Walmart Looks For eCommerce Chief Revenue Officer

To help lay out its battle pay to take on Amazon, Target and other competitors, Walmart is on the hunt for a new chief revenue officer for its eCommerce business in the U.S. The executive would work under Marc Lore, who is the company’s online leader, Fortune reported.

According to a memo that Bloomberg obtained, the vacancy opened up when Scott Hilton departed the retailer in May. Hilton’s departure was not reported previously, according to the outlet, and he didn’t respond to an email request asking for a comment. Hilton met Lore when they were Wharton students, and he became the executive’s first Quidsi employee. Amazon acquired that firm in 2011, and Lore left the eCommerce retailer to create Jet.com and Hilton came with him.

The company’s eCommerce business has grown and morphed into “a viable second fiddle to Amazon” per the outlet, with the revenue of the division expanded 40 percent in 2018. The business, however, remains in the red: This year, losses are expected to be roughly $1.7 billion (an increase from $1.4 billion in 2018 per estimates from Morgan Stanley.)

The news comes after it was reported that Walmart’s eCommerce division is projecting losses of $1 billion in its bid to catch up with Amazon, which is causing tensions between the leader of the division and Greg Foran, Walmart U.S. CEO. The retailer has been acquiring companies such as Jet.com in attempts to compete, but it hasn’t helped profitability.

The division, which is led by Lore, has sales of approximately $21 billion. As the eCommerce division loses money, Lore is being pressured to sell off some of the company’s eCommerce properties such as Modcloth and Bonobos, which Walmart will reportedly probably sell this year at a loss.

Walmart’s eCommerce division also reportedly won’t acquire any new companies in the foreseeable future, “barring an incredible acquisition opportunity that is just too good to pass up,” according to sources per previous reports.