog post it will merge the remainder of Jet’s employees with Walmart. That means Jet.com people across retail, marketing, technology, analytics and product will also take on responsibilities related to operating Walmart’s web business.
Lore said the moves will create “synergy” and at the same time make Jet.com an entity more focused on delivering to urban markets. The well-regarded Lore acknowledged a shift in marketing dollars to Walmart from Jet.com has made the latter a smaller business.
Jet.com will no longer have a dedicated president as a result. As part of the reshuffling, current Jet.com President Simon Belsham will exit in August. Strategy and management of Jet.com will fall to Kieran Shanahan, who currently leads Walmart’s food and consumables business online.
A source close to the matter said there will be no layoffs. The Jet.com website is also expected to stay open. Its headquarters will still be based in Hoboken, NJ and not relocated to to Walmart’s base in Bentonville, Ark.
“Jet continues to be a very valuable brand to us, and it is playing a specific role in helping Walmart reach urban customers. The focus has largely been on New York so far, and we’re looking at other cities where we might bring together Jet’s expertise and the scale and operating model of Walmart. More to come on that,” Lore said.
The impact of Jet.com deal
The world's largest retailer acquired Jet.com in 2016 for $3 billion in cash. While some on Wall Street viewed the purchase price as lofty at the time, there is no denying the impact Lore and the Jet.com folks have had on Walmart since the deal closed.
Not only have the Jet.com people infused Walmart’s once slow-moving digital ranks with fresh thinking and speed, but Lore has fueled a rollout of Amazon-attacking same-day delivery services while meaningfully improving the online and mobile shopping experiences.
Walmart’s online sales have surged pretty much every quarter after the Jet.com deal closed. So, having their team work closer with Walmart may not be a bad thing at all.
"I’m so glad we did it, and we’d do it all over again. I think that the Jet team and the momentum we picked up since this happened has been fantastic," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon wrote in a LinkedIn post in May.
Watch Marc Lore discuss the company’s outlook with Yahoo Finance from the company’s latest annual shareholder’s meeting.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-host of The First Trade at Yahoo Finance. Follow Brian Sozzi him on Twitter @BrianSozzi
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Apple stock could jump by as much as 530%, despite Trump's trade war on China
Uber's stock may be in reverse, some think it may have bottomed
Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.
