WMT Walmart Inc

By Sarah Nassauer 

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to lay off about 200 e-commerce employees in its California offices Tuesday, part of a round of job cuts hitting the retailer's corporate offices before the end of January.

Marc Lore, the company's new e-commerce chief, said the retail giant is "focused on adding the right talent to our team and making sure we're investing in ways that directly improve our customer experience," according to a memo to staff that was reviewed by the The Wall Street Journal.

Tuesday's cuts are intended to shift the retailer's e-commerce staff toward more shopper-facing roles, said spokesman Dan Toporek. For example, Walmart.com sells millions more products than a year ago, requiring more employees that manage those items online, he says.

"We don't need as many senior people and there is some aspect that is performance related," said Mr. Toporek.

The retailer is investing billions to boost e-commerce sales, including buying Mr. Lore's company Jet.com Inc. for $3.3 billion last year, putting pressure on operating costs broadly across the company. Last week, Morningstar lowered its credit ratings for Wal-Mart to double-A-minus from double-A, citing shrinking profit margins and growing competitive pressure.

Mr. Lore, whose Jet.com is run from Hoboken, N.J., has moved quickly to reorganize the retailer's e-commerce operations, which are run out of offices in San Bruno, Calif. Earlier this month, Wal-Mart shuffled its e-commerce and technology leadership ranks, giving several top executives responsibility for both online and in-store operations while announcing others would leave the company.

Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 24, 2017 12:48 ET (17:48 GMT)

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