Walmart names Jamie Iannone as deputy to e-commerce boss Marc Lore

Jamie Iannone is taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer for US E-commerce at Walmart.

Iannone, who joined Walmart in 2014, previously ran the web, membership and marketing operations of the retailer’s wholesale subsidiary Sam’s Club, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. He will report to US E-commerce President and CEO Marc Lore and to new US CEO John Furner.

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Iannone headed up the roll-out of Sam’s Club’s checkout-free Scan & Go service and also introduced its Ask Sam app, which enables employees to find information without having to ask their manager.

Prior to that, he was President of Digital Products at Barnes & Noble. He also spent eight years at eBay as a Vice President leading several areas of the company, including its global search, buyer experience and tailored shopping experience divisions.

Mark Ibbotson

Mark Ibbotson, Executive Vice President of Walmart’s Realty and Central Operations divisions, recently departed the US retail giant. This closely followed Furner naming Dacona Smith as his second-in-command, a move which sidelined Ibbotson.

The Brit joined Asda in 2004 as a regional operations manager and then moved to the central retail team, where he held a variety of roles including Loss Prevention Director and Productivity Director, Central Retail Director, Retail Director and Chief Operations Officer.

In March 2015, Ibbotson moved to the role of Senior Vice President of Central Operations for Walmart US. Prior to joining Asda, he worked for Sainsbury’s in a number of operational roles both in the UK and internationally.

Ibbotson did a considerable amount of online grocery work for Walmart. Janey Whiteside, EVP and Chief Customer Officer, is now taking on more of that responsibility. Dacona Smith will also cover some of Ibbotson's patch, including asset protection and realty. Walmart will name new heads for realty and operations support at a later date.

“Over the past five years, Mark has been an important part of the transformation of the US business, helping simplify work for associates and digitise our operations,” a company memo said.

“He helped launch Academies to invest in our associates and online grocery shopping to create a great experience for our customers – both of which have helped position us well for the future.”

“We have decided that a portion of the work that has lived in central operations belongs with the product team being created under Janey Whiteside. We are standing up this product team – to be led by Meng Chee, EVP and Chief Product Officer – to design great technology products and customer and associate experiences with the end user in mind,” the memo added.

“These central operations teams have made strong progress with store innovation, associate-facing technology and the rollout of online grocery pickup and delivery, and we want to see that work accelerate by seamlessly integrating our associate and customer experiences.”