Chewy Inc (CHWY) 2021 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. Thank you for attending today's Chewy's Q4 Fiscal Year 2021 Earnings Call. My name is Bethany, and I will be your moderator for today's call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to pass the conference over to our host, Robert LaFleur, Vice President of Investor Relations at Chewy. Please go ahead.

下午好。感謝您參加今天的 Chewy 2021 財年第四季度財報電話會議。我的名字是 Bethany，我將擔任今天電話會議的主持人。 （操作員說明）我現在想將會議轉交給我們的主持人，Chewy 投資者關係副總裁 Robert LaFleur。請繼續。

Thank you for joining us on the call today to discuss our fourth quarter and full year results for fiscal 2021. Joining me today are Chewy's CEO, Sumit Singh; and CFO, Mario Marte. Our earnings release and letter to shareholders, which were filed with the SEC on Form 8-K earlier today, have been posted to the Investor Relations section of our website investor.chewy.com. A link to the webcast of today's conference call is also available on our site.

感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議，討論我們 2021 財年第四季度和全年的業績。今天加入我的是 Chewy 的首席執行官 Sumit Singh；和首席財務官馬里奧·馬爾特。我們今天早些時候以 8-K 表格向美國證券交易委員會提交的收益報告和致股東的信已發佈到我們網站investor.chewy.com 的投資者關係部分。今天電話會議的網絡直播鏈接也可以在我們的網站上找到。

On our call today, we will be making forward-looking statements, including statements concerning Chewy's future prospects, financial results, business strategies, industry trends and our ability to successfully respond to business risks, including those related to the spread of COVID-19, including any adverse impacts on our supply chain, workforce, fulfillment centers, other facilities, customer service operations and business expansion plans. Such statements are considered forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by our forward-looking statements. Reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將做出前瞻性陳述，包括有關 Chewy 的未來前景、財務業績、業務戰略、行業趨勢以及我們成功應對業務風險（包括與 COVID-19 傳播相關的風險）的能力的陳述，包括對我們的供應鏈、勞動力、履行中心、其他設施、客戶服務運營和業務擴展計劃的任何不利影響。根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》，此類陳述被視為前瞻性陳述，並受到某些風險和不確定性的影響，這可能導致實際結果與我們的前瞻性陳述所設想的結果大不相同。報告的結果不應被視為未來業績的指標。

Also note that the forward-looking statements on this call are based on information available to us as of today's date. We disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. For further information, please refer to the risk factors and other information in Chewy's 10-K and 8-K filed earlier today and in our other filings with the SEC. Also during this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP items to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are provided on our Investor Relations website and in our earnings release and letter to shareholders, which were filed with the SEC on Form 8-K earlier today and in our 10-K. These non-GAAP measures are not intended as a substitute for GAAP results.

另請注意，本次電話會議的前瞻性陳述是基於我們截至今天可獲得的信息。除法律要求外，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。有關更多信息，請參閱 Chewy 今天早些時候提交的 10-K 和 8-K 以及我們向 SEC 提交的其他文件中的風險因素和其他信息。同樣在本次電話會議中，我們將討論某些非公認會計原則的財務措施。這些非 GAAP 項目與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務指標的對賬在我們的投資者關係網站以及我們的收益發布和致股東的信函中提供，這些信息在今天早些時候以 8-K 表格和我們的 10- K。這些非 GAAP 措施不能替代 GAAP 結果。

Finally, this call in its entirety is being webcast on our Investor Relations website. A replay of this call also will be available on our IR website shortly.

最後，本次電話會議的全部內容正在我們的投資者關係網站上進行網絡直播。該電話的重播也將很快在我們的 IR 網站上提供。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Sumit.

我現在想把電話轉給 Sumit。

Thanks, Bob, and thanks to all of you for joining us on the call. Let me first share some thoughts on 2021 and then broadly about the pet industry overall and why we remain optimistic about this sector and Chewy's place in it. 2021 capped off the most remarkable 2-year period in our company's history. As the pandemic unfolded, Chewy benefited from an acceleration of the secular trends that have been driving our business for many years. Increased pet ownership, increased average spending per pet household and more of that spending being directed to online channels. Millions of new pet families were formed and as a result demand for pet products and services surged. Our team scaled rapidly and our business nearly doubled, delivering a $4 billion or 83% increase in net sales over these past 2 years.

謝謝鮑勃，也感謝大家加入我們的電話會議。讓我首先分享一些關於 2021 年的想法，然後大致談談整個寵物行業，以及為什麼我們對這個行業以及 Chewy 在其中的地位保持樂觀。 2021 年結束了我們公司歷史上最引人注目的 2 年。隨著大流行的蔓延，Chewy 受益於多年來推動我們業務發展的長期趨勢的加速。寵物擁有量增加，每個寵物家庭的平均支出增加，並且更多的支出用於在線渠道。數以百萬計的新寵物家庭形成，因此對寵物產品和服務的需求激增。我們的團隊規模迅速擴大，我們的業務幾乎翻了一番，在過去 2 年中實現了 40 億美元或 83% 的淨銷售額增長。

Over that same time frame, we expanded our active customer base by 7.2 million customers or 54%. More important, we believe that these gains are sustainable over the long term. Pets are part of our families for many years, and the puppies and kittens adopted during the pandemic marked the start of a 10- to 15-year long relationship between those pets and their pet parents. And for many of those pet families, it was also the beginning of a long and rewarding relationship with Chewy. The predictable and recurring nature of these relationships gives us confidence that the customer and revenue gains that we made are enduring and will provide a lasting foundation for future growth.

在同一時間範圍內，我們將活躍客戶群擴大了 720 萬，即 54%。更重要的是，我們相信這些收益在長期內是可持續的。多年來，寵物一直是我們家庭的一部分，在大流行期間收養的小狗和小貓標誌著這些寵物與其寵物父母之間長達 10 至 15 年的關係的開始。對於這些寵物家庭中的許多人來說，這也是與 Chewy 建立長期而有益的關係的開始。這些關係的可預測性和重複性使我們相信，我們所獲得的客戶和收入收益是持久的，並將為未來的增長提供持久的基礎。

In many ways, we are just getting started. We compete in a $120 billion pet TAM today that is expected to grow rapidly over the next 5 years. And within that broader pet TAM, e-commerce sales are expected to grow even faster. We believe that Chewy will continue to be a strong beneficiary of these secular tailwinds as we continue to deliver a superior customer experience as the most trusted and convenient destination for pet parents and partners everywhere.

在許多方面，我們才剛剛開始。今天，我們在一個價值 1200 億美元的寵物 TAM 中展開競爭，該 TAM 預計將在未來 5 年內迅速增長。在更廣泛的寵物 TAM 中，電子商務銷售預計將增長得更快。我們相信 Chewy 將繼續成為這些長期順風的強大受益者，因為我們將繼續提供卓越的客戶體驗，成為世界各地寵物父母和合作夥伴最值得信賴和最方便的目的地。

Operationally, 2021 was a challenging year amidst an ever-evolving pandemic, which continued to impact supply chain and disrupt the natural flow of consumer behavior and business execution. As we close the book on 2021 and move forward in 2022, we are already seeing improvements in labor availability, inbound shipping costs and pricing, while out-of-stock levels and outbound shipping costs remain elevated. Ultimately, we believe most of these challenges are not permanent in nature. And over time, companies like Chewy that are long-term focused and built on the fundamentals of strong customer engagement and innovation will continue to enjoy a durable and sustainable competitive advantage. The bottom line is that we remain optimistic about our future and our ability to execute to earn customer trust, gain market share and create shareholder value.

在運營方面，2021 年是充滿挑戰的一年，因為疫情不斷演變，疫情繼續影響供應鏈，擾亂消費者行為和業務執行的自然流動。隨著我們在 2021 年結賬並在 2022 年繼續前進，我們已經看到勞動力可用性、入境運輸成本和定價方面的改善，而缺貨水平和出境運輸成本仍然居高不下。最終，我們相信這些挑戰中的大部分都不是永久性的。隨著時間的推移，像 Chewy 這樣長期專注並建立在強大的客戶參與和創新基礎之上的公司將繼續享有持久和可持續的競爭優勢。最重要的是，我們對我們的未來和我們贏得客戶信任、獲得市場份額和創造股東價值的執行能力保持樂觀。

Now let's move to a review of our Q4 and full year 2021 performance, followed by an update on our latest innovations. After that, I will turn the call over to Mario to discuss our results in greater detail and share our guidance. Q4 net sales increased 17% year-over-year to $2.39 billion, bringing 2021 full year net sales to $8.89 billion or 24% annual growth. Our ability to deliver 24% net sales growth in 2021 on top of the outsized growth we delivered last year reflects the durability of our business beyond the near-term benefits of the pandemic. What we saw play out in the fourth quarter of 2021 was a tug between the fundamentally strong consumer demand that underpins our business and the highly challenging operating environment. Metrics that measure demand and customer engagement, such as site traffic, conversion, order volumes and basket size, all showed positive trends in the fourth quarter, and combined, they helped drive a 16% increase in net sales per active customer or NSPAC to a record $430.

現在讓我們回顧一下我們第四季度和 2021 年全年的業績，然後是我們最新創新的更新。之後，我將把電話轉給馬里奧，以更詳細地討論我們的結果並分享我們的指導。第四季度淨銷售額同比增長 17% 至 23.9 億美元，使 2021 年全年淨銷售額達到 88.9 億美元，年增長率為 24%。在去年實現的超額增長基礎上，我們在 2021 年實現 24% 的淨銷售額增長的能力反映了我們業務的持久性，超出了大流行的近期利益。我們在 2021 年第四季度看到的結果是支撐我們業務的基本強勁的消費者需求與極具挑戰性的經營環境之間的拉鋸戰。衡量需求和客戶參與度的指標，例如網站流量、轉化率、訂單量和購物籃大小，在第四季度都顯示出積極的趨勢，並且它們共同幫助推動每位活躍客戶或 NSPAC 的淨銷售額增長 16% 至記錄 430 美元。

Another noteworthy indicator of engagement is the continued strength of our Autoship program, which increased 180 basis points year-over-year to 70.2% of our 2021 net sales. At the same time, we saw operating conditions in certain areas deteriorate as the quarter unfolded, particularly when Omicron's mid-quarter arrival further disrupted already weakened supply chains across our industry. This added additional pressure to out of stock levels and the impact from lost sales in the quarter was twice as high as we forecasted. Without this, we estimate our Q4 net sales would have been near the high end of our guidance range.

另一個值得注意的參與指標是我們的 Autoship 計劃的持續實力，該計劃同比增長 180 個基點，達到我們 2021 年淨銷售額的 70.2%。與此同時，隨著季度的展開，我們看到某些地區的經營狀況惡化，特別是當 Omicron 的季度中期到來進一步擾亂了整個行業已經疲軟的供應鏈時。這給缺貨水平增加了額外的壓力，本季度銷售損失的影響是我們預測的兩倍。如果沒有這個，我們估計我們的第四季度淨銷售額將接近我們指導範圍的高端。

Moving on to customers. We added 1.5 million active customers in 2021 to end the year with 20.7 million active customers, an increase of 8%. This expanding customer base and a 16% increase in NSPAC were the key components of our 2021 sales growth. Sustained NSPAC growth reflects strong contributions from our most recent cohorts and our ongoing efforts to develop customers over time and capture a progressively larger share of wallet.

轉向客戶。我們在 2021 年增加了 150 萬活躍客戶，到年底有 2070 萬活躍客戶，增長 8%。這種不斷擴大的客戶群和 NSPAC 增長 16% 是我們 2021 年銷售增長的關鍵組成部分。 NSPAC 的持續增長反映了我們最近的團隊的強勁貢獻，以及我們不斷努力開發客戶並獲得越來越大的錢包份額。

In fact, our 2021 cohort recorded the highest first year NSPAC we have seen since 2017. Similarly, our 2020 cohort recorded the highest second year NSPAC we have seen since 2017. Our most recently added customers are off to strong starts following the same pattern of NSPAC growth that we've seen over time. As a proof point of the sustainability of NSPAC growth over time, our oldest cohorts are now spending nearly $1,000 per year with us. While the fourth quarter was the strongest quarter of 2021 for gross customer adds, net adds at 0.3 million were below our expectations.

事實上，我們的 2021 年隊列記錄了自 2017 年以來我們看到的最高的第一年 NSPAC。同樣，我們的 2020 年隊列記錄了我們自 2017 年以來看到的最高的第二年 NSPAC。我們最近增加的客戶按照相同的模式開始強勁隨著時間的推移，我們看到了 NSPAC 的增長。作為 NSPAC 長期增長可持續性的證明點，我們最老的團隊現在每年花費近 1,000 美元與我們在一起。雖然第四季度是 2021 年總客戶增加量最強勁的季度，但淨增加量為 30 萬，低於我們的預期。

In short, the year 1 retention of our Q4 2020 cohort was below what we typically observe. As we examined the drivers behind this, the factors we identified do not appear to be systemic, but rather we're a function of the time period when these customers were acquired within, which coincided with the second wave of COVID infections and the arrival of stimulus checks. As a result, year 1 retention rates for our first 3 quarterly cohorts of 2020 were within typical ranges, further supporting our belief that the trend observed in Q4 2020 cohort was atypical.

簡而言之，我們 2020 年第四季度隊列的第一年留存率低於我們通常觀察到的水平。當我們檢查這背後的驅動因素時，我們發現的因素似乎不是系統性的，而是我們獲得這些客戶的時間段的函數，這與第二波 COVID 感染和刺激檢查。因此，我們 2020 年前 3 個季度隊列的第一年保留率處於典型範圍內，進一步支持了我們的信念，即在 2020 年第四季度隊列中觀察到的趨勢是非典型的。

It is also worth reiterating that the recurring nature of our model produces retention rates that are well above those typically found in consumer e-commerce businesses and that historically the attrition we do see is highly concentrated in the transition from year 1 into year 2 and then moderate significantly in all subsequent years.

值得重申的是，我們模型的重複性產生的保留率遠高於消費者電子商務業務中的典型保留率，而且從歷史上看，我們確實看到的流失高度集中在從第 1 年到第 2 年的過渡中，然後在隨後的所有年份中顯著放緩。

Coming to gross margins. Fourth quarter 2021 gross margin declined 170 basis points to 25.4%. The main drivers of this were Q4 pricing not yet reflecting cost inflation and elevated inbound freight costs. We believe that these near-term pressures on gross margin likely peaked in Q4, and we are already seeing signs of recovery in our current Q1 quarter. For instance, in February 2022, the first month of our first quarter, we saw a sequential improvement in gross margin. Full year 2021 gross margin expanded 120 basis points year-over-year to 26.7%, which was a new company high even with the inflation and freight headwinds that we encountered in the second half of the year.

來到毛利率。 2021 年第四季度毛利率下降 170 個基點至 25.4%。其主要驅動因素是第四季度定價尚未反映成本膨脹和入境貨運成本上升。我們認為，這些對毛利率的短期壓力可能在第四季度達到頂峰，並且我們已經在當前第一季度看到了復甦的跡象。例如，在 2022 年 2 月，也就是我們第一季度的第一個月，我們看到毛利率連續提高。 2021 年全年毛利率同比增長 120 個基點至 26.7%，即使我們在下半年遇到通貨膨脹和貨運逆風，這仍是公司的新高。

Now let me also provide some more color on gross margins for full year 2022. As we shared on our last earnings call, our new outbound shipping contract with FedEx went into effect in January, the last month of our Q4 2021, and given its timing, this had only a modest impact on fourth quarter gross margin. For full year 2022, we estimate the outbound freight impact on gross margins will be between 100 to 150 basis points, inclusive of higher fuel prices.

現在讓我也提供一些關於 2022 年全年毛利率的更多信息。正如我們在上次財報電話會議上分享的那樣，我們與 FedEx 的新出境運輸合同於 1 月生效，即 2021 年第四季度的最後一個月，並且考慮到它的時間安排，這對第四季度的毛利率影響不大。對於 2022 年全年，我們估計出境運費對毛利率的影響將在 100 至 150 個基點之間，包括更高的燃料價格。

In anticipation of this pending increase in freight rates for 2022 and in the spirit of continuous improvement that is ingrained in our culture, our teams were already contemplating several logistics and supply chain initiatives to lower freight costs. Several of these were launched this quarter, while others will launch in Q2 and beyond. We expect these initiatives will help mitigate part of the impact from this new contract this year and help mitigate most of the impact within 2 years.

預計 2022 年運價即將上漲，並本著我們文化中根深蒂固的持續改進精神，我們的團隊已經在考慮採取多項物流和供應鏈舉措來降低貨運成本。其中一些是本季度推出的，而另一些將在第二季度及以後推出。我們預計這些舉措將有助於減輕今年這份新合同的部分影響，並有助於在 2 年內減輕大部分影響。

Looking at full year 2022 in aggregate, the current macro environment has many moving parts. Taking everything into consideration, we are estimating full year 2022 gross margin to be broadly in line with full year 2021. Said otherwise, we expect that the natural strength in our core business verticals and strong customer engagement will continue to drive incremental gross margin expansion to absorb the upward cost pressures I mentioned above.

總體來看 2022 年全年，當前的宏觀環境有許多變化的部分。綜合考慮所有因素，我們預計 2022 年全年毛利率將與 2021 年全年基本持平。否則，我們預計核心業務垂直領域的自然實力和強大的客戶參與度將繼續推動毛利率增長至吸收我上面提到的成本上漲壓力。

On the whole, this showcases what we've always believed and conveyed to you, which is our overall value proposition and the relentless focus on innovation and customer experience to drive loyalty creates a durable advantage that is keeping us on track to attain the high end of our target long-term gross margin range of 25% to 28%.

總的來說，這展示了我們一直相信並傳達給您的東西，這是我們的整體價值主張，以及對創新和客戶體驗的不懈關注以提高忠誠度創造了一個持久的優勢，使我們保持在通往高端的軌道上我們的目標長期毛利率範圍為 25% 至 28%。

Moving on to marketing. Q4 advertising and marketing expenses scaled to 6.4% of net sales. This marks the second quarter in a row of sequential improvement with ad costs continuing to normalize after the spike we saw in Q2. As I've articulated previously, we spend up to the level of optimal returns, closely monitoring marginal CPA and LTV levels.

繼續營銷。第四季度廣告和營銷費用占淨銷售額的 6.4%。這標誌著連續第二個季度出現連續改善，廣告成本在我們在第二季度看到的飆升之後繼續正常化。正如我之前所闡述的，我們的支出達到了最佳回報水平，密切監控邊際 CPA 和 LTV 水平。

Throughout Q4, we continue to operationalize the new targeting and site efficiency metrics that we began rolling out in Q3. In Q4, we also leaned into multichannel full-funnel marketing campaigns with the debut of our Chatty Pets campaign. This campaign is measured and subject to the same ROI standards of our lower funnel campaign, but it has the benefit of driving new customers directly to Chewy, while also keeping Chewy top of mind with existing customers. Collectively, these efforts continue to generate positive results, including a sequential improvement in Q4 CPA.

在整個第四季度，我們將繼續實施我們在第三季度開始推出的新定位和網站效率指標。在第 4 季度，我們還推出了 Chatty Pets 廣告系列，開始進行多渠道全渠道營銷活動。該活動的衡量標準與我們的漏斗下層活動相同的投資回報率標準，但它的好處是可以將新客戶直接吸引到 Chewy，同時讓 Chewy 成為現有客戶的首要考慮因素。總的來說，這些努力繼續產生積極成果，包括第四季度 CPA 的連續改善。

Our Q4 SG&A results reflect elevated labor costs, and when combined with the gross margin pressures I just outlined, our Q4 adjusted EBITDA margin declined 420 basis points. Quarterly fluctuations aside, it is worth noting the material progress that we have made over the past 2 years in improving our bottom line. Over this time, while operating in a highly complex environment, we added an incremental $160 million of adjusted EBITDA to our bottom line and expanded our adjusted EBITDA margin to positive 0.9% in 2021 from negative 1.7% in 2019 despite $100 million of pandemic-related increase in labor costs, $160 million of investments in fulfillment centers and pharmacy expansion and $190 million of incremental growth-oriented marketing spend. At the same time, we remain steadfast and focused on delivering our long-term adjusted EBITDA margin target of 5% to 10%.

我們第四季度的 SG&A 業績反映了勞動力成本的上升，再加上我剛剛概述的毛利率壓力，我們第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率下降了 420 個基點。撇開季度波動不談，值得注意的是我們在過去 2 年在改善我們的底線方面取得的實質性進展。在此期間，儘管在高度複雜的環境中運營，但我們在利潤中增加了 1.6 億美元的調整後 EBITDA，並將調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率從 2019 年的 1.7% 擴大至 2021 年的正 0.9%，儘管與大流行相關的有 1 億美元勞動力成本增加，在履行中心和藥房擴張方面的投資為 1.6 億美元，以增長為導向的營銷支出增加了 1.9 億美元。與此同時，我們仍然堅定不移，專注於實現我們長期調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率目標，即 5% 至 10%。

Next, let me update you on the progress we are making on several key innovations across Chewy and then introduce you to 2 exciting new programs. In addition to the logistics and supply chain innovation we are undertaking which I alluded to in the gross margin section. Chewy remains focused on establishing itself as a leader in the fresh and prepared meals category. A TAM that is expected to grow from approximately $1 billion today to north of $3 billion by 2025, as more pet parents seek out premium fresh food solutions. To this end, we just expanded our selection of fresh and prepared meals to offer the full line of fresh human-grade food options from JustFoodForDogs, a leading category supplier.

接下來，讓我向您介紹我們在 Chewy 的幾項關鍵創新方面取得的進展，然後向您介紹 2 個令人興奮的新計劃。除了我在毛利率部分提到的物流和供應鏈創新之外。 Chewy 仍然專注於將自己打造成新鮮和熟食類別的領導者。隨著越來越多的寵物父母尋求優質的新鮮食品解決方案，TAM 預計將從今天的約 10 億美元增長到 2025 年的 30 億美元以上。為此，我們剛剛擴大了新鮮和預製膳食的選擇範圍，以提供來自領先類別供應商 JustFoodForDogs 的全系列新鮮人類級食品選擇。

The addition of JustFoodForDogs combined with our existing Freshpet relationship and our Tylee’s brand collectively offers a broad assortment across full meals, mixers and treats with the fresh category. We believe this broad assortment, alongside our credibility with customers, ability to offer education through our differentiated customer service and reliable delivery experience through our world-class fulfillment network will position us well to become the #1 destination for fresh and prepared meals.

JustFoodForDogs 的加入與我們現有的 Freshpet 合作關係以及我們 Tylee 的品牌共同提供了廣泛的品種，包括全餐、混合食品和新鮮食品。我們相信，除了我們在客戶中的信譽、通過我們差異化的客戶服務提供教育的能力以及通過我們世界級的履行網絡提供的可靠交付體驗外，我們還擁有廣泛的產品種類，這將使我們成為新鮮和現成餐點的第一目的地。

Now transitioning to Chewy Health. Businesses under our Chewy Health brand continued to gain market share. Chewy Pharmacy sales increased 75% in Q4 with nearly all of this growth now running through our 3 owned-and-operated pharmacies. On a 2-year stack basis, Chewy Pharmacy sales have more than tripled. In addition to the momentum we have established in pharmacy, Chewy Health remains focused on expanding its penetration into the $35 billion pet health care market by launching new products and services across the pet health and wellness space.

現在過渡到 Chewy Health。我們 Chewy Health 品牌下的業務繼續獲得市場份額。 Chewy Pharmacy 的銷售額在第四季度增長了 75%，現在幾乎所有的增長都來自我們自有和經營的 3 家藥店。在 2 年的基礎上，Chewy Pharmacy 的銷售額增長了兩倍多。除了我們在藥房建立的勢頭之外，Chewy Health 仍然專注於通過在寵物健康和保健領域推出新產品和服務來擴大其對 350 億美元寵物保健市場的滲透。

We expanded our rollout of Practice Hub in January, and it is now available to clinics nationwide. As a reminder, Practice Hub is our B2B solution for veterinarian, which allows them to earn revenue as a marketplace seller on chewy.com by giving their clients access to unparalleled convenience and customer care that Chewy customers have come to trust and love. From the 50 clinics who participated in our initial invitation only a few months ago in 2021, we've expanded to over 300 clinics, including independent practices, large hospitals and multiunit veterinary groups. Interest levels remain high, and feedback from the vet community remains positive and productive.

我們在一月份擴大了實踐中心的推廣範圍，現在全國的診所都可以使用它。提醒一下，Practice Hub 是我們為獸醫提供的 B2B 解決方案，通過讓他們的客戶獲得 Chewy 客戶信任和喜愛的無與倫比的便利和客戶服務，他們可以作為 Chewy.com 上的市場賣家賺取收入。從僅幾個月前的 2021 年最初邀請的 50 家診所開始，我們已經擴大到 300 多家診所，包括獨立診所、大型醫院和多單位獸醫團體。興趣水平仍然很高，獸醫社區的反饋仍然是積極和富有成效的。

Equally exciting is the fact that we recently expanded the selection available on Practice Hub to include our compounding pharmacy. What this means is that we are now offering compounding as a B2B expanding it beyond our original B2C positioning and giving our vet partners another opportunity to earn revenue with Chewy.

同樣令人興奮的是，我們最近擴展了 Practice Hub 上的可用選擇，包括我們的複方藥房。這意味著我們現在提供複合作為 B2B 將其擴展到我們最初的 B2C 定位之外，並為我們的獸醫合作夥伴提供另一個通過 Chewy 賺取收入的機會。

Rounding out our Chewy Health update, we are getting closer to the launch of our exclusive suite of pet health insurance plans and wellness and preventative plans. Our phased rollout is set to launch soon, and we look forward to sharing more with you at that time. These plans will be another step forward for Chewy Health’s mission to make pet healthcare more affordable and accessible for everyone.

完善我們的 Chewy Health 更新，我們越來越接近推出我們獨家的寵物健康保險計劃以及健康和預防計劃套件。我們的分階段部署即將推出，我們期待屆時與您分享更多信息。這些計劃將是 Chewy Health 使每個人都更負擔得起和更容易獲得寵物保健的使命向前邁出的又一步。

Looking beyond Chewy Health, I'm excited to share with you 2 new businesses with you that we are gearing up to launch in 2023 launches. The first is Chewy Loyalty – our customer membership program, through which we will drive even greater value to our customers, improve engagement across our growing customer base, and accelerate customer share of wallet consolidation across categories and services. The second launch in 2023 will be sponsored ads on Chewy.com, which will enable our suppliers to seamlessly advertise to our 21 million active customers across all our platforms.

除了 Chewy Health，我很高興與您分享我們正準備在 2023 年推出的兩項新業務。第一個是 Chewy Loyalty——我們的客戶會員計劃，通過該計劃，我們將為客戶帶來更大的價值，提高我們不斷增長的客戶群的參與度，並加速跨類別和服務的錢包整合的客戶份額。 2023 年的第二次發布將是 Chewy.com 上的讚助廣告，這將使我們的供應商能夠在我們所有平台上無縫地向我們的 2100 萬活躍客戶做廣告。

We have been building bespoke advertisements for years, and Chewy sponsored ads will allow us to scale these efforts into contextual advertisements that will deliver both highly relevant products to customers and high-margin revenue to our business. Suppliers are asking us for ways to advertise in a durable privacy-safe environment across Chewy.com, 1 one of the largest pet e-commerce search engines in the US.

多年來，我們一直在製作定制廣告，而 Chewy 贊助廣告將使我們能夠將這些努力擴展到上下文廣告中，從而為客戶提供高度相關的產品，並為我們的業務帶來高利潤收入。供應商要求我們在 Chewy.com（美國最大的寵物電子商務搜索引擎之一）的持久隱私安全環境中進行廣告宣傳。

In closing let me just share what I would characterize as the mindset of every single Chewtopian who is committed to achieving our mission of being the most trusted and convenient destination for pet parents and partners everywhere. Each of us is looking beyond the present operating volatility and into the future with the firm belief that the secular trends of higher pet ownership and increasing online pet penetration will long outlast the term disruption that we see today from the pandemic and it's after effects.

最後，讓我分享一下我所描述的每一位 Chewtopian 的心態，他們致力於實現我們的使命，即成為世界各地寵物父母和合作夥伴最值得信賴和最方便的目的地。我們每個人都在展望未來，並堅信寵物擁有量增加和在線寵物普及率增加的長期趨勢將比我們今天看到的大流行及其後遺症帶來的長期破壞持續時間更長。

Chewy's value proposition remains as compelling as ever. Moreover, our long-term strategy and ability to attract customers build loyalty, drive engagement and capture greater share of wallet remains intact. As we execute 2022 and plan 2023 and beyond, we are as optimistic as we have ever been on the long-term growth opportunity ahead of us.

Chewy 的價值主張一如既往地引人注目。此外，我們吸引客戶建立忠誠度、提高參與度和獲取更大份額的長期戰略和能力保持不變。在我們執行 2022 年和 2023 年及以後的計劃時，我們對擺在我們面前的長期增長機會一如既往地樂觀。

And with that, I will turn the call over to Mario.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給馬里奧。

Thank you, Sumit, and thanks to all of you for joining us today. Fourth quarter net sales were $2.39 billion, reflecting a 16.9% year-over-year increase. On a 2-year stack basis, Q4 net sales were up over $1 billion, making it the largest 2-year increase for any quarter in fiscal 2021. For the full year, net sales increased 24.4% to $8.89 billion. On a 2-year stack basis, full year net sales increased over $4 billion or 83%.

感謝 Sumit，感謝大家今天加入我們。第四季度淨銷售額為 23.9 億美元，同比增長 16.9%。在 2 年的基礎上，第四季度淨銷售額增長超過 10 億美元，成為 2021 財年任何季度的最大 2 年增長。全年淨銷售額增長 24.4% 至 88.9 億美元。在 2 年堆棧的基礎上，全年淨銷售額增長超過 40 億美元或 83%。

Autoship closed 2021 on a strong note as the value proposition of the program continues to resonate with our customers. Q4 Autoship customer sales increased 21.2% to $1.69 billion, exceeding the pace of overall net sales growth. On a 2-year stack basis, Q4 Autoship customer sales were up 77%. As a percentage of net sales, Autoship customer sales set a new record high of 70.7% in the fourth quarter and Autoship customer sales exited the fourth quarter on an annualized run rate pace of $6.8 billion, which is nearly equal to the level of total net sales we reported in 2020.

Autoship 在 2021 年結束時表現強勁，因為該計劃的價值主張繼續與我們的客戶產生共鳴。第四季度 Autoship 客戶銷售額增長 21.2% 至 16.9 億美元，超過整體淨銷售額增長速度。在 2 年堆棧的基礎上，第四季度 Autoship 客戶銷售額增長了 77%。 Autoship 客戶銷售額占淨銷售額的百分比在第四季度創下 70.7% 的新高，Autoship 客戶銷售額在第四季度以 68 億美元的年化運行速度退出，幾乎等於總淨銷售額的水平我們在 2020 年報告的銷售額。

Customer spending remained strong as Q4 NSPAC increased 15.6% to $430. This is up $70 from 2 years ago when our NSPAC was $360 and demonstrates our continued ability to capture greater share of wallet from our customers as they mature in their relationship with Chewy over time.

客戶支出保持強勁，第四季度 NSPAC 增長 15.6% 至 430 美元。這比 2 年前我們的 NSPAC 為 360 美元時增加了 70 美元，這表明隨著客戶與 Chewy 的關係隨著時間的推移而成熟，我們繼續有能力從客戶那裡獲得更大的錢包份額。

We ended the year with 20.7 million active customers, a year-over-year increase of 1.5 million customers or 7.6%. And while the customer base continued to expand, net active adds were below our expectations due to lower retention rates for the Q4 2020 cohort. We believe these lower retention rates reflect several factors. The first was timing related as the second major wave of COVID infections and the arrival of the second round of stimulus, both occurred in Q4 2020. This led to a higher mix of onetime transactions and more discretionary first-time purchases in areas like hard goods that historically correlate with lower retention rates.

到年底，我們擁有 2070 萬活躍客戶，同比增長 150 萬客戶或 7.6%。儘管客戶群繼續擴大，但由於 2020 年第四季度隊列的保留率較低，淨活躍增加量低於我們的預期。我們認為這些較低的保留率反映了幾個因素。第一個是與時間相關的，因為第二次主要的 COVID 感染浪潮和第二輪刺激措施的到來都發生在 2020 年第四季度。這導致一次性交易和更多可自由支配的首次購買在硬商品等領域的組合增加從歷史上看，這與較低的保留率相關。

The impact of these timing factors was compounded by the absolute size of the Q4 2020 cohort, which was 5% larger than the average cohort size for the first 3 quarters of the year, and nearly 40% larger than the Q4 2019 cohort.

這些時間因素的影響因 2020 年第四季度隊列的絕對規模而更加複雜，這比今年前三個季度的平均隊列規模大 5%，比 2019 年第四季度隊列大近 40%。

Moving down the financials. Fourth quarter gross margin declined 170 basis points to 25.4%. The year-over-year variance is mostly attributable to pricing, inflation and inbound freight, which I will elaborate on in a moment. Full year 2021 gross margin increased 120 basis points to 26.7%, a new full year record high. While inflation and freight headwinds in the second half of the year capped our full year margin expansion, they did not prevent us from meeting our stated goal of delivering incremental and gradual margin expansion in 2021.

向下移動財務。第四季度毛利率下降 170 個基點至 25.4%。同比差異主要歸因於定價、通貨膨脹和入境運費，我稍後會詳細說明。 2021年全年毛利率增長120個基點至26.7%，創下全年新高。雖然下半年的通貨膨脹和貨運逆風限制了我們全年利潤率的增長，但它們並沒有阻止我們實現在 2021 年實現增量和逐步利潤率增長的既定目標。

Now let me elaborate on the various factors that affected Q4 gross margin performance and provide more color on how we see these factors affecting gross margin in 2022. Product cost inflation was the biggest gross margin headwind in Q4. As we shared on our December call, we observed the lag in market prices adjusting to reflect higher product costs, and that continued for most of Q4. To expedite closing this gap, we took additional measures to adjust prices in many places, doing so proactively, while keeping an eye on demand elasticity. These measures started to gain traction as we exited Q4 and are making steady progress into Q1.

現在讓我詳細說明影響第四季度毛利率表現的各種因素，並提供更多關於我們如何看待這些因素影響 2022 年毛利率的色彩。產品成本通脹是第四季度最大的毛利率不利因素。正如我們在 12 月電話會議上分享的那樣，我們觀察到市場價格調整以反映更高的產品成本的滯後，並且在第四季度的大部分時間裡這種情況持續存在。為加快縮小這一差距，我們在多地採取了額外的價格調整措施，積極主動地調整價格，同時關注需求彈性。隨著我們退出第四季度，這些措施開始受到關注，並在第一季度穩步推進。

Importantly, we have been able to execute these measures while preserving our competitive position in the market and maintaining the strong value proposition that customers expect from Chewy. We also saw inbound freight costs related to poor congestions and elevated spot rates emerge as a gross margin pressure point in the second half of 2021. The situation improved in Q4 compared to Q3, and we now believe that most of the adverse cost impact from this has already flowed through our results, and we don't expect to see meaningful margin pressure from inbound freight in Q1 or the rest of 2022.

重要的是，我們能夠在執行這些措施的同時保持我們在市場上的競爭地位，並保持客戶對 Chewy 的強烈價值主張。我們還看到，與擁堵狀況不佳和即期運費上漲相關的入境貨運成本成為 2021 年下半年毛利率的壓力點。與第三季度相比，第四季度的情況有所改善，我們現在認為大部分不利的成本影響由此產生我們的業績已經體現出來，我們預計第一季度或 2022 年剩餘時間不會看到來自入境貨運的顯著利潤率壓力。

On the transportation front, our new freight contract with FedEx had only a modest impact on fourth quarter gross margin. As Sumit elaborated on in his remarks, we believe the near-term pressures on gross margin likely peaked in Q4 2021, and we're seeing sequential improvements in Q1 2022. We're making progress on pricing and inflation, inbound freight costs have moderated and various initiatives are working to mitigate higher outbound freight costs. With continued progress in these areas and solid top line growth, we expect to hold gross margin broadly in line in 2022 versus 2021.

在運輸方面，我們與聯邦快遞的新貨運合同對第四季度的毛利率影響不大。正如 Sumit 在他的講話中闡述的那樣，我們認為毛利率的短期壓力可能在 2021 年第四季度達到頂峰，並且我們看到 2022 年第一季度的連續改善。我們在定價和通貨膨脹方面取得進展，入境貨運成本已經放緩各種舉措正在努力降低較高的出境貨運成本。隨著這些領域的持續進展和穩健的收入增長，我們預計 2022 年與 2021 年的毛利率將大致保持一致。

Fourth quarter operating expenses, which include SG&A and advertising and marketing, were $668.7 million or 28% of net sales compared to 26.1% in the fourth quarter of 2020. The 190 basis point increase reflects ongoing labor pressures in SG&A, offset by positive operating leverage in advertising and marketing expenses. For the full year 2021, operating expenses were $2.45 billion or 27.5% of net sales, up 80 basis points from 26.7% of net sales in 2020.

包括 SG&A 以及廣告和營銷在內的第四季度運營費用為 6.687 億美元，占淨銷售額的 28%，而 2020 年第四季度為 26.1%。190 個基點的增長反映了 SG&A 的持續勞動力壓力，被積極的運營槓桿所抵消廣告和營銷費用。 2021 年全年，運營費用為 24.5 億美元，占淨銷售額的 27.5%，比 2020 年淨銷售額的 26.7% 增加 80 個基點。

Let's review Q4 SG&A in more detail. As a reminder, our SG&A includes all fulfillment, customer service costs, credit card processing fees, corporate overhead and share-based compensation. Q4 SG&A expenses were $516.5 million or 21.6% of net sales compared to 18.7% in the fourth quarter of 2020. 3 primary factors contributed to the 210 basis points increase, normalized with a $16 million tax reserve release in the fourth quarter of 2020. The largest of these is a $30 million of higher quarterly wage benefit and recruiting costs that we have discussed throughout 2021. We also incurred incremental labor costs due to a considerable increase in the number of fulfillment center members who are out on sick leave during the Omicron surge. Combined, this accounted for approximately 140 basis points of the increase.

讓我們更詳細地回顧一下第四季度的 SG&A。提醒一下，我們的 SG&A 包括所有履行、客戶服務成本、信用卡處理費、公司管理費用和基於股份的薪酬。第四季度 SG&A 費用為 5.165 億美元，占淨銷售額的 21.6%，而 2020 年第四季度為 18.7%。3 個主要因素促成了 210 個基點的增長，並在 2020 年第四季度釋放了 1600 萬美元的稅收儲備。其中最大的是我們在整個 2021 年討論過的 3000 萬美元的更高季度工資福利和招聘成本。由於在 Omicron 激增期間請病假的履行中心成員數量大幅增加，我們還產生了增加的勞動力成本.加起來，這佔了大約 140 個基點的增長。

The balance can be attributed to upfront investments we are making in our new business and growth initiatives. We expect these investments to begin to scale as we exit 2022. On a full year basis, SG&A expenses were $1.83 billion or 20.5% of net sales and deleveraged 90 basis points year-over-year. Adjusting for elevated FC labor expenses and the favorable tax item in 2020, we would have leveraged our 2021 SG&A expenses by 50 basis points.

餘額可歸因於我們在新業務和增長計劃中進行的前期投資。我們預計這些投資將在 2022 年結束時開始擴大。全年，SG&A 費用為 18.3 億美元，占淨銷售額的 20.5%，同比去槓桿化 90 個基點。考慮到 2020 年較高的 FC 人工費用和優惠的稅收項目，我們將 2021 年的 SG&A 費用提高了 50 個基點。

We were able to accomplish this even with a significant investment in growth-oriented infrastructure, that since late 2020, include opening 3 new fulfillment centers, 1 pharmacy and expanding our corporate office footprint, including our newest office in Seattle. Over time, we expect top line growth will naturally lead to leverage in our fulfillment and corporate infrastructure and SG&A.

即使對以增長為導向的基礎設施進行了大量投資，我們也能夠實現這一目標，自 2020 年底以來，包括開設 3 個新的履行中心、1 家藥房並擴大我們的公司辦公室足跡，包括我們在西雅圖的最新辦公室。隨著時間的推移，我們預計收入增長自然會影響我們的履約和企業基礎設施以及 SG&A。

Moving on to marketing. Fourth quarter advertising and marketing was $152.2 million or 6.4% of net sales, scaling 90 basis points year-over-year. On a full year basis, advertising and marketing represented 7% of net sales, scaling 20 basis points versus 2020. Wrapping up the income statement, fourth quarter net loss was $63.6 million and net margin was negative 2.7%, a year-over-year decline of 370 basis points. Our full year 2021 net loss improved to $73.8 million from $92.5 million in 2020, and our net margin improved 50 basis points to negative 0.8%. Excluding share-based compensation, full year net income was $11.5 million compared to $36.7 million last year, and net margin, excluding share-based compensation, declined 40 basis points to 0.1%.

繼續營銷。第四季度廣告和營銷為 1.522 億美元，占淨銷售額的 6.4%，同比增長 90 個基點。按全年計算，廣告和營銷占淨銷售額的 7%，比 2020 年增長 20 個基點。總結損益表，第四季度淨虧損為 6360 萬美元，淨利潤率為負 2.7%，同比下跌 370 個基點。我們 2021 年全年的淨虧損從 2020 年的 9,250 萬美元改善至 7,380 萬美元，我們的淨利潤率提高了 50 個基點至負 0.8%。不計股權激勵，全年淨利潤為 1150 萬美元，而去年為 3670 萬美元，淨利潤率（不計股權激勵）下降 40 個基點至 0.1%。

Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was negative $28.1 million and adjusted EBITDA margin declined 420 basis points to negative 1.2%, primarily reflecting gross margin pressure and elevated labor costs. Full year adjusted EBITDA remained positive for the second year in a row and reached $78.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin declined 30 basis points year-over-year to 0.9%. Taking a longer view, while we may experience fluctuations quarter-to-quarter, over the last 2 years, we've expanded our adjusted EBITDA margin by 260 basis points and moved from adjusted EBITDA negative to adjusted EBITDA positive.

第四季度調整後 EBITDA 為負 2810 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率下降 420 個基點至負 1.2%，主要反映毛利率壓力和勞動力成本上升。全年調整後 EBITDA 連續第二年保持正數，達到 7860 萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率同比下降 30 個基點至 0.9%。從長遠來看，雖然我們可能會經歷季度間波動，但在過去 2 年中，我們將調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率擴大了 260 個基點，並從調整後的 EBITDA 負值變為調整後的 EBITDA 正值。

Turning now to free cash flow. Fourth quarter free cash flow was negative $113.4 million, reflecting $66 million in cash used in operating activities and $47.5 million of capital expenditures. The negative operating cash in Q4 was primarily a function of our net loss and a negative working capital cycle related to the approximately $100 million in incremental inventory we built throughout the year to prepare for the holidays and protect from further supply chain disruptions.

現在轉向自由現金流。第四季度自由現金流為負 1.134 億美元，反映了 6600 萬美元用於經營活動的現金和 4750 萬美元的資本支出。第四季度的負運營現金主要是由於我們的淨虧損和負營運資金周期與我們全年為假期做準備和防止供應鏈進一步中斷而增加的大約 1 億美元的庫存增加有關。

Capital investments in the quarter continued to be growth-oriented and included spending on our recently opened FC in Kansas City, our recently opened pharmacy in Pennsylvania are soon to be opened FC in Reno and continued investments in IT infrastructure.

本季度的資本投資繼續以增長為導向，包括我們最近在堪薩斯城開設的 FC、我們最近在賓夕法尼亞州開設的藥房即將在里諾開設 FC，以及對 IT 基礎設施的持續投資。

For the full year, we generated approximately $9 million of positive free cash flow. Since the end of 2018, we have been essentially free cash flow neutral in line with our stated growth strategy. Over those same 3 years, we increased net sales by 150%, launched 5 new FCs, opened a new pharmacy, expanded our corporate precedent in 2 talent dense cities, made meaningful investments in Chewy Health and other growth initiatives and still expanded our adjusted EBITDA margin by 740 basis points.

全年，我們產生了大約 900 萬美元的正自由現金流。自 2018 年底以來，我們的自由現金流基本保持中性，符合我們既定的增長戰略。在這同樣的 3 年裡，我們的淨銷售額增長了 150%，推出了 5 家新的 FC，開設了一家新藥店，在 2 個人才密集的城市擴大了我們的企業先例，對 Chewy Health 和其他增長計劃進行了有意義的投資，並且仍然擴大了我們調整後的 EBITDA保證金為 740 個基點。

Again, we've done all this while remaining debt-free and consuming no cash. We finished the year with $603 million of cash and cash equivalents on the balance sheet; and between cash and availability on our ABL, total year-end liquidity stood at nearly $1.1 billion. That concludes my fourth quarter and 2021 recap.

同樣，我們在保持無債務和不消耗現金的同時完成了這一切。我們在資產負債表上以 6.03 億美元的現金和現金等價物結束了這一年；在我們 ABL 的現金和可用性之間，年終總流動性接近 11 億美元。我的第四季度和 2021 年回顧到此結束。

So now let's discuss our first quarter and full year 2022 outlook. While the core fundamentals of our business remain intact, the operational and macro crosscurrents that we have discussed today make accurate forecasting more difficult. As always, our current guidance reflects the balance of the opportunities and risks that we see in the current environment.

因此，現在讓我們討論一下我們對 2022 年第一季度和全年的展望。儘管我們業務的核心基本面保持不變，但我們今天討論的運營和宏觀逆流使準確預測變得更加困難。與往常一樣，我們當前的指導反映了我們在當前環境中看到的機會和風險的平衡。

With that, we expect first quarter net sales of between $2.40 billion and $2.43 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 12% to 14%. Full year 2022 net sales of between $10.2 billion and $10.4 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 15% to 17%. And we expect full year 2022 adjusted EBITDA margin to be breakeven to positive 1%. As you update your models for 2022, here are a few other things to keep in mind. Full year 2022 CapEx should equal approximately 2.5% of net sales, slightly above our historical target range of 1.5% to 2%. Given longer project lead times, our total spending on new FC capacity over the next 2 years is front-loaded into 2022. This is simply a matter of timing, and we expect CapEx will balance out in our normal range of 1.5% to 2% of net sales across 2022 and 2023 in aggregate.

因此，我們預計第一季度淨銷售額在 24.0 億美元至 24.3 億美元之間，同比增長 12% 至 14%。 2022 年全年淨銷售額在 102 億美元至 104 億美元之間，同比增長 15% 至 17%。我們預計 2022 年全年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將達到盈虧平衡至正 1%。在為 2022 年更新模型時，請記住以下其他一些事項。 2022 年全年資本支出應約為淨銷售額的 2.5%，略高於我們 1.5% 至 2% 的歷史目標範圍。鑑於更長的項目交付週期，我們未來 2 年在新 FC 產能上的總支出將提前到 2022 年。這只是時間問題，我們預計資本支出將平衡在 1.5% 至 2% 的正常範圍內2022 年和 2023 年的總淨銷售額。

Finally, full year 2022 share-based compensation is expected to be approximately $170 million. Chewy's ability to deliver significant top line growth in 2021 on top of the unprecedented growth we experienced in 2020, when coupled with our ability to expand full year gross margins and grow adjusted EBITDA, is a strong testament to the durability of the pet category and Chewy's ability to execute in the face of rapidly evolving macro conditions.

最後，2022 年全年的股票薪酬預計約為 1.7 億美元。除了我們在 2020 年經歷的前所未有的增長之外，Chewy 在 2021 年實現顯著收入增長的能力，再加上我們擴大全年毛利率和增長調整後 EBITDA 的能力，有力地證明了寵物類別和 Chewy 的耐用性面對快速變化的宏觀條件的執行能力。

As we move forward, we remain focused on investing in the long term and executing against our strategic plan to grow our customer base, expand share of wallet and drive market share. When we combine that with a growing TAM, secular growth in the online portion of the industry and Chewy's leadership position in the market, we see continued upside in our future.

隨著我們前進，我們仍然專注於長期投資並執行我們的戰略計劃，以擴大我們的客戶群、擴大錢包份額並提高市場份額。當我們將其與不斷增長的 TAM、行業在線部分的長期增長以及 Chewy 在市場中的領導地位相結合時，我們看到未來將繼續上漲。

With that, I'll turn the call over to the operator. Operator?

有了這個，我會把電話轉給接線員。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) First question is from the line of Doug Anmuth with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Doug Anmuth。

First, just hoping you could provide some color on how you're thinking about the mix in growth between active customers and then NSPAC in '22. And then you talked about mitigation efforts offsetting some of the gross margin headwinds around shipping and logistics. Are those the same initiatives that you talked about a couple of quarters ago related to software and fulfillment efficiencies? And any more color you can provide there on timing?

首先，只是希望你能提供一些關於你如何考慮活躍客戶和 22 年 NSPAC 之間的增長組合的顏色。然後你談到緩解措施抵消了航運和物流方面的一些毛利率不利因素。您在幾個季度前談到的那些與軟件和履行效率相關的舉措是否相同？您還可以在時間上提供更多顏色嗎？

Doug, it's Mario. I'll start it off and then Sumit will answer the second part of your question. And before I give you sort of color on '22, let me just give you a bit of explanation about Q4 because that will give you some intuition into how we think about 2022.

道格，是馬里奧。我將開始它，然後 Sumit 將回答您問題的第二部分。在我給你 22 年的顏色之前，讓我給你一些關於 Q4 的解釋，因為這會讓你對我們如何看待 2022 年有一些直覺。

So let me start with the facts. We ended 2021 with 20.7 million active customers. That's an increase of 7.2 million over 2 years or 54% increase. And in Q4, we did see the net active adds came in softer than we expected. It came in a bit lighter than we expected. And here's why. When we look at year 1 retention for customers who joined the platform in the first 3 quarters of 2020, those rates were all within historical ranges, and we shared this before in our previous calls. When we look at the Q4 2020 cohort, that their retention rate which we said is high, did decline by low single digits versus the historical trend. And that extra attrition was enough to offset some of the gross adds we had in Q4, the gross customer adds we had in Q4. And then it result, as we had softer sequential active growth -- active customer adds, in the fourth quarter.

所以讓我從事實開始。到 2021 年底，我們擁有 2070 萬活躍客戶。兩年內增加了 720 萬或 54%。在第四季度，我們確實看到淨活躍添加量比我們預期的要低。它比我們預期的要輕一些。這就是為什麼。當我們查看 2020 年前三個季度加入該平台的客戶的第一年留存率時，這些比率都在歷史範圍內，我們之前在之前的電話會議中分享了這一點。當我們查看 2020 年第四季度的隊列時，我們所說的高保留率確實與歷史趨勢相比下降了低個位數。額外的流失足以抵消我們在第四季度的一些總增加，我們在第四季度的總客戶增加。然後結果是，因為我們在第四季度的連續活躍增長放緩——活躍客戶增加。

You heard Sumit statement about why we think that is. We don't have perfect data, certainly. But we do believe it's a function of the macro environment in 2020 because of the second wave COVID and then obviously, the second round of stimulus checks that arrived in Q4 2020.

你聽過 Sumit 關於我們為什麼這麼認為的聲明。當然，我們沒有完美的數據。但我們確實認為這是 2020 年宏觀環境的一個函數，因為第二波 COVID 以及顯然是在 2020 年第四季度到來的第二輪刺激檢查。

Now I say all that, so I can give you a perspective of '22. When we look at 2022, we are still in a very fluid environment. We have an economy that's reopening. We have supply chains that are still constrained, and we have out of stock levels that remain higher than normal. And all of that, we believe, is driving some customers who cross shop online, offline, et cetera. We expect those factors will have a near-term retention rate impact in the low single digits for customers we acquired in 2020 and 2021. And remember, those are very large cohorts. As a result, we do expect net active adds for 2022 to be lower than they were in 2021 and to be muted at least through the first half of 2022.

現在我說了這麼多，所以我可以給你一個 22 年的觀點。展望 2022 年，我們仍處於一個非常不穩定的環境中。我們的經濟正在重新開放。我們的供應鏈仍然受到限制，我們的缺貨水平仍然高於正常水平。我們相信，所有這一切都在推動一些客戶在網上、線下等方面進行交叉購物。我們預計這些因素將對我們在 2020 年和 2021 年獲得的客戶產生低個位數的短期保留率影響。請記住，這些都是非常大的群體。因此，我們確實預計 2022 年的淨活躍增加量將低於 2021 年的水平，並且至少在 2022 年上半年保持平穩。

On the other hand, to your question, we do expect NSPAC to grow at a healthy pace. And our net sales guidance assumes a combination of both NSPAC and active customer to grow this year, driving net sales increase. I think -- sorry, 1 more explanation. I know I'm going a bit long here, but just before Sumit speaks to the second part of your question because it's worth -- set the stage for this, when we think about net active adds and net sales growth. If you compare 2019 to 2021, our net sales growth -- net sales grew about $1.3 billion in 2019, and we added 2.9 million active customers that year. NSPAC that year increased 6%. Then you compare to 2021, so last year, net sales grew $1.7 billion. So $400 million more than 2021 despite only adding 1.5 million active customers last year. Why? Because NSPAC grew 16%.

另一方面，對於您的問題，我們確實希望 NSPAC 能夠以健康的速度增長。我們的淨銷售額指引假設 NSPAC 和活躍客戶今年都將增長，從而推動淨銷售額增長。我認為 - 抱歉，還有 1 個解釋。我知道我在這裡說的有點長，但就在 Sumit 談到你問題的第二部分之前，因為這是值得的——當我們考慮淨活躍增加和淨銷售增長時，為此做好準備。如果將 2019 年與 2021 年進行比較，我們的淨銷售額增長——2019 年淨銷售額增長約 13 億美元，當年我們增加了 290 萬活躍客戶。當年 NSPAC 增長了 6%。然後與 2021 年相比，去年的淨銷售額增長了 17 億美元。因此，儘管去年僅增加了 150 萬活躍客戶，但比 2021 年增加了 4 億美元。為什麼？因為 NSPAC 增長了 16%。

So when we look at the levers of growth, it is both continuing to expand the customer base, but certainly capture more of the share of wallet. And at $430 that we just reported for NSPAC versus an average spend of about $1,200, give or take, in the U.S. per pet household, we still have a lot of share of wallet we can gain -- we can capture from our existing customers.

因此，當我們審視增長的槓桿時，它既在繼續擴大客戶群，又肯定會佔據更多的錢包份額。我們剛剛為 NSPAC 報告的價格為 430 美元，而在美國每個寵物家庭的平均支出約為 1,200 美元，我們仍然可以獲得很多錢包份額——我們可以從現有客戶那裡獲得。

I know that was a bit long, but I'll turn it over to Sumit for the second part.

我知道這有點長，但我會在第二部分將其交給 Sumit。

Thanks, Mario. Doug, helpful to remember that 2/3 of our 21 million active customers have been with Chewy less than 2 to 3 years. And so as we kind of amplify the curve as it grows from the cohort spend point of view, that's the healthy spend that Mario is talking about capturing.

謝謝，馬里奧。 Doug，請記住，我們 2100 萬活躍客戶中有 2/3 使用 Chewy 的時間不到 2 到 3 年。因此，當我們從群體支出的角度放大曲線時，這就是馬里奧所說的健康支出。

Now coming to the second part of your question on gross margin mitigating initiatives. So first, these are incremental initiatives to the ones we've talked about before. And two, let me provide you some details on what is it that we're after here. So to combat the impact in FY '22, as we said, we're launching several new logistics and supply chain inventory and floor related initiatives that will be scaled, launched in '22, but also scaled over latter half of '22 and '23.

現在進入關於毛利率降低舉措的問題的第二部分。因此，首先，這些是我們之前討論過的漸進舉措。第二，讓我向您提供一些關於我們在這裡追求什麼的細節。因此，正如我們所說，為了應對 22 財年的影響，我們將推出幾項新的物流和供應鏈庫存以及與地板相關的計劃，這些計劃將在 22 年推出，但也會在 22 年下半年和23.

So in January, we launched a transfer initiative to optimally load balance inventory across our network. And that's helping us combat kind of long zone shipping and place products closer to customers and, therefore, mitigate some part of that impact. Number two, in Q1, in early into Q2, we're launching what I would call our transload overseas shipping initiative. And that will actually help out international inventory more optimally across our network and position them more ideally in front of our fulfillment centers.

因此，在一月份，我們啟動了一項轉移計劃，以優化我們網絡中的庫存負載平衡。這有助於我們對抗長途運輸並將產品放置在離客戶更近的地方，從而減輕部分影響。第二，在第一季度，在第二季度初期，我們啟動了我所說的轉運海外運輸計劃。這實際上將有助於在我們的網絡中更優化地優化國際庫存，並將它們更理想地放置在我們的履行中心前。

Number three, and this one is actually something we're proud of as well. We're launching what I would call Chewy Freight Services or CFS, which is starting out as a line-haul initiative, where we will operate a portion of our own middle mile fleet and network. We launched this into the Phoenix market in Q1 2022, and we'll look to scale this in 2022. And what this does is it allows us deeper injection into the carrier network and enables a smoother package flow that helps both cost and customer experience, particularly during the kind of macroeconomic environment that we are live in right now.

第三，這實際上也是我們引以為豪的事情。我們正在推出我稱之為 Chewy Freight Services 或 CFS 的服務，它最初是一項線路運輸計劃，我們將在其中運營我們自己的中英里車隊和網絡的一部分。我們在 2022 年第一季度將其推出到鳳凰城市場，並希望在 2022 年擴大規模。這樣做是為了讓我們更深入地註入運營商網絡，並實現更順暢的包裹流程，這有助於成本和客戶體驗，尤其是在我們現在所處的宏觀經濟環境中。

And then in addition to these logistics initiatives, our newly formed supply chain research and planning function is focused on building and improving capabilities. That will enable improved topology and inventory buying and placement, including geo-located inventory discovery for customers. And order routing that you're talking about is an example that lives as part of this team, but these initiatives that I'm talking about are incremental to that. So the order routing technology was the proprietary homegrown system that analyzes inventory availability in real time, if you recall, and efficiently routes orders to the appropriate fulfillment centers to minimize the incidence of split orders or orders sent over long distances.

然後，除了這些物流計劃之外，我們新成立的供應鏈研究和規劃職能部門還專注於建立和提高能力。這將改善拓撲結構和庫存購買和放置，包括為客戶發現地理位置的庫存。你所說的訂單路由是這個團隊的一個例子，但我所說的這些舉措是對此的增量。因此，訂單路由技術是專有的本土系統，可以實時分析庫存可用性（如果您還記得的話），並有效地將訂單路由到適當的履行中心，以最大限度地減少拆分訂單或遠距離發送訂單的發生率。

These will further complement our logistics initiatives that I talked about and collectively help us mitigate a majority of the increase that we're seeing from the freight rate card. Hopefully, that was helpful.

這些將進一步補充我談到的我們的物流計劃，並共同幫助我們減輕我們從貨運費率卡中看到的大部分增長。希望這會有所幫助。

Our next question comes from the line of Brian Fitzgerald with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Brian Fitzgerald。

A couple of questions on the sponsored ads launch, maybe 3 there. First off, there's a large amount of vendor spend in terms of trade promotions and slotting fees at grocery and brick-and-mortar retail, something like $150 billion to $200 billion in the U.S. Do you know -- or do you have a sense of how much is being spent in trade promotion (inaudible) specifically in pet category?

關於贊助廣告發布的幾個問題，可能有 3 個。首先，在雜貨店和實體零售店的貿易促銷和進場費方面，供應商有大量支出，在美國大約為 1500 億至 2000 億美元你知道嗎 - 或者你有感覺嗎？特別是在寵物類別中的貿易促進（聽不清）花費了多少？

Number two, wondering if you could remind us how often you see a customer on site once they're enrolled in Autoship? How often is your audience on site going to be there to potentially receive ad messages?

第二，想知道您是否可以提醒我們，一旦客戶註冊 Autoship，您在現場看到他們的頻率如何？您的現場觀眾多久會到那裡接收廣告信息？

And then last one is just -- do you have any thoughts over time on lining up off-site advertising, leveraging your internal data?

最後一個問題是——隨著時間的推移，您是否有任何想法來排列場外廣告，利用您的內部數據？

Brian, this is Sumit. I'll take them. So not much to add today beyond what we said in our prepared remarks. Suppliers see what I can tell you is that the opportunity size is large. And the dollars in our opinion, are uniquely positioned outside the trade funds. And suppliers see tremendous value in gaining advertising across to the customer base and to the experiences that we offer. So in that way, we see it as a potentially meaningful high-margin recurring revenue opportunity in the future.

布賴恩，這是蘇米特。我會帶他們。因此，除了我們在準備好的評論中所說的內容之外，今天沒有太多要補充的內容。供應商看到我可以告訴你的是機會規模很大。在我們看來，美元在貿易基金之外是獨一無二的。供應商看到了在客戶群和我們提供的體驗中獲得廣告的巨大價值。因此，通過這種方式，我們將其視為未來具有潛在意義的高利潤經常性收入機會。

Secondly, in terms of Autoship customers, our Autoship customers, even though they're subscribed to the service are highly active and recurring in their purchase and shopping behavior. To give you a perspective, 2/3 of our base is -- our ownership base is what we consider base load, which is recurring, repeat, staple in nature. And the rest of it is highly experimental. We see customers with multiple open Autoships at the same time. They come in, they go out. And they remain highly engaged, including through our promo kind of campaigns when we actually do choose to include those customers to be a part of it. Our Autoship customers are also part of our active kind of launch and innovation campaigns and they do highly actively participate. So we believe that this will be open, and therefore, an opportunity for that customer base as well.

其次，就 Autoship 客戶而言，我們的 Autoship 客戶即使訂閱了該服務，也非常活躍，並且在他們的購買和購物行為中反復出現。為了給你一個視角，我們基礎的 2/3 是 - 我們的所有權基礎是我們認為的基礎負載，它本質上是經常性的、重複的、主要的。其餘的都是高度實驗性的。我們看到客戶同時擁有多個開放的 Autoships。他們進來，他們出去。他們仍然保持高度參與，包括通過我們的促銷活動，當我們確實選擇讓這些客戶參與其中時。我們的 Autoship 客戶也是我們積極推出和創新活動的一部分，他們非常積極地參與其中。因此，我們相信這將是開放的，因此也為該客戶群提供了機會。

And then finally, your third part of the question is the line of off-site advertising using internal data. You're going to have to explain that a little bit because I'm not sure clear on the question you're asking.

最後，您問題的第三部分是使用內部數據的非現場廣告系列。您將不得不稍微解釋一下，因為我不確定您要問的問題。

Like an ad network extensibility type of thing.

就像廣告網絡可擴展性類型的東西。

I see. It is on our radar, but not much to share today.

我知道了。它在我們的雷達上，但今天分享的不多。

Our next question comes from the line of Stephanie Wissink with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Stephanie Wissink。

Steph Wissink from Jefferies. Two-part question. The first is just on the inventory levels. It looks like your balance sheet inventory was down quite a bit. Help us think through the availability of inventory and the constraint on the first quarter what you expect through the balance of the year as your in-stocks improve?

傑富瑞的斯蒂芬·威辛克。兩部分的問題。首先是庫存水平。看起來你的資產負債表庫存下降了很多。幫助我們思考庫存的可用性和對第一季度的限制，隨著庫存的改善，您對今年剩餘時間的預期是什麼？

And then just on the cash flow, Mario, a question for you. How should we think about the burn rate in Q4, the available cash you have to fund the business, slightly higher CapEx in 2022. How are your liquidity standings? And do you think you'll need to raise cash as we progress through the year?

然後就現金流而言，馬里奧，問你一個問題。我們應該如何考慮第四季度的燒錢率，您必須為業務提供資金的可用現金，以及 2022 年略高的資本支出。您的流動性狀況如何？你認為隨著我們這一年的進展，你需要籌集現金嗎？

Steph, I'll take both questions and Sumit can add something else to the inventory, if I miss anything. Inventory levels, so -- you heard us say that the impact of Omicron in mid-quarter had an impact -- it negatively impacted our out-of-stock level. So they increased. Therefore, we were not able to get as much inventory as we would otherwise have purchased. And so the short answer to the inventory levels is that you saw us carry elevated levels of inventory throughout the year. And then in the fourth quarter, we burned through some of that. But to be totally clear, Steph, we would rather have purchased the inventory, of course. The reason for that is, as you heard us say, we are baking into our guidance, something in the range of $200 million to $300 million of out of stock of sales loss due to out of stock for 2022. So that gives you an idea how we think about inventory and the impact that it has on net sales.

Steph，我會回答這兩個問題，如果我遺漏了什麼，Sumit 可以在清單中添加其他內容。庫存水平，所以 - 你聽到我們說 Omicron 在季度中期的影響產生了影響 - 它對我們的缺貨水平產生了負面影響。所以他們增加了。因此，我們無法獲得本來可以購買的那麼多庫存。因此，對庫存水平的簡短回答是，您看到我們全年的庫存水平都很高。然後在第四季度，我們燒掉了一些。但要完全清楚，斯蒂芬，我們當然寧願購買庫存。原因是，正如您聽到我們所說，我們正在製定我們的指導方針，2022 年因缺貨而導致的銷售損失在 2 億美元到 3 億美元之間。所以這給了你一個想法我們如何看待庫存及其對淨銷售額的影響。

In terms of the cash use in the fourth quarter, it's, a, it's not unusual that we would have used cash in the fourth quarter. Second is, it's really a result of the inventory build that we did go through throughout the year. We have a very favorable cash conversion cycle, where we buy the inventory, we sell it, and then we pay for it later. In this case, the time to pay for it was in the fourth quarter.

就第四季度的現金使用而言，我們在第四季度使用現金並不罕見。其次，這實際上是我們全年進行的庫存建設的結果。我們有一個非常有利的現金轉換週期，我們購買庫存，我們出售它，然後我們稍後再付款。在這種情況下，支付它的時間是在第四季度。

And then I think the last part of your question was about how do we think about cash for 2022. Start off with the $600 million of cash and cash equivalents we have on the balance sheet. Second to that is think about that we're spending slightly incrementally more on CapEx this year, about 0.5 point more in net sales. So let's call it [$15] million if we're looking at a $10 billion or so full year. So you see there's not a lot of cash burn in when it comes to the CapEx side of things.

然後我認為你問題的最後一部分是關於我們如何看待 2022 年的現金。從資產負債表上的 6 億美元現金和現金等價物開始。其次是想想我們今年在資本支出上的支出略有增加，淨銷售額增加了約 0.5 個百分點。因此，如果我們正在考慮 100 億美元左右的全年，我們稱之為 [15] 百萬美元。因此，您會看到在資本支出方面並沒有大量的現金消耗。

And the last thing, Steph, is look at our history. We have a history of being very diligent and efficient in the way we deploy cash. And I would expect that to be the case again this year.

最後一件事，斯蒂芬，是看看我們的歷史。我們在部署現金的方式上一直非常勤奮和高效。我希望今年會再次出現這種情況。

Okay. That's helpful. Could I ask some point of clarification. So on the guidance for the first quarter versus the balance of the year, it would assume that your in-stocks improved. So should we overweight the burden of the out-of-stocks from that $200 million to $300 million in the first quarter. And then just maybe give us some reassurance from your vendor community that they are committing to improving your in-stock position as the year progresses?

好的。這很有幫助。我能否要求澄清一些問題。因此，在第一季度與今年餘額的指引中，假設您的庫存有所改善。因此，我們是否應該將第一季度缺貨的負擔從 2 億美元增至 3 億美元。然後也許可以讓您的供應商社區向我們保證，隨著時間的推移，他們將致力於改善您的庫存狀況？

Steph, this is Sumit. That is accurate. We are also assuming first half of the year is going to be more impacted than the back half of the year. And that also follows from the continuation of back half of 2021, where supply chains really degraded coming into Q3, if you recall, and they continued or they got worse in Q4. And that, given the war in Ukraine has actually caused some incremental near-term shortages, which will actually -- the commentary that we are hearing from our supplier base right now is that this is expected to continue through 2022 with early signs of recovery in 2023. But within 2022, the first half is going to be worse than the second half.

斯蒂芬，這是蘇米特。那是準確的。我們還假設今年上半年將比下半年受到更大的影響。這也是 2021 年下半年的延續，如果你還記得的話，供應鏈在第三季度確實退化了，而且它們在第四季度繼續下去或者變得更糟。而且，鑑於烏克蘭的戰爭實際上已經造成了一些增量的近期短缺，這實際上 - 我們現在從我們的供應商那裡聽到的評論是，預計這種情況將持續到 2022 年，並有早期復蘇跡象2023年。但在2022年之內，上半年會比下半年更糟。

Our next question comes from the line of Mark Mahaney with ISI.

我們的下一個問題來自 ISI 的 Mark Mahaney。

Could you -- I'm sorry, if you talked about it already, but international, where are you in terms of considering international ramps? And then you want to give us any color on whether that would be organic or not.

你能 - 對不起，如果你已經談過了，但是國際，你在考慮國際坡道方面在哪裡？然後你想給我們任何顏色是否是有機的。

And then could you spend a little bit of time on an update on the Trupanion partnership and the timing of that? Is that on track ahead of plan? Any new insights as you've done more work to prepare for that launch?

然後你能花一點時間來更新 Trupanion 合作夥伴關係及其時間安排嗎？這是否提前計劃？當您為此次發布做更多工作時，有什麼新見解嗎？

Mark, this is Sumit. I'll start with the second one. So we're on track to launch our first set of insurance offerings with our partner, Trupanion, in the very near future, I would say, within the next 30 to 90 days' time frame. So that's on track, and we're excited about that.

馬克，這是蘇米特。我將從第二個開始。因此，我們有望在不久的將來（我想說，在接下來的 30 到 90 天的時間範圍內）與我們的合作夥伴 Trupanion 一起推出我們的第一套保險產品。所以這是在正軌上，我們對此感到興奮。

In terms of international, not much more to add there today. We recognize international as an additional TAM expansion opportunity beyond the $120 billion U.S. market that we participate in today. And so it's a credible source of growth for us. Whether we organically or inorganically, I think we'll be thoughtful about both paths and diligent accordingly relative to the market, the inputs around e-commerce penetration, logistics, operations, infrastructure and go-to-market and then be able to appropriately decide the right course of outcome. So it remains a matter of when and not if.

在國際方面，今天沒有太多要補充的了。除了我們今天參與的 1200 億美元的美國市場，我們認為國際市場是 TAM 擴展的額外機會。因此，它對我們來說是一個可靠的增長來源。無論我們是有機的還是無機的，我認為我們都會考慮路徑並根據市場、圍繞電子商務滲透、物流、運營、基礎設施和進入市場的投入，然後能夠適當地做出決定正確的結果過程。因此，這仍然是何時而不是是否的問題。

Our next question comes from the line of Deepak Mathivanan with Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Deepak Mathivanan。

Just a couple of ones. So first, can you talk about the pricing levels. You know that easing of the inflationary impact on gross margins. Now is that the competitive landscape sort of catching up and becoming more favorable? And what is happening to demand with the higher prices?

就幾個。所以首先，你能談談定價水平嗎？你知道通貨膨脹對毛利率的影響緩解。現在競爭格局是否正在迎頭趕上並變得更加有利？價格上漲對需求有何影響？

And then second question, Mario, can you elaborate a little bit on the retention comments for '22 on the active customers? Is the retention softness that you're expecting for '22 from the 2020 cohorts or is it the 2021 cohort? Trying to understand, basically, if year 2 retention behavior is different or is the year 1 behavior compared to historical levels. And maybe you can provide some color on kind of like a marketing versus gross ads for this year, that would be great, too.

然後是第二個問題，馬里奧，您能否詳細說明一下 22 年對活躍客戶的保留評論？您對 22 年的 2020 年隊列或 2021 年隊列的留存率有何期待？基本上，試圖了解第 2 年的保留行為與歷史水平相比是否不同或第 1 年的行為。也許你可以為今年的營銷廣告與總廣告提供一些顏色，那也很棒。

Deepak, this is Sumit. I'll try to take both and Mario will jump in as he sees as he fit. So first part, let's talk about inflation. So we're taking a detailed view of our assortment and our pricing based on the cost inflation that we're seeing at the SKU level. In aggregate, this is translating to us passing single-digit cost inflation in our category. This also, as you kind of rightly mentioned, it's a top line [net of] margin kind of impacting lever. Importantly, we're being surgical and deliberate about our pricing strategy. So we're balancing demand elasticity, so as not to impact growth. And yet, we're finding specific opportunities to optimize price in the marketplace, while maintaining the strong value prop that customers have come to expect from Chewy.

迪帕克，這是蘇米特。我會嘗試兩者兼得，馬里奧會在他認為合適的時候加入。所以第一部分，讓我們談談通貨膨脹。因此，我們正在根據我們在 SKU 級別看到的成本膨脹來詳細了解我們的分類和定價。總的來說，這意味著我們在我們的類別中通過了個位數的成本膨脹。這也是，正如你所說的那樣，它是一種影響槓桿的頂線 [淨] 保證金。重要的是，我們正在對我們的定價策略進行手術和深思熟慮。因此，我們正在平衡需求彈性，以免影響增長。然而，我們正在尋找優化市場價格的具體機會，同時保持客戶對 Chewy 的期望的強大價值支撐。

Generally speaking, this is a topic where there are several moving pieces on how the year will play out given the current macro environment. And we plan on being diligent and we'll let the data guide the way as much as possible. If you look at Q1 so far, prices leading cost by low single digits. And so that probably provides you some perspective.

一般而言，在當前宏觀環境下，這一年將如何發展有幾個動人的話題。我們計劃努力工作，我們將盡可能讓數據指導。如果你看到目前為止的第一季度，價格領先成本低個位數。因此，這可能為您提供了一些視角。

In terms of your second question, it's both. It's 2020 and '21, as Mario alluded. 2020 was a large-sized cohort. And so our attrition, even though it's small when customers get from year 2 into year 3, there is a portion of attrition that continues into the subsequent years. And then '21, his perspective is something that we share and something that we are broadly observing as the economy kind of broadly opens up.

關於你的第二個問題，兩者都是。正如馬里奧所暗示的那樣，現在是 2020 年和 21 年。 2020年是一個大型隊列。所以我們的減員，即使客戶從第 2 年到第 3 年的減員很小，但仍有一部分減員會持續到接下來的幾年。然後是 21 年，他的觀點是我們共享的東西，也是我們隨著經濟的廣泛開放而廣泛觀察的東西。

So I'll combine that answer and I'll combine the marketing kind of question that you asked and answer it this way, right? I think marketing in '22 is going to be impacted by a few things, which will actually impact the dynamic of gross adds, net adds also. One, it's clear that as the economy reopens, customers are exiting the home to conduct in-person shopping and consuming more in-person services. Number two, elevated industry level out of stock, which Mario mentioned, is leading to suboptimal purchase experience for customers, and it's encouraging them to cross-shop multiple retailers. In our opinion, this will keep acquisition and retention kind of at an interesting kind of balance with each other. And it should also be said, and it will impact, in our opinion, every player in the pet category in 2022. Initially, we see this as a transient in-year impact and not a long-term impact.

所以我會結合那個答案，我會結合你提出的營銷類型的問題，然後這樣回答，對吧？我認為 22 年的市場營銷會受到一些因素的影響，這實際上會影響總增加量的動態，淨增加量也一樣。一，很明顯，隨著經濟的重新開放，顧客正在離開家進行面對面的購物並消費更多的面對面服務。第二，馬里奧提到的行業缺貨水平升高，導致客戶購買體驗不佳，並鼓勵他們跨多個零售商購買。在我們看來，這將使獲取和保留保持一種有趣的平衡。還應該說，在我們看來，它將影響到 2022 年寵物類別中的每一位玩家。最初，我們認為這是一種短暫的年內影響，而不是長期影響。

The third is the high degree of inflation is currently causing compression in discretionary categories. For example, when you look at the U.S. retail business today, not just pet, but broadly U.S. retail, across the industry, hardline category, not just pet is expected to grow low to mid-single digits this year. Search data across market platforms kind of confirms that. In fact, in February, hardline sales search queries were down 15% on a year-over-year basis. And so what you will see in our opinion, in 2022, is these factors will lead retailers and e-tailers that amidst this kind of economic volatility to compete for a pool of customers that are appropriately stressed and divided mind share.

三是目前高通脹導致可自由支配品類受壓。例如，當您查看今天的美國零售業務時，不僅是寵物，而且是廣泛的美國零售業，在整個行業、強硬類別中，預計今年不僅寵物將增長低至中個位數。跨市場平台的搜索數據證實了這一點。事實上，2 月份，強硬的銷售搜索查詢同比下降了 15%。因此，在我們看來，到 2022 年，這些因素將導致零售商和電子零售商在這種經濟波動中爭奪壓力適當且思想份額分散的客戶群。

And that, in turn, will keep the ad market demand and supply sort of precariously balanced, leading to variability in kind of marketing costs, gross adds, and net adds. I should tell you, we're not guiding to specific levels of spend in this area in the marketing section. But you've seen us kind of be within the long-term range of 6% to 7% of net sales. And I expect that will remain there with some quarters being higher and others being lower overall. Hopefully, that's helpful.

反過來，這將使廣告市場的需求和供應保持不穩定的平衡，導致營銷成本、總增加量和淨增加量的變化。我應該告訴你，我們並沒有在營銷部分指導這一領域的具體支出水平。但是你已經看到我們在淨銷售額的 6% 到 7% 的長期範圍內。我預計這將保持在那裡，一些季度會更高，而其他季度總體會更低。希望這會有所幫助。

Yes. Now, that's very helpful. Thanks for the elaborate answers, Sumit.

是的。現在，這很有幫助。感謝您提供詳盡的答案，Sumit。

Our next question comes from the line of Lauren Schenk with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Lauren Schenk。

Understanding that a lot of the headwinds you're seeing are not specific to you as a sort of broader supply chain inflation, et cetera. I guess, but what gives you the confidence in the 5% to 10% margin long term? Is there any way to sort of help us think about incremental margin, the flow-through of the business ex some of what you believe are more transitory headwinds. I think any color around that would be really helpful.

了解您所看到的許多不利因素並非特定於您，而是一種更廣泛的供應鏈通脹等。我想，但從長遠來看，是什麼讓你對 5% 到 10% 的利潤率充滿信心？有什麼方法可以幫助我們考慮增量利潤，業務的流通，例如一些你認為更短暫的逆風。我認為周圍的任何顏色都會非常有幫助。

Sure. Schenk, this is Sumit. It could be a longer answer. So I'll try to piece it apart and frame it up in a couple of different portions. So if you recall, the components that make up the 5% to 10% EBITDA margin, the first one is scaling gross margin to between 25% and 28%. And as we reiterated in today's prepared remarks, we're confident in our ability to overcome these headwinds that we view as sort of not permanent. And the core strength in our business, the engagement, the loyalty and the future programs that we're launching, including the current ones that haven't yet scaled fully and have meaningful potential left in them to be able to scale us through the high end of the gross margin range.

當然。申克，這是蘇米特。這可能是一個更長的答案。所以我會試著把它拆開，分成幾個不同的部分。因此，如果您回想一下，構成 5% 到 10% EBITDA 利潤率的組成部分，第一個是將毛利率擴大到 25% 到 28% 之間。正如我們在今天準備好的講話中重申的那樣，我們有信心克服這些我們認為不是永久性的逆風。以及我們業務的核心優勢、參與度、忠誠度和我們正在推出的未來計劃，包括目前尚未完全擴展並具有有意義的潛力的項目毛利率區間結束。

And then the second component is SG&A. The third component is marketing. Marketing, let's take marketing first, and then I'll detail on the SG&A component. Marketing, as I've just alluded to, we're were between 6% and 7%, and we believe that these are the right levels to stay within, we'll see some leverage as our CRM and loyalty initiatives pick up in the future. But how much that leverage will be, we'll probably kind of reserve that for a call in the future.

然後第二個組成部分是 SG&A。第三個組成部分是營銷。營銷，讓我們先講營銷，然後我將詳細介紹 SG&A 組件。營銷，正如我剛剛提到的，我們在 6% 到 7% 之間，我們相信這些是保持在其中的正確水平，隨著我們的 CRM 和忠誠度計劃在未來。但是這種槓桿有多大，我們可能會保留它以備將來調用。

So now come to SG&A. Let me help you kind of understand how we look at this line item better, right? So in SG&A, there's 3 components of SG&A. First is the variable OpEx component that forms a large portion of SG&A, and it grows with top line. This is where we made approximately the $100 million investment in higher wages and benefits that we talked about in 2021. A large portion of that is likely permanent. When we normalize, however, for the wages, what you see underneath is the fulfillment center productivity and therefore, the base variable costs in 2021, indeed scaled by roughly 8% against a backdrop of wage inflation, which was 17% during the same time.

所以現在來到SG&A。讓我幫助您了解我們如何更好地看待這個訂單項，對吧？所以在 SG&A 中，SG&A 有 3 個組成部分。首先是構成 SG&A 很大一部分的可變 OpEx 組件，它隨著收入增長而增長。這就是我們在 2021 年談到的提高工資和福利方面進行了大約 1 億美元的投資。其中很大一部分可能是永久性的。然而，當我們將工資標準化時，您在下面看到的是履行中心的生產力，因此，在工資通脹為 17% 的背景下，2021 年的基本可變成本確實擴大了大約 8% .

And so fulfillment center automation and in-house productivity improvements by the FC operations teams and our support teams drove that leverage and we'll continue to do so going forward. The 3 automated fulfillment centers will contribute an incremental 40 to 60 basis points of leverage over the next 2 years. And we expect there to be further leverage beyond the 40 to 60 basis points as we increase our overall automated FC count and drive further productivity. That's kind of point number one.

因此，FC 運營團隊和我們的支持團隊的履行中心自動化和內部生產力提高推動了這種影響力，我們將繼續這樣做。這 3 個自動化履行中心將在未來 2 年內增加 40 至 60 個基點的槓桿作用。我們預計隨著我們增加整體自動化 FC 數量並進一步提高生產力，槓桿率將超過 40 到 60 個基點。這是第一點。

The subpoint under this OpEx component, variable OpEx is the current state of supply chain imbalance and disruption is impeding optimal operations flow in our FCs, and in 2022, this is trapping 20 to 30 basis points of leverage.

這個 OpEx 組件下的子點，可變 OpEx 是供應鏈不平衡的當前狀態，中斷正在阻礙我們 FC 的最佳運營流程，到 2022 年，這將導致 20 到 30 個基點的槓桿率。

The second component of SG&A beyond the variable OpEx is the fixed fulfillment expense to run the buildings. Here, capacity imbalances -- we're observing capacity imbalances that are caused by both inventory and labor that are causing lower fulfillment center utilization levels in the current moment. So we believe there's 30 to 50 basis points of leverage that is temporarily held back here, and we expect this to normalize over the next 12 to 18 month period.

除了可變運營支出之外，SG&A 的第二個組成部分是運營建築物的固定履行費用。在這裡，產能失衡——我們正在觀察由庫存和勞動力造成的產能失衡，這導致當前履行中心的利用率水平較低。因此，我們認為這裡有 30 到 50 個基點的槓桿暫時被抑制，我們預計這將在未來 12 到 18 個月內正常化。

And the third and final component is G&A, which is primarily comprised of investments in software, technology and in teams and capabilities that drive growth for us. Here, we're investing to fund the new initiatives that will be growth and profit accretive to us over time. As you've heard kind of on several -- you've heard several on the call today, ranging from supply chain to logistics to new launches in '22 and '23. Health care is our best example of this, which requires standup investment and is now a credible fast-growing margin accretive business for us.

第三個也是最後一個組成部分是 G&A，主要包括對軟件、技術以及推動我們增長的團隊和能力的投資。在這裡，我們正在投資為隨著時間的推移將為我們帶來增長和利潤增長的新舉措提供資金。正如您在幾次電話會議上聽到的那樣——您在今天的電話會議上聽到了幾次，從供應鏈到物流再到 22 年和 23 年的新發布。醫療保健是我們最好的例子，它需要獨立投資，現在對我們來說是一項可靠的快速增長的利潤增長業務。

Overall, this G&A bucket will begin to scale as we exit 2022. So hopefully, that provides you kind of perspective on SG&A. And hopefully, the impression and the message that I'm providing you is we're disciplined, we're thoughtful, we're focused, and we're determined to scale these P&L line items to get kind of within the range of 5% to 10% that we've promised or committed to.

總體而言，隨著我們退出 2022 年，這個 G&A 桶將開始擴大。希望這可以讓您對 SG&A 有所了解。希望我提供給您的印象和信息是我們紀律嚴明，我們深思熟慮，我們專注，並且我們決心將這些損益項目調整到 5 範圍內我們承諾或承諾的 % 到 10%。

Our next question comes from the line of Steve Forbes with Guggenheim Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自古根海姆證券公司的史蒂夫福布斯。

Matt Norton here on for Steve Forbes. I wanted to touch on the other sales because growth there continues to be strong, and we're seeing it grow as a percent of sales. I was hoping we can get an update on the line items in there.

馬特諾頓在這里為史蒂夫福布斯。我想談談其他銷售額，因為那裡的增長繼續強勁，我們看到它佔銷售額的百分比增長。我希望我們可以在那裡獲得有關訂單項的更新。

Private label, how it's trending? I don't think we've gotten an update on the penetration rate there and maybe what you've seen in terms of differences by cohort. And then within that, do you guys kind of view that as a potential lever that you could use to take share in an environment where consumers begin to show some price elasticity, maybe specifically within the hard goods category.

自有品牌，它的趨勢如何？我認為我們沒有得到關於滲透率的更新，也許你已經看到了按群組劃分的差異。然後在此範圍內，你們是否認為這是一個潛在的槓桿，你可以用來在消費者開始表現出一些價格彈性的環境中分享份額，尤其是在硬商品類別中。

And then if we can get any update on the pharmacy operations, maybe where sales have grown to and whether you're seeing any differences by cohort there, that would be useful.

然後，如果我們能獲得藥房運營的任何最新信息，也許銷售額增長到哪裡，以及你是否看到那裡的群組有任何差異，那將是有用的。

Matt, you'll have to repeat the second part of the question. On the first part, private label or private brands, just to recall and refresh, we believe is a strategic vertical. We want to get it to between 15% and 30% of our net sales. And we've been growing that at a premium to company category growth rate. Our penetration in hard goods has reached north of 20%, and consumables is in the low to mid-single digits right now. And we expect, by the way, hard goods to lead the way into the 15% to 30%, given that hard goods are more commoditized and customer loyalty is within context when you take a look at consumables brands.

馬特，你必須重複問題的第二部分。第一部分，自有品牌或自有品牌，只是為了回憶和刷新，我們認為是一個戰略垂直。我們希望它達到我們淨銷售額的 15% 到 30% 之間。我們一直在以高於公司類別增長率的速度增長。我們在硬商品中的滲透率已達到 20% 以上，而消耗品目前處於中低個位數。順便說一下，我們預計硬貨將引領 15% 到 30% 的市場，因為硬貨更加商品化，並且當您查看消耗品品牌時，客戶忠誠度在上下文中。

So overall, we're pleased with the progress. And in terms of your second part of the same question around capability to drive growth, we are essentially going to -- we are surgically experimenting within our private brands and the categories, right, where, as I mentioned, consumers have -- they look for value and they look for high-rated consumer products. And conversion is driven as a result of conversion opportunity and less kind of prebuild brand conversion per se or brand consideration per se. So that is an opportunity for us.

所以總的來說，我們對進展感到滿意。至於你關於推動增長的能力的同一問題的第二部分，我們基本上會 - 我們正在我們的自有品牌和類別中進行手術試驗，對，正如我提到的，消費者擁有的地方 - 他們看起來為了價值，他們尋找高評價的消費品。轉換是由轉換機會和較少種類的預製品牌轉換本身或品牌考慮本身所驅動的。所以這對我們來說是一個機會。

In terms of pharmacy, can you repeat the question? I didn't catch that fully.

在藥房方面，你能重複這個問題嗎？我沒有完全理解。

Similar question there. I think the last update we got was over $500 million in sales at the end of last year. Maybe how that's trending, if we can get an update there. And then if there's been any differences with adoption by cohort.

那裡有類似的問題。我認為我們得到的最後一次更新是去年年底的銷售額超過 5 億美元。如果我們可以在那裡獲得更新，也許這是趨勢。然後，如果隊列的採用有任何差異。

Sure. So we haven't refreshed that number. We will do so at some point in the future. But take cue from the fact that we shared the growth rate at 75% for Chewy-owned pharmacy and then the business has essentially tripled over the last 2 to 3 years. That should provide you a good kind of ballpark estimate of where the business is.

當然。所以我們沒有刷新這個數字。我們將在未來的某個時候這樣做。但是從我們分享 Chewy 擁有的藥房的增長率為 75% 的事實中得到啟示，然後該業務在過去 2 到 3 年中基本上增長了兩倍。這應該為您提供對業務所在位置的良好估計。

In terms of cohorts, we see strong participation continue from existing customers, and it remains a source of new customer acquisition for us. So we're pleased with it.

就群組而言，我們看到現有客戶繼續積極參與，這仍然是我們獲取新客戶的來源。所以我們對此很滿意。

I would now like to pass the conference back over to Sumit Singh for any closing remarks.

我現在想把會議轉回給 Sumit Singh 做任何閉幕詞。

Thanks, team. Appreciate you joining us. Have a great evening.

謝謝，團隊。感謝您加入我們。有一個美好的夜晚。

That concludes the Chewy Q4 Fiscal Year 2021 Earnings Call. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day. You may now disconnect your lines.

耐嚼的 2021 財年第四季度財報電話會議到此結束。我希望你們都喜歡你們剩下的一天。您現在可以斷開線路。