Amazon.com has hired Wal-Mart Stores' former operations boss as its own chief logistics officer, filling a critical management slot in the online bookselling business.
Jimmy Wright, a 26-year veteran, will head Amazon's global supply chain, the company said Thursday. Wright will be looking for ways to speed up order entry, product purchasing, distribution, and shipping.
It's no small task, since Amazon maintains a catalog of 3 million book and music titles. But Wright was recognized as one of the key operations wonks within Wal-Mart, a global retailer whose operations rival the US military in complexity.
"Wal-Mart has one of the best logistics in all of the retail industry," said David Toung, financial analyst with Argus Research. "It's the biggest retailer in the country. That is an incredible logistics job. Anybody who comes out of Wal-Mart logistics is really good at it."
Wright is the second Wal-Mart executive to join the No. 1 online bookseller. Last August, Amazon (AMZN) hired Richard Dalzell as chief information officer, charged with making Amazon's storefront on the Web more reliable. Dalzell was Wal-Mart vice president of information systems and chief geek.
With the hires from traditional retailing, Amazon's executive suite is now better stocked to take on rivals at Barnes & Noble (BKS) and Borders Group (BGP), analysts said.
Amazon shares rose 88 cents to US$113.38.
