Walmart’s Top U.S. E-Commerce Executive Is Leaving

A Houston Walmart store on Black Friday.

Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Updated Jan. 20, 2022 9:40 am ET

Walmart Inc.’s WMT -1.89% top U.S. e-commerce executive Casey Carl is leaving the retailer, according to an internal memo, adding to a string of recent executive shifts at the company.

Tom Ward, a senior vice president who has led Walmart’s efforts to use its stores as hubs for online pickup and delivery orders, will become the company’s new head of U.S. e-commerce, according to the memo sent Thursday and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Carl will leave at the end of February, the memo said. The former Target Corp. executive was named Walmart’s executive vice president and chief e-commerce officer last year after joining the company in the fall of 2020.

Casey Carl was named Walmart’s e-commerce chief last year after joining the company in the fall of 2020.

Photo: Walmart

Mr. Carl took Walmart’s top U.S. e-commerce job in the wake of the departure of Marc Lore, the founder of e-commerce startup Jet.com Inc., which Walmart purchased for $3.3 billion in 2016. In recent years, Walmart has worked to more quickly grow its digital sales and profits as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed more shoppers online to buy goods. Before joining Walmart, he was a venture capitalist and spent two decades at Target.

“He’s created a solid foundation for our e-commerce business and strong team that is positioned to accelerate growth across the business and he’s ready for his next challenge,” said a Walmart spokeswoman.

Walmart’s global e-commerce sales increased around 17% to $46.3 billion during the nine months ended Oct. 31 compared with the same period the prior year. In the U.S., online sales grew near the same pace, hitting $33.6 billion during the period but lagged behind the growth of rival Amazon.com Inc.

“Continuing the growth of our e-commerce business is critical to our long-term success,” said Walmart’s U.S. Chief Executive John Furner in Thursday’s memo.

Last week, Walmart said its chief merchandising officer was retiring and its chief customer officer was leaving. Walmart often announces executive changes in January, after the holidays and near the end of the company’s fiscal year on Jan. 31.

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Write to Sarah Nassauer at [email protected]

Appeared in the January 21, 2022, print edition as ‘Walmart’s U.S. Online Chief to Leave.’

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