When Walmart last week announced that David Guggina, its U.S. e-commerce chief executive, would become CEO of its nearly $500 billion U.S. division, one thing stood out in his résumé: Unlike his predecessors, Guggina has no experience running stores and has never held a merchandising role, at Walmart or elsewhere. These are two classic job requirements in retail. Incoming Walmart CEO John Furner, for example, who has run U.S. operations since 2019, began his Walmart career as an hourly associate in 1993, and held roles in merchandising, operations, and sourcing.
But there’s another realm of experience that Guggina does have in spades: e-commerce, automation, and supply chain. And by putting him atop the division that generates 69% of company revenue, Walmart is signaling that it now sees itself as a tech company, as well as a retailer. Guggina has spent eight years at Walmart, after nine years at arch-rival Amazon.com. In its announcement, Walmart touted Guggina’s work in building delivery capabilities to serve 95% of U.S. households in under three hours, and said his appointment “positions him to continue to drive our goal of being America’s favorite place to shop.”
In the last decade, after years of fits and starts, Walmart has emerged as a formidable e-commerce player, with U.S. digital sales of almost $100 billion a year—still far behind Amazon, but well ahead of any other U.S. retailer. In its most recent quarter, Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce rose 27%. That has been the result of billions in investments to integrate Walmart’s 4,600 stores with its e-commerce operations. This work has helped ensure faster shipping while also integrating technology more effectively into things like inventory management, supply chain, and in-store customer service. Guggina was instrumental in those achievements, working under Furner, who will become Walmart Inc’s new CEO next week.
“This is a unique moment in retail,” Guggina said in a LinkedIn post about his appointment. “AI is changing how people shop, and customer expectations are higher than ever. But no one is more prepared to usher in the next era of retail.”
The timing of Guggina’s promotion was fitting: It came soon after Walmart moved its shares from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq exchange, where tech giants such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft list their shares. In December, Walmart said the move underscores its “technology-forward approach.”
Guggina isn’t the only techy whose star is rising at Walmart. The company also appointed Seth Dallaire chief growth officer for Walmart U.S., charging him with pushing Walmart U.S. further beyond traditional retail into tech-heavy lines of business—including its booming advertising, media, and online marketplace ventures. Dallaire is a veteran of Instacart and Amazon.
Walmart is considered by analysts to be well ahead of other retailers in AI-assisted shopping. In October, it announced a partnership with OpenAI to allow shoppers to browse and buy Walmart products directly inside ChatGPT, using a built-in instant checkout feature. Last week, Walmart and Google announced their own shopping tool. Also last week, Walmart’s executive vice president for AI acceleration, product and design, Daniel Danker, suggested at a conference that the company was developing auto-ordering for the replenishment of staples.
Bolstering Walmart’s tech and AI aura has had the additional benefit of lifting the company’s stock: In the last year, Walmart shares have risen 27%, double the S&P 500’s growth and trouncing Amazon’s 1% increase.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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