Dive Brief:
- Sprouts Farmers Market has added former Walmart.com CEO Joel Anderson to its board of directors, according to a company press release.
- Anderson is currently CEO, president and director of value retailer Five Below. He served as Walmart.com’s president and CEO from 2011 to 2014 and as senior vice president of Walmart’s Northern Plains division from 2010 to 2011.
- Sprouts also announced that board member Steve Townsend has stepped down after serving since 2013.
Dive Insight:
Anderson has been credited with capturing a greater share of U.S. e-commerce sales for Walmart.com, according to Fortune, helping mitigate poor in-store sales during his tenure. He has also been recognized for his management and leadership philosophy at Five Below focusing on people, passion and performance, reports Investor's Business Daily.
While leading Five Below, Anderson has guided the retailer to top industry performer status amid strong competition from e-commerce giants like Amazon. In 2016, he enacted a strategy aimed at achieving 20% top-line and 20% bottom-line growth each year through 2020. To date, he hasn’t missed an annual target.
Anderson brings expertise and e-commerce savvy to Sprouts. At Walmart.com, he was responsible for growing the company’s digital arm including merchandising, marketing and site operations. This knowledge will aid Sprouts in identifying the multi-faceted challenges that face grocery e-commerce, such as order fulfillment and last-mile logistics.
Heading into 2020, Sprouts has decided to curb store growth and focus on marketing and operational adjustments, including smaller store formats. The new direction is due, in part, to the company’s recent CEO hire, Jack Sinclair. Like Anderson, Sinclair is a veteran of Walmart’s U.S. grocery division, leading Neighborhood Market’s growth during an eight-year period. He recently hinted at expanding e-commerce offerings to build on a 200% increase in home delivery sales during Q3 of 2019.
