New York, NY, Oct. 30--Walmart.com CEO John Fleming says he doesn't want to be another Amazon.com, but he does want to stir things up at the online unit of the world's No. 1 retailer.
We've been asked what our single biggest challenge is. I said our single biggest opportunity is building brand awareness," Fleming said in an interview with CNN/Money Wednesday.
Fleming said the company's latest initiative to revamp the unit is about providing more information, broadening its product assortment and improving service to its customers.
"Wal-Mart overall is great at building the business primarily through organic growth but not necessarily at marketing," he added. "The last couple of years, we [Walmart.com] have had our heads down building infrastructure. It's time to look up and get some action."
The revamped site will now let customers select and buy products online and pick them up at a Wal-Mart store, including digital cameras, contact lenses, tires and pharmacy products.
Fleming was in New York to meet and greet reporters and editors, his first such visit since he assumed the role of chief executive last November. Prior to that, he was Walmart.com's senior vice president of merchandising.
After admitting to Walmart.com's shaky beginnings--the unit was first launched in 1996, relaunched in January 2000 as a joint venture and subsequently fully acquired by Wal-Mart--Fleming said now it's all about staying the course.
"We have the potential to grow very large. We're averaging 3.5 million users a week and expect to grow to 11 million a week during the holidays," he said. "E-commerce sales overall are expected to increase 19 percent within the next five years. We think we'll grow faster than that."
He declined to discuss sales or financial results for the online operation.
"This is still a test run for us," said Fleming. "We're looking for opportunities to grow and cut costs." That includes expanding the online furniture category and making the new online DVD rental service more competitive.
"This doesn't mean we're taking a shot Netflix," he said, referring to Walmart.com's main rival in the space. The five year old DVD-rental company based in Los Gatos, CA, has more than one million subscribers.
"But do we want to become like Amazon? No. Amazon is an online shopping mall. It benefited from building a great asset early in the game. We're about store integration and expanding the customer reach to Wal-Mart stores."
