Wal-Mart (WMT) is apparently ready to boost its global e-commerce unit in an effort to better compete with the likes of Amazon (AMZN), announcing that its head of U.S. operations has been put in charge of expanding the venture that it set up back in January.
Vice chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright will transition from his post as head of U.S. operations at the company’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas over the next month to become president and CEO of Global.com in California, where he will oversee all international e-commerce activities and global sourcing operations.
“I am committed to building the leading global e-commerce and multichannel business and to truly leveraging our global sourcing to deliver value for our customer,” says Castro-Wright.
The promotion is a very visible and public sign that Wal-Mart is serious about bringing its online retailing clout to the same level as the brick and mortar strategy that has made the company the largest retailer in the world. Global.com offers a single e-commerce platform that can be used in every market, directly in competition with a similar model from Amazon.
Over the past year or so, Wal-Mart’s leadership has reiterated that the company aims to become the top retailer on the web, a daunting task to say the least, when you consider that Amazon generated over $21 billion more in web sales last year than Wal-Mart, according to Internet Retailer.
The personnel change can partially be attributed to some health issues within Castro-Wright’s family that require him to reside in California.
However, it’s also an example of a trend that many analysts see increasing in the industry in the coming years: transitioning individuals who have had tremendous success building a brick and mortar presence to positions where they can replicate that success in online operations.
Wal-Mart obviously believes that the skills and practices necessary to drive the growth of Global.com are similar to the merchandising skills and strategies that made Castro-Wright successful in his previous positions with the company, all of which revolved around in-store operations.
Castro-Wright obviously has a lot of work to do if Wal-Mart is serious about catching Amazon in the online sales race. But this move certainly strengthens the company’s focus on Global.com, and with its sheer size and ability to lower prices, it could only be a matter of time before Amazon faces a real challenge.
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