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Amazon elevates Doug Herrington to worldwide stores CEO

Company veteran John Felton named to lead operations organization

Russell Redman

June 21, 2022

4 Min Read
Doug Herrington-Amazon-Worldwide Amazon Stores CEO.png
A 17-year Amazon veteran, Dough Herrington had served as senior vice president of the North American Consumer business since January 2015.Amazon

Amazon consumer executive Doug Herrington has been promoted to the newly created position of CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores.

Seattle-based Amazon said Tuesday that, in the new post, Herrington will oversee the business formerly known as Amazon Consumer. Previously, he served as senior vice president of the North American Consumer business, a post he held for seven-and-a-half years.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced Herrington’s appointment in a company message to employees.

“I’m excited to share that Doug Herrington will become the new CEO of our Worldwide Amazon Stores business,” Jassy stated in the message. “Doug has been at Amazon for 17 years. He joined the company in 2005 to build out our consumables business, launched AmazonFresh in 2007 and, in 2015, took on leading all of our North American Consumer business. Doug and I have worked together on S-team since 2011. He is a builder of great teams and brings substantial retail, grocery, demand generation, product development and Amazon experience to bear.”

Herrington joined Amazon in May 2005 as vice president of consumables and then was elevated to senior vice president of consumables in May 2014. Less than a year later, he was promoted again to the senior vice president of North American Consumer unit. Before coming to Amazon, Herrington was CEO of KeepMedia, vice president of marketing for online grocery pioneer Webvan and a partner at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Related:Amazon Fresh ramps up expansion with five new stores

“He’s also a terrific inventor for customers, thinks big, has thoughtful vision around how category management and ops can work well together, is a unifier, is highly curious, and an avid learner,” Jassy added about Herrington. “I think Doug will do great things for customers and employees alike, and I look forward to working with him in this leadership role.”

John Felton-Amazon-Global Delivery Services SVP.jpgWith Herrington’s appointment, Amazon said it’s also uniting its operations organization under John Felton (pictured left), senior vice president of global delivery services since July 2021. An 18-year Amazon veteran, Felton has spent 12 years in retail and operations finance leadership roles.

“In 2018, John moved to worldwide operations to become the VP of global customer fulfillment, and in 2019, he took over the newly formed Global Delivery Services group, encompassing global import/export, Amazon Logistics, and our last-mile delivery services,” Jassy stated. “He joined S-team in September 2020. John has strong end-to-end knowledge of our fulfillment network, operates with an important mix of strategic thinking and a command of the details that matter most in our network, is right a lot, and is a strong team builder who is dedicated to making Amazon a great place to work for our employees.”

Related:Amazon global consumer CEO Dave Clark to depart

Under the organizational update, Felton with report to Herrington, as will Russ Grandinetti (international stores), Christine Beauchamp (North America stores), Tony Hoggett (physical stores), Dave Treadwell (eCommerce Foundation), Neil Lindsay (pharmacy/AmazonCare/health care), Dharmesh Mehta (selling partner services), Peter Larsen (Buy with Prime) and Pat Bajari (chief economist).

“This is a very strong and experienced leadership team. I remain very optimistic about our Stores business and believe we’re still in the early days of what’s possible,” Jassy said in the company memo. “It’s worth remembering that Amazon currently only represents about 1% of the worldwide retail market segment share, and 85% of that worldwide market segment share still resides in physical stores. If you believe that equation will change over time (which I do), there’s a lot of potential for us as we continue to be laser-focused on providing the best customer experience (broadest selection, low prices, fast and convenient delivery) while working on our cost structure to have the right long-term business.”

Amazon Fresh store banner-closeup.jpg

One of Amazon's fast-growing stores businesses is Amazon Fresh, which now has more than twice the number of locations it had a year earlier.

Earlier this month, Amazon reported that Dave Clark, CEO of Worldwide Consumer, left the company to pursue other opportunities. A 23-year company veteran, Clark oversaw Amazon’s global consumer businesses, including online stores, brick-and-mortar stores, the third-party seller Amazon Marketplace and the Amazon Prime program.

For the full 2021 fiscal year, Amazon totaled net sales of $469.82 billion, up 21.7% from 2020. Online rose 12.5% year over year to $222.08 billion, while physical store sales edged up 3.4% to $21.76 billion. In the fiscal 2022 first quarter ended March 31, Amazon’s physical-store sales grew 17.1% (about 16% excluding FX) to $4.59 billion.

Brick-and-mortar sales at Amazon come mainly from the Whole Foods unit. Currently, Amazon’s U.S. physical stores include 515 Whole Foods Market specialty supermarkets, 33 Amazon Fresh grocery stores and 26 Amazon Go convenience stores.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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