Walmart head of US online business, Marc Lore, to step down by Jan-end

(Reuters) - Walmart Inc said on Friday its chief executive for e-commerce operations in the United States, Marc Lore, will step down at the end of the month.

Under Lore's watch, the big-box retailer launched same-day delivery and store pick-up services, as well as an Amazon Prime rivaling membership program to take on the e-commerce giant in its own game.

His exit comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has heated up the online shopping business, as customers turn to websites and apps to avoid the risks of visiting stores.

Lore joined Walmart in 2016 when it bought Jet.com, an online retailer that he co-founded, to bolster its e-commerce push.

As part of the deal, he received $88 million in cash in fiscal 2020 out of a total $477 million that Walmart agreed to pay him for his stake in Jet.com, according to a regulatory filing last year.

Over a five-year period, he will also get an equity stake of 3.6 million restricted shares. Lore will serve in a consulting role with Walmart through September, the company said.

Walmart, which combined its store and e-commerce teams last year, said the U.S. omni-channel business will report to U.S CEO John Furner from the start of the next month.

 

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Arun Koyyur)