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Bloomberg
Walmart Inc has hired a veteran of American Express Co to run Walmart+, the membership program it unveiled less than a year ago to counter Amazon.com Inc’s Prime plan.
Chris Cracchiolo, a senior executive who spent 19 years at the credit-card company, will take over as senior vice president and general manager of Walmart+ on July 12, Chief Customer Officer Janey Whiteside said in a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. He replaces David Echegoyen, who left last month to join a private equity firm. Cracchiolo will report to Whiteside, a fellow veteran of AmEx.
Walmart debuted the $98-a-year membership program in September but has said very little since then about how the service is performing. Walmart+ offers unlimited free home delivery of groceries and other items, as well as fuel discounts. The program also recently added discounted prescriptions.
Morgan Stanley estimates
it has nearly 12 million members, but is growing “at a
modest and somewhat inconsistent pace.†Those members, though, spend “far more†at Walmart than other customers, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
Walmart has declined to share information on membership or sales for Walmart+, leaving analysts to guess about its performance thus far. CEO Doug McMillon played down the service on a call with analysts in May.