At age 18, Doug McMillon got an entry level job at his local Walmart. Roughly 20 years later, he was named the CEO.<\/p>\n
McMillon spent the majority of his 20s and 30s working his way up in the company, progressing from buyer to manager, and in 2014 assuming his current position of CEO. Over the past few years, McMillon has made it a major priority to help the company work its way to the forefront of industry. Focusing on e-commerce, sustainability and accessibility, McMillon has made Walmart into a fierce competitor to Amazon.<\/p>\n
Monday in Aspen during a session at Brainstorm Tech 2019, which is sponsored by Fortune magazine, McMillon spoke about the work he has done to bring Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, to the forefront of the e-commerce market.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly customers are responding to convenience,\u201d he told the crowd.<\/p>\n
He explained that the advantage Walmart has over other e-commerce giants is how many stores they have. According to McMillon, because 90% of Americans have a Walmart within 10 miles of their home, bringing more accessible options for shopping has increased Walmart\u2019s client base exponentially.<\/p>\n
Many locations, including the store in Glenwood Springs, have become \u201cdual stores and pick centers,\u201d meaning shoppers can purchase items on the website and pick them up at a close location for free. Because Walmart serves as a grocery store to many Americans, McMillon said the convenient options continues to provide great time-saving alternative to traditional shopping.<\/p>\n
He was asked how Walmart keeps online sales from affecting sales from the brick-and-mortar locations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to minimize how we think about cannibalization in our minds,\u201d he said explaining that people who shop online typically also shop in store, creating more revenue for shareholders.<\/p>\n
McMillon also spoke about Walmart\u2019s partnership with Guild Education, which provides education to employees for only a dollar a day, and has expanded the program to some high school-aged employees to jump start their college career. In addition, the company has \u201craised the starting wage rates by 50% in the last four years,\u201d McMillon said, later adding that the programs\u2019 goal is to \u201cbuild tomorrow\u2019s CEO.\u201d<\/p>\n