Walmart and Target CEO’s take the helm on Sunday and are ushering in a new era of leadership for these two retail giants.
- Furner, who has served as President and CEO of Walmart U.S. since 2019, has led the company’s largest operating segment, comprising more than 4,600 stores.
- Fiddelke has served as chief operating officer and was previously the retailer’s chief financial officer.
- In the months leading up to the planned transition, these two companies have heavily given an insight into their growth plan – a major step being partnering with Sam Altman’s OpenAI.
Retail giants Walmart and Target have been weathering a rather difficult retail environment over the past year, and are now eyeing new leadership driven by an AI goal to propel the companies to growth as they battle several macro uncertainties and a very different geopolitical climate.
In the months leading up to the planned transition, these two companies have heavily given an insight into their growth plan – a major step being partnering with Sam Altman’s OpenAI to provide a better shopping experience and get a breakthrough out of the lull in consumer spending.
Walmart, the retail behemoth, has emerged as a winner and has been able to thwart most headaches driven by its large size and scalability, while smaller peer Target has had to double down on its growth efforts to sustain. A majority of Target’s offerings are discretionary items, which has put it at a disadvantage given the focus of customers on more essential goods at a time of higher living costs.
Walmart CEO
Ahead of the November earnings last week, Walmart said that Doug McMillon will retire from the company as the CEO in January after over a decade of leading the retailer. McMillon has been succeeded by the retailer’s U.S. unit CEO, John Furner, effective Sunday.
Furner, who has served as President and CEO of Walmart U.S. since 2019, has led the company’s largest operating segment, comprising more than 4,600 stores. He has closely worked with McMillon, and Wall Street has bet on his experience to lead the company, which has already positioned itself as a more tech-powered omnichannel retailer.
Furner takes over Walmart as the CEO after he began his career at the retailer as an hourly associate in 1993 and held several leadership roles across merchandising, operations and sourcing. He has also served as the President and CEO of Sam’s Club U.S.
In the weeks leading up to taking up the role, Furner made changes to his team to focus on a digitally capable management. He named David Guggina, Chief eCommerce Officer for the retailer’s U.S. division, as his successor as CEO of Walmart U.S.
“As AI rapidly reshapes retail, we are centralizing our platforms to accelerate shared capabilities, freeing up our operating segments to be more focused on and closer to our customers and members,” Furner said.
Last year, Walmart announced a partnership with OpenAI that will start with allowing customers and members to shop at Walmart through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout.
Target CEO
Last year, Target named its operating chief, Michael Fiddelke, as its new chief executive officer, succeeding Brian Cornell. As Fiddelke takes on the CEO role on Sunday, his experience at Target makes him an investor favourite. Fiddelke has been with Target for 20 years and worked in leadership roles across merchandising, finance, operations, and human resources.
As chief operating officer and previously the retailer’s chief financial officer, he has overseen efforts that enabled growth across the business, including investments in supply chain and digital capabilities.
Fiddelke, during November’s earnings call, said that new AI tools also include its recently developed Target Trend Brain, a new internal creative platform, which uses GenAI technology to help our teams identify and react to emerging trends faster and predict future trends.
Target has partnered with OpenAI as well, and Fiddelke said that it aims to be one of the first retailers on OpenAI platforms to offer the purchase of multiple items in a single transaction, offer fresh food products on the platform, and the ability to choose drive-up and pickup fulfillment options.
How Are Stocktwits Users Reacting?
Retail sentiment on Walmart dipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘bullish’ a week ago, with message volumes at ‘normal’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.
While sentiment on Target further fell to ‘extremely bearish’ from ‘bearish’ a day ago, with retail message volumes at ‘normal’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.
Shares of Walmart have gained nearly 20% in the last 12 months and Target’s stock has declined more than 21% during the same period.
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