好市多 (COST) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Costco's Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

感謝您的支持，歡迎參加 Costco 2022 財年第四季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to hand the call over to CFO, Richard Galanti. Please go ahead.

我現在想將電話轉給首席財務官 Richard Galanti。請繼續。

Thank you, Latif, and good afternoon to everyone. I'll start by stating that these discussions will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and these statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results and/or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those outlined in today's call as well as other risks identified from time to time in the company's public statements and reports filed with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company does not undertake to update these statements except as required by law.

謝謝你，Latif，大家下午好。我將首先說明這些討論將包括 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述涉及可能導致實際事件、結果和/或業績與此類聲明所表明的那些。風險和不確定性包括但不限於今天電話會議中概述的風險以及公司向 SEC 提交的公開聲明和報告中不時確定的其他風險。前瞻性陳述僅在作出之日起生效，公司不承諾更新這些陳述，除非法律要求。

In today's press release, we reported operating results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, the 16 weeks ended this past August 28. The net income for the quarter was $1.868 billion or $4.20 per diluted share compared to $1.67 billion or $3.76 per diluted share a year ago. Last year's fourth quarter was negatively impacted by an asset write-off of $84 million pretax or $0.14 per diluted share. Net income for the fiscal year totaled $5.84 billion or $13.14 a share compared to $5.01 billion or $11.27 per diluted share in the prior fiscal year. Net sales for the fourth quarter increased 15.2% to $70.76 billion as compared to $61.44 billion reported last year in the fourth quarter.

在今天的新聞稿中，我們報告了 2022 財年第四季度的經營業績，即截至今年 8 月 28 日的 16 週。該季度的淨收入為 18.68 億美元或稀釋後每股收益 4.20 美元，而稀釋後每股收益為 16.7 億美元或每股稀釋後每股 3.76 美元一年前。去年第四季度受到稅前資產沖銷 8400 萬美元或稀釋後每股 0.14 美元的負面影響。本財年的淨收入總計 58.4 億美元或每股 13.14 美元，而上一財年為 50.1 億美元或每股攤薄收益 11.27 美元。與去年第四季度報告的 614.4 億美元相比，第四季度的淨銷售額增長 15.2% 至 707.6 億美元。

On a comparable sales basis from the fourth quarter, U.S. for the 16-week period on a reported basis had comp sales of 15.8%. When you exclude gas inflation and FX -- we'll won't be any FX, gas inflation, it'd be 9.6%; Canada, 13.4% reported, 13.7% ex gas and FX; Other International, 2.9% reported and 11.3% ex gas and FX. So all told, total company was reported as 13.7%, and excluding gas and FX, plus 10.4%. Separately, e-commerce, 7.1% reported and again, excluding FX, 8.4%.

在第四季度的可比銷售額基礎上，美國在報告的 16 週期間的綜合銷售額為 15.8%。當你排除 gas 通脹和 FX 時——我們不會是任何 FX，gas 通脹，它是 9.6%；加拿大，13.4% 報告，13.7% 不含天然氣和外匯；其他國際，2.9% 報告，11.3% 不含天然氣和外匯。總而言之，總公司報告為 13.7%，不包括天然氣和外匯，加上 10.4%。另外，電子商務為 7.1%，不包括外匯，為 8.4%。

In terms of the Q4 comp sales metrics, traffic or shopping frequency increased 7.2% worldwide and up 5.2% in the U.S. Our average transaction or ticket was up 6.0% worldwide and up 10.0% in the U.S. during the fourth quarter.

就第四季度的銷售指標而言，全球客流量或購物頻率增長了 7.2%，美國增長了 5.2%。第四季度，我們的全球平均交易或機票增長了 6.0%，美國增長了 10.0%。

Foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar negatively impacted sales by a little over 2%, and gasoline price inflation positively impacted sales by approximately 5.5%.

相對於美元的外幣對銷售額的負面影響略高於 2%，而汽油價格通脹對銷售額的正面影響約為 5.5%。

The best-performing core categories in the quarter were candy, frozen, kiosks, tire, lawn and garden, jewelry, toys, bakery and deli. In terms of ancillary businesses, the best performers were gas and food courts. And in other businesses, travel and business centers performed best relative to the prior fiscal fourth quarter results.

本季度表現最佳的核心類別是糖果、冷凍食品、售貨亭、輪胎、草坪和花園、珠寶、玩具、麵包店和熟食店。在輔助業務方面，表現最好的是燃氣和美食廣場。在其他業務中，旅遊和商務中心相對於上一財季第四季度業績表現最好。

Going down the income statement to membership fee income on a reported basis. Membership fee income came in at $1.327 billion or 1.88%. That was up $93 million or 7.5% on a reported basis, again, with weaker foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar. That number, excluding the impact of FX, would have been $29.8 million higher, and the 7.5% reported increase would have been a 10% increase.

在報告的基礎上將損益表下降到會員費收入。會員費收入為 13.27 億美元或 1.88%。在報告的基礎上，這再次增加了 9300 萬美元或 7.5%，原因是外幣相對於美元走弱。這個數字，不包括外彙的影響，將增加 2980 萬美元，而報告的 7.5% 的增長將是 10% 的增長。

In terms of renewal rates, we again hit all-time highs. At Q4 end, our U.S. and Canada renewal rate came in at 92.6%, which is 0.3 percentage point higher from 16 weeks earlier at Q3 end when we were at 92.3%. And our worldwide renewal rate came in at the end of the fiscal year at 90.4%, up 0.4 percentage point from Q3 end when it was 90.0%.

在續訂率方面，我們再次創下歷史新高。在第四季度末，我們的美國和加拿大續訂率為 92.6%，比 16 週前第三季度末的 92.3% 高出 0.3 個百分點。我們的全球續訂率在本財年末達到 90.4%，比第三季度末的 90.0% 上升 0.4 個百分點。

In terms of the number of member households and cardholders, at Q4 end, we ended the fourth quarter with 65.8 million paid household members and 118.9 million cardholders, both up 6.5% from a year earlier. And that 6.5% increase in number of members and cardholders is on about -- just under a 3% increase in the number of locations. During the year, we opened 23 locations on a base that began the year with 815 warehouses.

在成員家庭和持卡人數量方面，截至第四季度末，我們有 6580 萬付費家庭成員和 1.189 億持卡人，均比去年同期增長 6.5%。會員和持卡人數量增加了 6.5%，大約 - 地點數量增加了不到 3%。在這一年中，我們在一個擁有 815 個倉庫的基地上開設了 23 個地點。

At Q4 end, our paid executive memberships totaled 29.1 million, an increase of 1.2 million or 74,000 per week during the 16 weeks since third quarter end. Executive members now represent over 44% of our members and just under 72% of our worldwide sales.

在第四季度末，我們的付費高管會員總數為 2910 萬，自第三季度末以來的 16 週內每週增加 120 萬或 74,000。執行成員現在占我們會員的 44% 以上，占我們全球銷售額的近 72%。

In terms of membership fees and a possible increase, there are no specific plans regarding a fee increase at this time. We're pleased with our growth in both top line sales and membership households over the last several quarters and in member loyalty as reflected in increasing member renewal rates. We'll let you know when something is about to happen.

在會員費和可能的增加方面，目前沒有關於費用增加的具體計劃。我們對過去幾個季度的收入增長和會員家庭的增長以及會員續訂率的提高感到滿意。當事情即將發生時，我們會通知您。

Moving on to fourth quarter gross margins. For the quarter, gross margin on a reported basis came in at 10.18% compared -- down 74 basis points from last year's reported gross margin of 10.92%. Now the 74% -- the 74 basis point year-over-year reduction is on a reported basis. Excluding gas inflation, it was minus 22 basis points. And as we normally do, we actually jot down a few numbers, and then we'll elaborate a little bit more on margin. So the 2 columns would be reported year-over-year change, and the second one would be ex gas inflation, net year-over-year change.

繼續第四季度的毛利率。本季度，報告的毛利率為 10.18%，比去年報告的毛利率 10.92% 下降了 74 個基點。現在 74% - 同比減少 74 個基點是在報告的基礎上。不包括天然氣通脹，為負22個基點。正如我們通常所做的那樣，我們實際上記下了一些數字，然後我們將詳細說明邊距。因此，兩列將報告同比變化，第二列將報告天然氣通脹，淨同比變化。

So the core merchandise margin on a reported basis, minus 67 basis points year-over-year; ex gas inflation, minus 23 basis points. Ancillary and other businesses, the second line item, plus 20 and plus 34; our 2% reward, 0 and minus 5; LIFO, minus 27 and minus 28; and all told, total minus 74 reported, as I mentioned, and minus 22 on -- excluding gas inflation basis.

因此，報告基礎上的核心商品利潤率同比下降 67 個基點；不含天然氣通脹，負 23 個基點。輔助和其他業務，第二行，加20和加34；我們的 2% 獎勵，0 和負 5； LIFO，負 27 和負 28；總而言之，正如我所提到的，總共報告了負 74，並且在不包括天然氣通脹的基礎上報告了負 22。

Starting with the core. Core merchandise's contribution to gross margin was lower by 67 basis points year-over-year and by 23 ex gas inflation. The sales mix negatively impacted the core, primarily from the lower sales penetration of total core sales relative to our increasing and outsized gasoline sales.

從核心開始。核心商品對毛利率的貢獻同比下降 67 個基點和 23 個天然氣通脹率。銷售組合對核心產生了負面影響，主要是由於相對於我們不斷增加和超大的汽油銷售，核心銷售總額的銷售滲透率較低。

In terms of the core margin on their own sales, in Q4, our core and core margins were lower by 26 basis points. That's pretty much in line with each of the last 3 quarters when it ranged from minus 39 basis points year-over-year in Q3, minus 28 in Q2 and minus 18 in Q1 on a year-over-year basis. So again, for the quarter, it was minus 26 core-on-core.

在自身銷售的核心利潤率方面，第四季度，我們的核心和核心利潤率下降了 26 個基點。這與過去三個季度的每個季度幾乎一致，第三季度同比下降 39 個基點，第二季度下降 28 個基點，第一季度同比下降 18 個基點。同樣，在本季度，它是-26 core-on-core。

Ancillary and other businesses gross margin was higher by 20 basis points and higher by 34 basis points ex gas inflation in the quarter. Gas, of course, as well as business centers and travel were better year-over-year, offset somewhat by e-com, pharmacy, food court and optical, but overall, a positive year-over-year change.

輔助業務和其他業務的毛利率在本季度不計天然氣通脹因素後提高了 20 個基點和 34 個基點。當然，天然氣、商業中心和旅遊的表現同比有所好轉，在一定程度上被電子商務、藥房、美食廣場和眼鏡所抵消，但總體而言，同比發生了積極的變化。

Our 2% reward, as I mentioned, on an ex gas inflation basis was higher or down 5 -- lower or down 5 basis points, implying higher sales penetration coming from our executive members.

正如我所提到的，我們的 2% 獎勵在除天然氣通脹基礎上更高或下降 5 - 更低或下降 5 個基點，這意味著我們的執行成員的銷售滲透率更高。

In terms of LIFO. LIFO, as you know, with inflation has been increasing. It was 27 basis points, down year-over-year -- or higher year-over-year. The LIFO charge this year on an ex gas inflation basis, 28 basis points higher, and that represented $223 million charge in the quarter. Recall that our LIFO charges were relatively small in the first part of the year at $14 million; last quarter, in the third quarter, $130 million; and then as I mentioned here, $223 million for the quarter.

就後進先出而言。如您所知，後進先出法隨著通貨膨脹的增加而增加。同比下降 27 個基點，或同比上升。今年的 LIFO 費用以不含天然氣通脹為基礎，高出 28 個基點，這代表本季度的 2.23 億美元費用。回想一下，我們的 LIFO 費用在今年上半年相對較小，為 1400 萬美元；上一季度，第三季度，1.3億美元；然後正如我在這裡提到的，本季度為 2.23 億美元。

Moving to SG&A. We showed good results. Reported SG&A came in at 8.53% compared to last year's 9.22% or an improvement of 69 basis points. But again, ex gas inflation, the improvement was still good at 26 basis points lower year-over-year.

轉移到 SG&A。我們展示了很好的結果。與去年的 9.22% 或提高 69 個基點相比，報告的 SG&A 為 8.53%。但同樣，除天然氣通脹外，改善仍然很好，同比下降 26 個基點。

Again, charting down a few numbers here, charting down the numbers on a core operations basis, on a reported basis, that was plus 50 basis points or positive reduction of 50 improvement; ex gas inflation, plus 12 basis points; central, plus 2 and minus 3; stock compensation, plus 2 and plus 1; preopening expense, plus 1 and plus 2; other, plus 14 and plus 14. That gets you down to again on a reported basis, year-over-year SG&A was improved by 59 basis points; and ex gas inflation by 26 basis points.

再次，在這裡繪製幾個數字，在報告的基礎上根據核心業務繪製數字，即增加 50 個基點或正減少 50 個改進；除天然氣通脹外加 12 個基點；中央，加 2 和減 3；股票補償，加2和加1；開業前費用，加 1 和加 2；其他，加 14 和加 14。根據報告，這讓您再次下降，SG&A 同比提高了 59 個基點；和 ex gas 通脹 26 個基點。

In terms of the quarter year-over-year, the core operations was, again, better by 12, excluding the impact of gas inflation. Keep in mind, these results include the starting wage increases we instituted in October of 2021, so in the first quarter of this fiscal year, this past fiscal year as well as new wage and benefits increases implemented during the third quarter in March of this year as well as the impact of 8 weeks in this quarter as we increase the top-of-scale increase that went into effect July 4. So a few increases that we've done this year. And still, we feel pretty good SG&A improvement given our sales strength.

就季度同比而言，核心業務再次好轉 12，不包括天然氣通脹的影響。請記住，這些結果包括我們在 2021 年 10 月實施的起始工資增長，因此在本財年第一季度、上一財年以及今年 3 月第三季度實施的新工資和福利增長以及本季度 8 週的影響，因為我們增加了從 7 月 4 日開始生效的最大增幅。所以我們今年做了一些增加。儘管如此，鑑於我們的銷售實力，我們覺得 SG&A 的改進相當不錯。

Central was lower by 2 basis points and higher by 3 ex gas inflation. Nothing big to talk about there. Again, stock compensation I mentioned. Preopening, I've just -- we've noted that since we now include preopening on the income statement as part of SG&A instead of a separate line item. And other, again, the 14 basis points, recall that, that included that last year's write-off in the quarter totaling $84 million. All told, reported operating income in the fourth quarter increased 10%, coming in at $2.497 billion. A little of that benefit was that asset write-off last year.

Central 下跌 2 個基點，因 3 ex gas 通脹而上漲。沒什麼大不了的。再次，我提到的股票補償。開業前，我剛剛 - 我們已經註意到，因為我們現在將損益表中的開業前作為 SG&A 的一部分，而不是單獨的行項目。回想一下，還有其他 14 個基點，其中包括去年在本季度的總計 8400 萬美元的註銷。總而言之，第四季度報告的營業收入增長了 10%，達到 24.97 億美元。其中一點好處是去年的資產註銷。

Below the operating income line, interest expense was $48 million this year versus $52 million last year, relatively similar. Interest income and other for the quarter was lower by $1 million year-over-year, coming in at $67 million this year versus $68 million last year. Interest income was actually higher, but that was offset by unfavorable FX impact, which pretty much offset each other to be roughly flat year-over-year.

在營業收入線以下，今年的利息支出為 4800 萬美元，而去年為 5200 萬美元，相對相似。本季度的利息收入和其他收入同比減少 100 萬美元，今年為 6700 萬美元，而去年為 6800 萬美元。利息收入實際上更高，但這被不利的外匯影響所抵消，這幾乎相互抵消，與去年同期基本持平。

Overall, reported pretax income was up 10%, coming in at $2.516 billion this year, up from $2.291 billion a year earlier. In terms of income taxes, our tax rate for the fourth quarter was 25.4% compared to 26.1% in Q4 last year. The fiscal '23 effective tax rate, we estimate, is currently projected to be approximately 26%.

總體而言，報告的稅前收入增長了 10%，今年為 25.16 億美元，高於去年同期的 22.91 億美元。在所得稅方面，我們第四季度的稅率為 25.4%，而去年第四季度為 26.1%。我們估計，23 財年的有效稅率目前預計約為 26%。

Net -- one thing I mentioned why we haven't mentioned in the past, net income attributable to Costco, that line item was up 12%. Recall that on June 30 this past year, we acquired the 45% minority interest from our JV partner in Taiwan. So we now own all of Costco Taiwan. As a result, net income attributable to noncontrolling interest was better by $14 million in the quarter. The noncontrolling interest line will become 0 going forward, essentially, a small amount, but pretty much 0.

淨——我提到了為什麼我們過去沒有提到的一件事，即歸屬於 Costco 的淨收入，該項目增長了 12%。回想一下，去年 6 月 30 日，我們從台灣的合資夥伴那裡收購了 45% 的少數股權。所以我們現在擁有台灣所有的 Costco。因此，本季度歸屬於非控股權益的淨收入增加了 1400 萬美元。非控股權益線將在未來變為 0，本質上是少量，但幾乎是 0。

A few other items of note in terms of warehouse expansion. In the fourth quarter, we opened 9 net new warehouses. So for the full year, we opened 26 warehouses, but that included 3 relocations, so a net increase during the year of 23 locations. In the fourth quarter -- of the 9 we opened, 5 were in the U.S., 2 were in Canada and 1 each in Korea and Japan. In fiscal '23, we expect to open 29 new warehouses, including 4 relos, so for a net of 25 new warehouses. These 25 planned net new openings are made up of 15 in the U.S. and 10 in Other International, including our first locations in each of New Zealand and Sweden, and our third and fourth locations in China.

倉庫擴張方面的其他一些注意事項。第四季度，我們開設了9個淨新倉庫。因此，全年，我們開設了 26 個倉庫，但其中包括 3 個搬遷，因此全年淨增加 23 個倉庫。在第四季度——我們開設的 9 家中，5 家在美國，2 家在加拿大，韓國和日本各 1 家。在 23 財年，我們預計將開設 29 個新倉庫，包括 4 個 relos，因此淨增 25 個新倉庫。這 25 家計劃中的淨新開業由 15 家在美國和 10 家在其他國際地區組成，包括我們在新西蘭和瑞典的第一家分店，以及我們在中國的第三和第四家分店。

Regarding capital expenditures, our fourth quarter Q4 spending CapEx was approximately $1.26 billion. And for the full year, CapEx expenditures was $3.9 billion. Our estimate for the coming year fiscal '23 CapEx to be approximately the same, in the $3.8 billion to $4 billion range.

關於資本支出，我們第四季度第四季度的資本支出約為 12.6 億美元。全年的資本支出為 39 億美元。我們對來年 23 財年資本支出的估計大致相同，在 38 億美元至 40 億美元之間。

In terms of e-commerce business, e-com sales in the fourth quarter, ex FX, increased 8.4%. Stronger departments in terms of year-over-year percentage increases were tires, lawn, patio and garden, prescription pharmacy and health and beauty aids. The largest e-com merchandise department in dollars, what we call majors, which includes everything from computers to appliances to TVs to audio, et cetera, was up in the high single digits. And CostcoGrocery, including our third-party delivery, 2-Day, dry, fresh and frozen, continue to grow. They were up 20% in the quarter.

電子商務業務方面，第四季度電子商務銷售額（不含外匯）增長 8.4%。輪胎、草坪、庭院和花園、處方藥房以及健康和美容輔助設備的同比增幅較大的部門。以美元計最大的電子商務商品部門，我們稱之為專業，包括從電腦到電器、電視到音頻等的所有產品，以高個位數增長。 CostcoGrocery，包括我們的第三方送貨，2 天，乾貨，新鮮和冷凍，繼續增長。他們在本季度上漲了 20%。

An update on Costco Logistics. With Costco Logistics, we continue to transition from vendor drop ship to direct ship from our own inventory, particularly in big and bulky items. Overall, this lowers the cost of the merchandise and improve delivery times on service levels to our members, and I'll share with you some statistics to that in a minute.

Costco 物流的最新消息。通過 Costco Logistics，我們繼續從供應商直接發貨過渡到從我們自己的庫存直接發貨，特別是在大件和大件物品中。總體而言，這降低了商品的成本並提高了對我們會員的服務水平的交貨時間，我將在一分鐘內與您分享一些統計數據。

Prior to this acquisition, in the U.S., we were completing a few years ago about 2 million big and bulky deliveries and installations per year. In fiscal '22, we completed 4.3 million big and bulky deliveries and installation. Previously, all of those 2 million deliveries and installations were made by third parties. In fiscal '22, about 70% or a little over 3 million of the 4.3 million were done by us. In the fourth quarter, in fact, that percentage of deliveries and installations done by -- performed by us was 81%.

在此次收購之前，在美國，我們幾年前每年完成大約 200 萬次大型和笨重的交付和安裝。在 22 財年，我們完成了 430 萬件大件和大件的交付和安裝。此前，所有這 200 萬次交付和安裝都是由第三方完成的。在 22 財年，大約 70% 或略高於 300 萬的 430 萬件是由我們完成的。事實上，在第四季度，由我們完成的交付和安裝百分比為 81%。

Pre-acquisition, the estimated average days to deliver was above 15 days, and we were working with over 100 delivery partners. Today, our average delivery time for big and bulky is just under 5 days, and we're continuing to work to improve that. And we were down to 8 delivery -- primary delivery partners.

收購前，預計平均交付天數超過 15 天，我們與 100 多個交付合作夥伴合作。今天，我們大件和大件的平均交貨時間不到 5 天，我們正在繼續努力改善這一點。我們減少到 8 個交付——主要交付合作夥伴。

A few comments regarding inflation. We've seen minor improvement in a few areas. But all in, pressures from higher commodity prices, higher wages and higher transportation costs and supply chain disruptions. They're still present, but we are seeing just a little light at the end of the tunnel. And if you recall in the third quarter, we indicated that price inflation overall was about 7% plus for us. For the fourth quarter and talking with our merchants, the estimated price inflation overall was about 8%, a little higher on the food and sundries side, a little lower on fresh foods, and both higher and lower on the nonfood side.

關於通貨膨脹的一些評論。我們在一些領域看到了細微的改進。但總而言之，來自商品價格上漲、工資上漲和運輸成本上漲以及供應鏈中斷的壓力。它們仍然存在，但我們在隧道盡頭看到的只是一點光。如果你記得在第三季度，我們表示總體價格通脹對我們來說約為 7% 以上。在與我們的商家交談時，第四季度的總體價格通脹估計約為 8%，食品和雜貨方面略高，生鮮食品略低，非食品方面又高又低。

We're seeing commodities -- some commodities prices coming down, such as gas, steel, beef, relative to a year ago, even some small cost changes in plastics. We're seeing some relief on container pricing. Wages are still the higher thing when we talk to our suppliers. And as we all know, wages still seem to be the one thing that's still relatively higher. But overall, some beginnings of some light at the end of that tunnel. And of course, that could change each week.

我們看到大宗商品——一些大宗商品的價格下降，例如天然氣、鋼鐵、牛肉，相對於一年前，甚至塑料的一些小成本變化。我們看到集裝箱定價有所緩解。當我們與供應商交談時，工資仍然更高。眾所周知，工資似乎仍然是相對較高的一件事。但總的來說，這條隧道盡頭的一些光明的開始。當然，這可能每週都會改變。

In all, despite current inflation levels, we believe we continue to remain competitive versus others and able to raise prices as cost increases. Hopefully, of course, a little less than others with who we compete.

總之，儘管目前的通貨膨脹水平，我們相信我們將繼續保持與其他人相比的競爭力，並能夠隨著成本的增加而提高價格。當然，希望比我們競爭的其他人少一點。

Many of you have asked about private label with the recent inflationary environment and what's happening, are people trading down. And of course, our first response, of course, is they're not trading down. They're trading up or certainly trading the same.

你們中的許多人在最近的通貨膨脹環境中詢問了自有品牌以及正在發生的事情，人們是否在交易。當然，我們的第一反應當然是他們沒有降價。他們正在交易或肯定交易相同。

In terms of Kirkland Signature merchandise penetration, and excluding gas and other businesses that carry the Kirkland name. Kirkland Signature merchandise is up just under 1% in terms of penetration compared to a year ago. Our KS merchandise penetration is about 28% for the year. This is similar to historical trends where it's increasing slowly and steadily over time. So no big dramatic change from the past there.

就 Kirkland Signature 商品滲透率而言，不包括帶有 Kirkland 名稱的天然氣和其他業務。與一年前相比，Kirkland Signature 商品的滲透率上升了不到 1%。我們今年的 KS 商品滲透率約為 28%。這類似於隨著時間的推移緩慢而穩定地增長的歷史趨勢。所以與過去相比沒有太大的戲劇性變化。

In terms of supply chain. Generally, supply chain has improved a little, including on-time deliveries. We started seeing container prices coming down. The first place you see it, of course, is in the spot market. And then you'll start to see it hopefully in some other contracts as they continue. No longer any big capacity issues or container shortages. Domestically, port delays have improved. And while the rail strike that was in the news a few weeks ago was thankfully averted, in anticipation of strike, there were some rail ramp closures and delays in restarting that. But the view from our buyers is that this should be eliminated for the most part towards the end of this week.

在供應鏈方面。總體而言，供應鏈有所改善，包括準時交貨。我們開始看到集裝箱價格下降。您首先看到它的地方當然是現貨市場。然後你會開始有希望地在其他一些合同中看到它，因為它們仍在繼續。不再有任何大容量問題或容器短缺。在國內，港口延誤有所改善。謝天謝地，雖然幾週前新聞中的鐵路罷工被避免了，但在預期罷工的情況下，有一些鐵路坡道關閉和重新啟動的延誤。但我們的買家的觀點是，這應該在本週末的大部分時間被淘汰。

Switching over to inventory levels. Our total inventory at Q4 end was up year-over-year, just -- was up just under 26% year-over-year. At the end of the third quarter, it was up just over 26%. Of the 26% increase, an estimated 10 to 11 percentage points of it is inflation. That's that 8% number. And new warehouse growth, that's that 3% number in terms of unit growth over the last year, but still up year-over-year.

切換到庫存水平。我們在第四季度末的總庫存同比增長，僅 - 同比增長略低於 26%。在第三季度末，它上漲了超過 26%。在 26% 的增長中，估計有 10 到 11 個百分點是通貨膨脹。那是8%的數字。新倉庫的增長，即去年單位增長的 3%，但仍同比增長。

Additionally, we're lapping some low stocks in certain departments as a result of last year's high demand, specifically in nonfood areas where last year, we were about 90% of our target at inventory levels. Food and sundries and fresh are in good shape, we feel. Our weak supply is comparable year-over-year.

此外，由於去年的高需求，我們正在處理某些部門的一些低庫存，特別是在非食品領域，去年我們的庫存水平達到了我們目標的 90% 左右。我們覺得食物、雜貨和新鮮的狀況都很好。我們疲軟的供應與去年同期相當。

In terms of nonfood inventories. It's up in certain categories. Again, this is in part a result of being light in certain departments last year, as mentioned earlier. The good news so far, initial seasonal sales seem to be going well, as evidenced in our monthly sales reports. And all told, we would expect the 26% year-over-year increase to start to head down as it has in just the past few weeks a little bit.

在非食品庫存方面。它在某些類別中上升。同樣，如前所述，這部分是由於去年某些部門的輕率。到目前為止，好消息是，最初的季節性銷售似乎進展順利，正如我們的月度銷售報告所證明的那樣。總而言之，我們預計 26% 的同比增長將開始下降，就像過去幾週一樣。

Lastly, as a reminder, in terms of upcoming releases, we will announce our September sales results for the 5 weeks ending Sunday, October 2, this next week on Wednesday -- in 2 weeks, on Wednesday, October 5, after the market close -- closes.

最後，提醒一下，就即將發布的版本而言，我們將在下周星期三公佈截至 10 月 2 日星期日結束的 5 週的 9 月銷售結果——2 週後，在市場收盤後的 10 月 5 日星期三——關閉。

With that, I will open it up to questions and answers with Latif. Thanks.

有了這個，我將向 Latif 提出問題和答案。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Simeon Gutman。

Richard, I want to ask a couple of questions about membership fees. So first of all, you said you were comfortable with sales. So I'm questioning if your tentative -- you're worried about the sales rate if you raise it. And then is it fair if you don't raise it, it means you're also comfortable with the rate of EBIT growth in the business? Because that's been a tool for the business over time, and I know you don't guide, but I'm obviously trying to get you to answer that.

理查德，我想問幾個關於會員費的問題。所以首先，你說你對銷售感到滿意。所以我質疑你的想法——如果你提高它，你是否擔心銷售率。如果你不提高它是否公平，這意味著你也對業務的 EBIT 增長率感到滿意？因為隨著時間的推移，這一直是業務的工具，我知道你不會指導，但我顯然想讓你回答這個問題。

Sure. Well, nice try. No, look, at the end of the day, we've always been told and I've told you guys that we're a top line company. We're looking to always drive sales. Certainly, as we've increased members' fees historically about every 5, 5.5 years, we've turned around and used it to drive more value. And whenever we do it, we'll do that.

當然。嗯，不錯的嘗試。不，看，歸根結底，我們總是被告知，我已經告訴你們，我們是一家頂級公司。我們希望始終推動銷售。當然，由於我們歷史上大約每 5 年、5.5 年增加一次會員費，我們已經扭轉局面並利用它來推動更多價值。每當我們這樣做時，我們都會這樣做。

I think at the end of the day, it's -- and I also want to point out, of course, if you look at the last 3 increases, on average, they were 5 years and 7 months apart. If you look at June of '17, plus 5 years and 7 months, you're talking roughly January '23. Now I'm not suggesting it's January '23. I'm just saying it's not there yet anyway. And our view is, is we are confident in our ability to do so. And at some point, we will. But it's a question of when, not if.

我認為歸根結底，我還想指出，當然，如果您查看最近的 3 次增長，平均而言，它們相隔 5 年零 7 個月。如果您查看 17 年 6 月，再加上 5 年零 7 個月，那麼您所說的大致是 23 年 1 月。現在我不是建議它是 23 年 1 月。我只是說它還沒有。我們的觀點是，我們是否有信心這樣做。在某個時候，我們會的。但這是一個何時，而不是是否的問題。

And given the headline of inflation and concerns about recession, we feel quite comfortable driving sales and earnings the way we are right now. And we still have that arrow in our quiver as we go forward.

考慮到通脹的頭條新聞和對經濟衰退的擔憂，我們對以現在的方式推動銷售和收益感到非常自在。當我們前進時，我們的箭筒中仍然有那支箭。

And then maybe the follow-up, same topic, still. The way -- your new fiscal year, you've obviously planned the year. Do you cut back or you curtail spending or investments in any way that runs through the P&L if you're not planning to do it or if you are planning to do it?

然後也許是後續的，同樣的話題，仍然。方式 - 您的新財政年度，您顯然已經計劃了這一年。如果您不打算這樣做或打算這樣做，您是否會以任何貫穿損益表的方式削減或削減支出或投資？

Not at all. I mean as steady as she goes in terms of CapEx and what we want to do and what we want to do with pricing, competitive pricing. And we're not the only company out there, but as we've seen some slight declines in reported gross margin not only this quarter, but in the last several quarters, part of that was just the upside improvement in margin during the first year of COVID. But we are not -- as you know, we're not shy about doing what we have to do to drive the top line, and we'll continue to do that.

一點也不。我的意思是她在資本支出和我們想要做的事情以及我們想要做的定價、有競爭力的定價方面一樣穩定。而且我們不是唯一的公司，但由於我們看到報告的毛利率不僅在本季度而且在過去幾個季度都有輕微下降，其中一部分只是第一年利潤率的上行改善新冠病毒。但我們不是——如你所知，我們並不羞於做我們必須做的事情來推動收入增長，我們將繼續這樣做。

Our next question comes from the line of Rupesh Parikh of Oppenheimer.

我們的下一個問題來自奧本海默的 Rupesh Parikh。

So Richard, I guess just going back to your expense commentary. There was a sequential pickup in your expense growth versus Q3. Besides the wage increases, was there anything else that was unique to the quarter that you'd call out?

所以理查德，我想回到你的費用評論。與第三季度相比，您的費用增長連續回升。除了工資增長之外，您還提到了本季度獨有的其他事情嗎？

Well, then it was 16 weeks versus 12 weeks, but are you talking about on a year-over-year basis?

好吧，那是 16 周而不是 12 週，但是您是在談論同比增長嗎？

Yes. Year-over-year. Yes. I think it's...

是的。一年又一年。是的。我想這是...

I think the outsized thing is just that. I mean are utilities costs up? Sure. But the outsized thing would be the wage increases. But I'm sure IT is up -- IT is always up a little more as everybody is doing more technology-wise.

我認為超大的事情就是這樣。我的意思是水電費上漲了嗎？當然。但最重要的是工資上漲。但我確信 IT 正在上升——IT 總是上升一點，因為每個人都在做更多的技術方面的事情。

Okay. Great. And then just on the health of the consumer, just given many concerns out there, anything to know -- like any change in consumer behavior or even in your majors category? Are you guys seeing any changes versus maybe your expectations there?

好的。偉大的。然後只是關於消費者的健康，只是考慮了許多問題，有什麼要知道的——比如消費者行為的任何變化，甚至你的專業類別？你們是否看到任何變化而不是您的期望？

Well, I think I mentioned -- or we've mentioned when we talked to some of you over the various months was there -- when beef prices skyrocketed -- now they're coming down versus a year ago, but when they skyrocket, you see a change. And irrespective of the state of the economy, you see some changes from beef to poultry and those examples. Somebody made -- the buyers had made a comment a few months ago that they saw some increased penetration of canned chicken and tuna for that reason. But at the end of the day, we haven't seen any big changes in that. Part of it is hard to see because we -- during these 2 years of COVID, we enjoyed such strength in big-ticket items.

嗯，我想我提到過 - 或者我們在與你們中的一些人交談時提到過的幾個月 - 當牛肉價格飆升時 - 現在它們與一年前相比正在下降，但是當它們飆升時，你看到了變化。無論經濟狀況如何，您都會看到從牛肉到家禽的一些變化以及這些例子。有人提出——買家幾個月前發表評論說，由於這個原因，他們看到罐裝雞肉和金槍魚的滲透率有所增加。但歸根結底，我們還沒有看到任何大的變化。部分原因是很難看到，因為我們在 COVID 的這 2 年中，我們在大件商品方面享有如此強大的實力。

And if -- like consumer electronics, if it's up a little versus up a lot the last 2 years, incrementally, we know in each of those cases, our numbers relative to industries comparisons are still -- we're still beating the rest of the industry in terms of sales growth.

如果 - 就像消費電子產品一樣，如果它在過去 2 年中小幅上漲而不是大幅上漲，我們知道在每一種情況下，我們相對於行業比較的數字仍然是 - 我們仍然在擊敗其他公司行業在銷售增長方面。

Is the sales growth slower than it was last year? Yes. It still has a positive plus in front of it, and it's still better than the industry as a whole.

銷售增長是否比去年慢？是的。它仍然有一個積極的優勢，它仍然優於整個行業。

Our next question comes from Chuck Grom of Gordon Haskett.

我們的下一個問題來自 Gordon Haskett 的 Chuck Grom。

Richard, on core 3-year -- on a 3-year basis, looks like you guys showed a nice improvement from the last quarter. Can you unpack that for us a little bit across the 4 major categories?

理查德，以 3 年為核心——以 3 年為基礎，看起來你們比上一季度有了很大的進步。您能否為我們解開 4 個主要類別的內容？

Well, I don't have all that detail in front of me. But generally speaking, the thing that was outsized in the biggest way in the first year or so of COVID was fresh. As you recall, with fresh, you had virtually no spoilage, and you had much higher labor productivity. So you had huge -- you had 3-digit improvements in margins there. So that's the comparison. And we've talked about that in the last several quarters on a year-over-year basis compared to those 2 years, it's come down as a percent, still up from where it was pre-COVID.

好吧，我沒有擺在我面前的所有細節。但總的來說，在 COVID 的第一年左右最大的事情是新鮮的。正如你所記得的，新鮮食品幾乎沒有變質，而且勞動生產率要高得多。所以你有巨大的 - 你在那裡的利潤率提高了 3 位數。所以這就是比較。我們在過去幾個季度中談到了這一點，與這兩年相比，它以百分比的形式下降，但仍高於 COVID 之前的水平。

Other than that, there's all kinds of things that impact other departments. At the extreme, you have a small business, but in terms of our income statement, travel. Travel is almost a brokerage business where it's all margin, a lot of it is margin. And that went way down, and now it's improving from where -- gone way down. So that helps you a little bit. But there's a lot of moving parts to that.

除此之外，還有各種影響其他部門的事情。在極端情況下，你有一家小企業，但就我們的損益表而言，旅行。旅遊幾乎是一種經紀業務，其中全部是保證金，其中很大一部分是保證金。這一路走低，現在它正在從哪裡改善——一路走低。所以這對你有一點幫助。但是有很多活動的部分。

I think fresh was the biggest outlier. During supply chain, things and everything else, there were impacts in certain departments or allocations, things like that. There was less -- I'm just shooting from the hip here. There was less promotional activity in consumer electronics because of shortages of chips or electronics. And so there's a lot of puts and takes. But overall, I would say fresh was the one that was most meaningful in that regard.

我認為新鮮是最大的異常值。在供應鏈、事物和其他一切過程中，某些部門或分配受到影響，諸如此類。少了——我只是在這裡從臀部射擊。由於芯片或電子產品短缺，消費電子產品的促銷活動較少。所以有很多投入和投入。但總的來說，我會說新鮮是在這方面最有意義的一個。

Okay. Great. And then on the LIFO charge, 28 basis points, I think you said. Last quarter, it was 25. I guess I was surprised that it wasn't higher given how much prices have moved up over the past 3 to 4 months. Can you just maybe just give us a refresh on the accounting for that? And what happens in the coming quarters as we start to lap the big charges from this year?

好的。偉大的。然後是 LIFO 收費，28 個基點，我想你說過。上個季度是 25 歲。鑑於過去 3 到 4 個月價格上漲了多少，我想我很驚訝它沒有更高。你能不能只是給我們一個關於會計的更新？隨著我們從今年開始收取巨額費用，未來幾個季度會發生什麼？

Sure. Well, 2 things. Again, if you look sequentially in Q1, it was sub-$20 million. In Q2, it's sub-$40 million.

當然。嗯，有兩件事。同樣，如果您按順序查看第一季度，則低於 2000 萬美元。在第二季度，它低於 4000 萬美元。

$30 million.

3000萬美元。

$30 million something, then $100 million something, then $200 million something. Part of that is, is the way we account for it is, at the end of the Q1, when we saw what the trend was, you then estimate what you believe it's going to be for the year, and pro rate 1/4 of that or 12 weeks of that to that quarter. And that as it continues to increase, you adjust it on a year-to-date basis. So that skews that a little bit. That's the way we've done it historically in prior inflationary times.

3000 萬美元，然後是 1 億美元，然後是 2 億美元。部分原因是，我們計算它的方式是，在第一季度末，當我們看到趨勢是什麼時，你然後估計你認為今年的情況，並按比例計算 1/4那個或那個季度的 12 週。而且隨著它的持續增長，您會在年初至今對其進行調整。所以這有點歪曲。這就是我們在以前的通貨膨脹時期歷史上所做的方式。

The other comment you asked about is it seemed like it'd be even higher in Q4. The fact is, is we, too, thought halfway through the quarter, it would be higher than this. Part of that was if I bifurcated Q4 into the first 8 weeks and the second 8 weeks, the first 8 weeks showed a level of increase that would have required a larger LIFO charge. It seemed to, in some cases, flatten out a little bit during the last several weeks of the quarter, which meant that it came down from what our expectation was.

您詢問的另一條評論是，它似乎在第四季度會更高。事實是，我們是否也認為在本季度中途，它會比這更高。部分原因是，如果我將第四季度分為前 8 周和後 8 週，前 8 周顯示的增長水平需要更大的 LIFO 費用。在某些情況下，在本季度的最後幾週，它似乎有點平緩，這意味著它低於我們的預期。

So again, I think that is consistent with what I mentioned about we're seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not just -- and there's little [comment] with some of the buyers about a couple of items going down in price. And you can rest assured that our partners are calling the suppliers. As you said, the price went up because of steel prices. Well, steel prices are down. What gives? And so we'll continue to do that. But it's a slow road. And -- but we are, again, seeing a little bit of improvement at least in the second half of the fourth quarter. And we'll see where it goes from here.

再說一次，我認為這與我提到的關於我們在隧道盡頭看到一點曙光的說法是一致的。我不只是 - 一些買家幾乎沒有 [評論] 關於幾件商品價格下降的問題。您可以放心，我們的合作夥伴正在致電供應商。正如你所說，價格上漲是因為鋼材價格上漲。那麼，鋼材價格下跌。是什麼賦予了？所以我們將繼續這樣做。但這是一條緩慢的道路。而且 - 但我們再次看到至少在第四季度後半段有所改善。我們將看到它從這裡走向何方。

Our next question comes from Paul Lejuez of Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗的 Paul Lejuez。

(inaudible) on for Paul. I want to dig in on the inventory piece a little bit, up about 26%. How much of that is you categorize as general merch? You had some pretty big competitors that have been trying to clear some of their general merch, as I'm sure everyone knows. So as you kind of reach holiday, can you give us a sense of where you are for general merch inventory? Any plans to kind of further discount there to try and get leaner?

（聽不清）為保羅。我想稍微挖掘一下庫存，上漲約 26%。您將其中多少歸類為一般商品？你有一些相當大的競爭對手一直在試圖清除他們的一些普通商品，我相信每個人都知道。因此，當您快到假期時，您能否告訴我們您在一般商品庫存方面的位置？有沒有計劃進一步打折以嘗試變得更瘦？

Sure. Well, first of all, without being too specific, there's a decent chunk in there that I would call deep freeze from last year. My example I've used when talking to people is the Christmas trees that retail for $150 to $400. And they came in after Christmas or essentially after Christmas. And the good news is, is that they don't really change in style. And they're now -- and if you go to Costco, you're going to see it on the floor. And the -- if you add in the cost of holding them and a little cost of interest, I think they're still a little cheaper than the ones we added to the inventory this year.

當然。嗯，首先，不用太具體，其中有相當大的一部分，我稱之為去年的深度凍結。我在與人交談時使用的示例是零售價為 150 至 400 美元的聖誕樹。他們是在聖誕節之後或基本上是在聖誕節之後進來的。好消息是，它們的風格並沒有真正改變。他們現在 - 如果你去 Costco，你會在地板上看到它。而且 - 如果你加上持有它們的成本和一點利息成本，我認為它們仍然比我們今年添加到庫存中的那些便宜一些。

So in a perverse way, that one didn't hurt us that example other than we don't like to have extra inventory. And so there are some seasonal things that came in late. Probably a bigger piece of the delta is us building up inventory, particularly on big and bulky and fulfillment, both e-com fulfillment and big and bulky.

所以以一種不正當的方式，除了我們不喜歡有額外的庫存之外，那個例子並沒有傷害到我們。所以有些季節性的事情來晚了。可能較大的增量部分是我們建立庫存，特別是在大而笨重和履行方面，包括電子商務履行和大而笨重。

The last part is early holiday. We did consciously bring in some stuff. Part of it was not knowing what was happening with supply chain and how many weeks of delay at each item was. We bought stuff in consciously a little early. And then as I mentioned, supply chain has improved a little. That's helped you. So again, there's things that have helped it and heard it -- increased it or reduced it.

最後一部分是提前放假。我們確實有意識地引入了一些東西。部分原因是不知道供應鏈發生了什麼以及每個項目延遲了多少週。我們有意識地早一點買了東西。然後正如我提到的，供應鏈有所改善。這對你有幫助。再說一次，有些事情幫助了它並聽到了它-增加或減少了它。

The other thing that's increased a little bit, even some things like seasonal things like air conditioning and fans, which was -- we had a very strong season, but there were some delays in getting that stuff in. That will be a small impact from a seasonal standpoint going forward. But net-net, I think that while the 26% number was relatively same at year-over-year Q3 end -- Q3 year-over-year and at Q4 end, again, in talking with Ron and Claudine and the merchants and, again, seeing what we've seen just in the last 2 or 3 weeks, it's going in the right direction. And nobody likes -- I think that one other difference is that -- compared to some of the other bigger retailers, our inventory is more specific.

另一件增加了一點的事情，甚至像空調和風扇這樣的季節性事情，這是 - 我們有一個非常強勁的賽季，但在獲得這些東西方面有一些延遲。這將是一個很小的影響未來的季節性觀點。但是淨淨值，我認為雖然 26% 的數字在第三季度末同比相對相同——第三季度同比和第四季度末，再次與羅恩和克勞丁以及商家交談時，再次，看看我們在過去 2 或 3 週看到的情況，它正朝著正確的方向發展。沒有人喜歡 - 我認為另一個區別是 - 與其他一些較大的零售商相比，我們的庫存更具體。

Like if we get a lot of -- if we have a bunch of air conditioners or a bunch of furniture, we may have to hold on to it, but it's not a whole variety of different things. And so we -- while we have had some additional markdowns, nothing huge, no big outsized numbers relative to what we would normally expect. So a little bit increase, but nothing material.

就像我們得到很多——如果我們有一堆空調或一堆家具，我們可能不得不堅持下去，但這並不是各種各樣不同的東西。所以我們 - 雖然我們有一些額外的降價，但沒有什麼大的，沒有比我們通常預期的大得多的數字。所以一點點增加，但沒什麼實質性的。

Got you. And so you're bringing holiday up a little earlier than you otherwise would. And some of that more seasonal air conditioners and fans you mentioned, you might hold those over to spring time? Is that right?

得到你。因此，您比其他方式提早了一點假期。還有一些你提到的季節性空調和風扇，你可能會把它們留到春天嗎？那正確嗎？

We will. Yes. That's easy. And the good news, again, call it, lucky, 2.5 years ago when we acquired Innovel, which is we call Costco Logistics, we added 10 -- or 20 million square feet between the MDOs and the DCs. But added 10 million of big space, the 1 million square foot space, to the roughly 10 million or 12 million of depot space we have. So we were -- that was fortuitous in that regard.

我們將。是的。這很容易。好消息是，幸運的是，2.5 年前，當我們收購 Innovel（我們稱之為 Costco 物流）時，我們在 MDO 和 DC 之間增加了 10 或 2000 萬平方英尺。但是在我們擁有的大約 1000 萬或 1200 萬的倉庫空間中增加了 1000 萬的大空間，即 100 萬平方英尺的空間。所以我們 - 在這方面是偶然的。

Our next question comes from Kelly Bania of BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Kelly Bania。

Kelly Bania from BMO. Richard, just wanted to touch on executive penetration. That line item continues to impress. I think it's the biggest quarterly jump in the model that I can see. But I guess my question is as you look at that kind of cohort of gold star customers today, is there anything different about that customer profile, demographics or otherwise that makes you can't -- makes you think you can't have the same success in converting those customers up to executive over time?

來自 BMO 的 Kelly Bania。理查德，只是想談談行政滲透。該訂單項繼續給人留下深刻印象。我認為這是我能看到的模型中最大的季度跳躍。但我想我的問題是，當你看到今天的那種金星客戶群時，客戶檔案、人口統計或其他方面有什麼不同讓你不能——讓你認為你不能擁有相同的隨著時間的推移，成功地將這些客戶轉變為高管？

Well, I think -- we think we will. I mean what used to be asked -- the question that used to be asked about millennials or Gen X and then millennials and the Gen Z, we tend to see the same type of trends that are age and, arguably, income-dependent.

好吧，我認為 - 我們認為我們會的。我的意思是過去常常被問到的問題——曾經被問到關於千禧一代或 X 一代，然後是千禧一代和 Z 世代的問題，我們傾向於看到與年齡和收入相關的相同類型的趨勢。

Also, during these last several years, we've continued to get better at talking you into signing up, selling you on the value of that executive member upfront. So we've seen increased penetration there, too.

此外，在過去的幾年中，我們在說服您註冊方面繼續做得更好，提前向您推銷該執行成員的價值。所以我們也看到那裡的滲透率增加了。

The other thing, of course, that helps is when we add it to a new country. I think in the past 2 years, we added it to Japan and Korea. And so we have it, of course, in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and the U.K. And so we've already gotten the big countries, if you will, in terms of number of locations. And I'm sure there'll be another country, too, we added to over time as those countries grow. So no, I think we've done a better job of doing it, starting with -- years ago, you came in and we asked you what you wanted. And if you said gold star, that's what you got. Now we actually try to share with you what's the value of it, and we've done a better job with that.

當然，另一件有幫助的事情是當我們將它添加到一個新國家時。我認為在過去的兩年中，我們將其添加到了日本和韓國。當然，我們在美國、墨西哥、加拿大和英國都有它。因此，如果你願意的話，我們已經在地點數量方面獲得了大國。我相信還會有另一個國家，隨著這些國家的發展，我們會隨著時間的推移而增加。所以不，我認為我們在這方面做得更好，從 - 幾年前開始，你進來了，我們問你想要什麼。如果你說金星，那就是你得到的。現在我們實際上試圖與您分享它的價值，我們在這方面做得更好。

Okay. And just to maybe follow up on the container pricing. I think you mentioned maybe some relief starting there. I guess the question is just, have you learned anything about your business over the past few years, really kind of focusing on discretionary imports and the strategy, the charter ships that you might keep longer term? Or do you expect to kind of go back to kind of everything you were doing pre-pandemic from that perspective?

好的。只是為了跟進容器定價。我想你提到了從那裡開始可能會有所緩解。我想問題是，在過去的幾年裡，你有沒有了解你的業務，真的有點專注於可自由支配的進口和戰略，你可能會長期保留的租船？或者您是否希望從這個角度回到大流行前所做的一切？

I think the biggest thing we've learned is that, really, from the source of origin of these items. If you go back to even when tariffs were placed in, whatever, '16 or '17 or whenever that was on China, and there were certain items that were moved from manufacturers in China, those same manufacturers who may have had facilities in other neighboring countries, where we could and where they could, that was moved to get around some of those tariffs. And so you learn through that process.

我認為我們學到的最重要的事情是，真的，從這些物品的來源。如果你回到即使在 16 年或 17 年或任何時候對中國征收關稅的時候，並且有某些物品是從中國的製造商那裡運來的，那些可能在其他鄰國有設施的製造商在我們可以和他們可以的地方，這些國家被轉移到繞過其中一些關稅。所以你通過這個過程學習。

We certainly learned through the last couple of years the challenges with containers, not to say that we can change some of it. But I think we try to -- to the extent you can, you try to spread it out a little more. You try to not depend on one port. And certainly, we've learned all those things. And we learned that we can continue to make mistakes along the way, too.

在過去的幾年裡，我們確實了解到容器帶來的挑戰，並不是說我們可以改變其中的一些。但我認為我們會嘗試 - 在您可以的範圍內，您嘗試將其傳播得更多。你盡量不依賴一個端口。當然，我們已經學到了所有這些東西。我們了解到，我們也可以在此過程中繼續犯錯誤。

Our next question comes from Oliver Chen of Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 Oliver Chen。

The industry is seeing so much inventory and the wrong kind of inventory. What are your thoughts on the promotions that you're seeing, and how you're thinking about pricing? And any thoughts on the nature of your portfolio? You always offer such sharp prices. On inflation at the end of the tunnel, second, Richard, maybe you could elaborate on that. That sounds very nice. And lastly, on that...

該行業正在看到如此多的庫存和錯誤的庫存。您對所看到的促銷活動有何看法，以及您是如何考慮定價的？對你的投資組合的性質有什麼想法嗎？你總是提供如此高的價格。關於隧道盡頭的通貨膨脹，第二，理查德，也許你可以詳細說明一下。聽起來很不錯。最後，關於...

Let's do one question at a time, so I don't forget. Yes. Yes. supply becomes more plentiful. There's more promotions. I remember last year or the last couple of years, again, given shortages in electronics, we saw -- we and the industry saw a lot less promotional activity being afforded retailers from the manufacturers on TVs. There was no need to do that. And we're starting to see some of those promotional activities come back. Other than that, also, one of the things that we like is our multi-vendor mailer, both the existing one as well as other promotional things, we do like that online and direct. And those had to be changed in some ways because of shortages or allocations of inventory.

讓我們一次做一個問題，這樣我就不會忘記。是的。是的。供應變得更加充足。還有更多的促銷活動。我記得去年或過去幾年，再次，鑑於電子產品短缺，我們看到 - 我們和整個行業看到製造商在電視上向零售商提供的促銷活動要少得多。沒有必要這樣做。我們開始看到其中一些促銷活動回來了。除此之外，我們喜歡的一件事是我們的多供應商郵件，無論是現有的還是其他促銷的東西，我們都喜歡在線和直接。由於庫存短缺或分配，這些必須以某種方式進行更改。

A lot of times in those types of MVMs, you've got a lot of high items like promotional things like TVs as well as huge high sales volume items like paper goods and things like that. And you're looking at the paper goods as well. There were shortage of those along the way. So we've learned how to change those and maximize them in the way -- in the best ways we can and figure out how to use those monies -- work with the vendors as well, the suppliers to figure out how to use that money in the best way. And we -- that's again an iterative evolving process. Second question?

很多時候，在這些類型的 MVM 中，您有很多高價商品，例如電視之類的促銷品，以及紙製品之類的大量高銷量商品。你也在看紙製品。一路上都缺人。所以我們已經學會瞭如何改變這些並最大限度地利用它們——以我們能做到的最好的方式並弄清楚如何使用這些錢——也與供應商合作，讓供應商弄清楚如何使用這些錢以最好的方式。而我們——這又是一個迭代演進的過程。第二個問題？

Yes. On inflation, just light at the end of the tunnel and some green shoots there that you're seeing.

是的。關於通貨膨脹，只是隧道盡頭的光和你看到的一些綠芽。

Yes. Well, again, anecdotally, when we talked to the buyers, they're starting to see a few examples, whether it's something like outdoor patio furniture or barbecue grill where steel prices are coming down, and we're reminded by Craig and Ron, the buyers reminded at the budget meeting when prices were going up, make sure you understand why they're going up. Is it -- what piece of it is raw material costs? What piece of it is freight costs? And when these things come down, you better be on the phone with them calling them saying, when are we going to get a reduction?

是的。好吧，再一次，有趣的是，當我們與買家交談時，他們開始看到一些例子，無論是戶外庭院家具還是鋼鐵價格下降的燒烤架，克雷格和羅恩提醒我們，買家在預算會議上提醒價格上漲時，請確保您了解價格上漲的原因。是——原材料成本的哪一部分？哪一塊是運費？當這些事情發生時，你最好和他們通電話，告訴他們，我們什麼時候才能減少？

And so I think in part because of our limited selection -- our limited number of SKUs and a huge volume, I think our buyers know pretty darn well a lot of the cost components of these things. And that, I think, bodes well for us. But again, at the end of the day, we are seeing -- I think it is a little light at the end of the tunnel. Certainly, container rates have come down. Container shortages have improved. The port delays have improved, all that things go into it. And as raw material prices come down -- and FX generally helps you and hurt you.

所以我認為部分是因為我們有限的選擇——我們有限的 SKU 數量和巨大的數量，我認為我們的買家非常了解這些東西的很多成本組成部分。我認為，這對我們來說是個好兆頭。但是，在一天結束的時候，我們再次看到——我認為這是隧道盡頭的一點曙光。當然，集裝箱運費已經下降。集裝箱短缺情況有所改善。港口延誤有所改善，所有這些都在其中。隨著原材料價格的下降——外匯通常會幫助你並傷害你。

When we report a foreign company's earnings in U.S. dollars, and the currency has gone down 10%, it's 10% less earnings that we report. But at the same token, since we're using U.S. dollars in a lot of things, not just in the U.S. to buy different supplies and raw materials from other places, that helps you a little bit.

當我們以美元報告一家外國公司的收益時，如果該貨幣貶值 10%，我們報告的收益就會減少 10%。但同時，由於我們在很多事情上都使用美元，而不僅僅是在美國從其他地方購買不同的物資和原材料，這對您有一點幫助。

And again, I think it's -- could something happen tomorrow to change this? Sure. But at least we're seeing the things going -- starting to go in the right direction. Hopefully, that bodes better for not just us, but everyone.

再說一次，我認為它 - 明天會發生什麼事情來改變這種情況嗎？當然。但至少我們看到了事情的發展——開始朝著正確的方向發展。希望這不僅對我們，對每個人都是好兆頭。

Okay. And lastly, now it's time to talk about Generation A, analysts. What about the data science team, Richard? I know you hired that team. And what kind of progress or things we should look for there as well as any highlights you want to give us for your digital strategies on the horizon?

好的。最後，現在是談論 A 一代的時候了，分析師們。數據科學團隊呢，理查德？我知道你僱用了那個團隊。我們應該在那裡尋找什麼樣的進展或事情，以及您想為我們即將推出的數字戰略提供的任何亮點？

You know what, in my old age, I forgot to get any detail on that, but I'll do that on the next quarter. But generally speaking, it's been a couple of years since we brought in a VP of Data Analytics, and he has built a sizable team. And a lot of things they're working on is to have better visibility. As simple as we are, we still need visibility into things that we have done historically, just not on the sales side, but on the operating our business side, greatly reducing -- the intent is to greatly reduce the buyer's time and doing their own spreadsheets, if you will. I'm simplifying that. And so we're doing a lot of activities like that.

你知道嗎，在我年老的時候，我忘記了有關這方面的任何細節，但我會在下個季度這樣做。但總的來說，自從我們引入數據分析副總裁以來已經有幾年了，他已經建立了一個相當大的團隊。他們正在做的很多事情是為了提高知名度。儘管我們很簡單，但我們仍然需要了解我們過去做過的事情，不僅僅是在銷售方面，而是在運營我們的業務方面，大大減少 - 目的是大大減少買家的時間並自己做電子表格，如果你願意的話。我正在簡化這一點。所以我們正在做很多這樣的活動。

And in terms of the data analytics to drive more business, that's still to come. We think we're doing okay right now with -- but the first effort of this area is on improving the data that -- both our data, our operators, our buyers, our traffic people get.

在推動更多業務的數據分析方面，這仍然是未來。我們認為我們現在做得很好 - 但該領域的首要工作是改善數據 - 我們的數據，我們的運營商，我們的買家，我們的交通人員獲得的數據。

Our next question comes from Greg Melich of Evercore ISI.

我們的下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Greg Melich。

Two questions. First on gas and then the credit card. On the gas, I guess I'm curious, it looked like it's -- well, we know it's a negative mix shift, really helped ancillary. That was the one thing where gas profit or penny profit was up. Can you just remind us of that dynamic that as gasoline prices fall, how high penny profit can go during that period? And also remind us the traffic-driving relationship to gasoline.

兩個問題。先用油，再用信用卡。在油門上，我想我很好奇，它看起來像 - 好吧，我們知道這是一個負面的混合轉變，真的有助於輔助。這是汽油利潤或便士利潤上升的一件事。您能否提醒我們，隨著汽油價格下跌，在此期間一分錢的利潤可以達到多高？也提醒我們交通駕駛與汽油的關係。

Well, the old story was is when prices -- given that we turn our inventory about every day on average and the average in the U.S. gas stations is like every 8 or 9 days, so on average, we're buying -- the other guys buying it 4 days earlier.

好吧，老故事是價格——考慮到我們平均每天都在轉存庫存，而美國加油站的平均水平是每 8 或 9 天一次，所以平均而言，我們正在購買——另一個4天前買的人。

So when prices are going up each day, when spot prices are going up each day, it's costing us a little more because we bought it today at the highest price versus 4 days ago. I'm being very simple here. And when it's going down, just the other -- happens that we make more money when it goes down.

因此，當價格每天都在上漲時，當現貨價格每天都在上漲時，我們會花更多的錢，因為我們今天以最高價格購買了它，而不是 4 天前。我在這裡很簡單。而當它下跌時，只是另一個 - 碰巧當它下跌時我們賺更多的錢。

I think part of that story has been thrown away because it seems that not only us, but the supermarket retailers and other discount retailers that operate large numbers of gas stations, they've been able to use it to -- as prices went up or went -- even went down a little bit, they didn't go down as fast as perhaps they could have been, which gives us, in our view, an ability to make a little more and still be the most competitive, in fact, in our view, gotten a little wider.

我認為這個故事的一部分已經被拋棄了，因為似乎不僅我們，而且經營大量加油站的超市零售商和其他折扣零售商，他們已經能夠利用它來——隨著價格上漲或去了 - 即使下降了一點，他們也沒有像他們本來可以的那樣快速下降，在我們看來，這使我們有能力賺更多的錢，實際上仍然是最具競爭力的，在我們看來，變得更寬了一些。

So I think overall gasoline as a retail business has gotten more profitable in the last couple 3 years. And it's -- that profitability has been even exacerbated a little bit by what's going on with inflation and the headline news that prices are skyrocketing. And even when you see gas -- while the gas prices have come down at the pump, it seemed like that lagged -- crude oil coming down, why aren't is it coming down faster? And so we still are very much, in our view, the most competitive out there. And arguably, we've been able to use that to be -- continue to be more competitive elsewhere as well.

因此，我認為在過去 3 年中，作為零售業務的整體汽油變得更加有利可圖。而且，由於通貨膨脹和價格飛漲的頭條新聞，盈利能力甚至有所加劇。甚至當你看到天然氣——雖然天然氣價格已經下降，但似乎滯後了——原油下降，為什麼不下降得更快呢？因此，在我們看來，我們仍然是最具競爭力的。可以說，我們已經能夠利用它來——在其他地方也繼續更具競爭力。

And is it still 50% roughly that you think go to the club when they get gas?

你認為當他們得到汽油時去俱樂部仍然是大約 50% 嗎？

Well, historically, a little over 50 of every 100 people that filled up with gas came in to shop. That, actually, right when gas peaked right after the Ukraine-Russia thing. For a couple of weeks there, it went down to like 20%, 25% because people are topping off their tanks for fear that there was going to be a gasoline shortage. If you're as old as me, you'll remember the mid-70s. But member utilization also went up.

嗯，從歷史上看，每 100 人中，有超過 50 人加滿油後會來購物。實際上，就在烏克蘭-俄羅斯事件之後天然氣達到頂峰的時候。在那裡的幾個星期裡，它下降到 20%、25% 左右，因為人們擔心會出現汽油短缺，所以他們正在加滿油箱。如果你和我一樣老，你會記得 70 年代中期。但會員利用率也上升了。

What we're seeing now is that a little slightly over 50 or slightly under 50.

我們現在看到的是略高於 50 或略低於 50。

Got it. So that's a normal...

知道了。所以這是正常的...

But more members are using it. Yes.

但是更多的成員正在使用它。是的。

Got it. And then my last is on the credit card. Just update us on anything you can on the credit card penetration, the behaving of the portfolio, the sort of lift percentage of tender on the card, sort of the lift you get outside of the club with it. Just given it seems to be a key part of the renewal rate, I would imagine, continuing to enhance itself.

知道了。然後我的最後一個是信用卡。只需向我們提供有關信用卡滲透率、投資組合行為、卡上投標的提升百分比以及您在俱樂部之外獲得的提升的任何信息即可。考慮到它似乎是續訂率的關鍵部分，我想，它會繼續自我提升。

Sure. Auto renewal, it's not just on the Citi Visa co-brand card, it's on any Visa card here and on a Mastercard that we worked out a deal with a bank and Mastercard in Canada. So on co-brand, not only the fact that we do it exclusive, which, arguably, gives us purchasing power to lower the merchant fee and to drive the reward to the member. There's typically co-brand cards, there's revenue share. So every time that card is used outside, we share in that revenue. While we pay for some of the rewards, that's more than offset -- that's offset by the revenue sharing.

當然。自動續訂，不僅是花旗 Visa 聯名卡，它還適用於這裡的任何 Visa 卡以及我們與加拿大的銀行和萬事達卡達成交易的萬事達卡。因此，在聯合品牌方面，不僅是我們獨家經營這一事實，而且可以說，這賦予了我們降低商家費用並將獎勵推給會員的購買力。通常有聯名卡，有收入分成。因此，每次在外面使用該卡時，我們都會分享該收入。雖然我們支付了一些獎勵，但這不僅僅是抵消 - 這被收入分成所抵消。

So it continues to be -- fiscal '22 is a great year for the card in terms of increasing penetration and increasing rewards to our members and very -- in our view, a very favorable effective merchant fee to us, which we don't disclose.

因此，就提高滲透率和增加對會員的獎勵而言，22 財年仍然是該卡的豐收年，而且在我們看來，這對我們來說是非常有利的有效商家費用，但我們沒有透露。

And the auto renewal is up to what percentage?

自動續訂達到多少百分比？

Auto renewal, I don't...

自動更新，我不...

Mid to high 50s in the U.S.

美國 50 多歲中高

In the U.S. number, mid to high 50s that have signed up for auto renewal.

在美國，已經註冊自動續訂的中高 50 人。

Our next question comes from Peter Benedict of Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Peter Benedict。

You kind of ended your prepared remarks, you said kind of seasonal going well. Maybe you can elaborate on that. Are you talking about fall seasonally, you're talking Halloween? Just what were you trying to express with that?

你結束了你準備好的評論，你說季節性進展順利。也許你可以詳細說明一下。你說的是季節性的秋天，你說的是萬聖節嗎？你到底想表達什麼？

Well, part of what I'm trying to express is, is that while inventories were up 26% year-over-year, we're starting to feel good that they're going in the right direction with the efforts that we put forth. And part of the strength is, once we also indicated -- I mentioned in the call or somebody did that seasonal -- we brought in, in some cases, seasonal early just because to make sure of the delivery date, so we want to make sure we add it in.

好吧，我想表達的部分內容是，雖然庫存同比增長 26%，但我們開始感覺良好，因為我們付出的努力正朝著正確的方向前進.部分優勢在於，一旦我們也表示——我在電話中提到或有人做了那個季節性的——我們在某些情況下提前引入了季節性，只是為了確保交貨日期，所以我們想要確保我們添加它。

What we've seen so far is, is Halloween is doing well, and Christmas is doing well. And so we're encouraged by what we've seen in the last few weeks.

到目前為止，我們看到的是，萬聖節做得很好，聖誕節做得很好。因此，我們對過去幾週所看到的情況感到鼓舞。

Okay. Perfect. And then just kind of maybe a bigger picture, maybe historical question. Just talk to us about how your business has kind of performed in past recessions. And maybe what do you see from your members as you think back? What are the early indications when we're going into a tougher environment? Is it the business member that starts to slow? Is it traffic? Is it certain categories? I don't know. Just curious kind of your perspective as we're in this unique time in the economy.

好的。完美的。然後可能是一個更大的圖景，也許是歷史問題。只需與我們談談您的業務在過去的經濟衰退中的表現如何。當你回想起來時，也許你從你的成員那裡看到了什麼？當我們進入更艱難的環境時，有哪些早期跡象？是業務成員開始放慢速度嗎？是交通嗎？是某些類別嗎？我不知道。只是好奇你的觀點，因為我們正處於這個獨特的經濟時期。

Look, I don't remember all of them, but I remember the '08, '09 one was that at the end of that year, which went from a recession to the Great Recession. It lasted for 4 or 5 years. And that -- as we entered it -- and it was pretty quick when it happened, we saw some, like, a slowdown in seasonal things, which were, like, barbecue grills and patio furniture and things like that. Big ticket -- those kind of big-ticket items slowed.

聽著，我不記得所有這些，但我記得 08 和 09 年是那年年底，從衰退到大衰退。它持續了四五年。而且 - 當我們進入它時 - 當它發生時非常快，我們看到了一些季節性事物的放緩，例如燒烤架和庭院家具之類的東西。大件物品——那些大件物品放慢了速度。

And if I go back to my notes, I'm sure we've talked about we had an extra x million dollars of markdowns just to get through that stuff so we didn't have it lingering after the first of the calendar year.

如果我回到我的筆記，我敢肯定我們已經談到我們有額外的 x 百萬美元的降價只是為了通過這些東西，所以我們沒有在日曆年的第一年之後揮之不去。

Other than that, generally speaking, one of the nice things about our model is, is we've done well in good times and bad times. And in good times, of course, people have money to spend. And in bad times, people want to save. And in a perverse way, while none of us ever wish COVID on anybody, from a bottom line standpoint, while it impacted some businesses negatively, it's impacted many more of our businesses positively. And we seem to keep some of that market share. Restaurants are reopening. People -- is what I read that people are still eating more at home than they did pre-COVID. And -- but even within that, we felt that we built some additional market share during that.

除此之外，一般來說，我們模型的優點之一是，我們在順境和逆境中都做得很好。當然，在好的時候，人們有錢可以花。在經濟不景氣的時候，人們想存錢。以一種不正當的方式，雖然我們都不希望任何人感染新冠病毒，但從底線的角度來看，雖然它對一些企業產生了負面影響，但它對我們更多的企業產生了積極影響。我們似乎保留了部分市場份額。餐館正在重新營業。人們——據我所知，人們在家吃的東西仍然比 COVID 之前的多。而且 - 但即使在其中，我們覺得我們在此期間建立了一些額外的市場份額。

So I think overall, we did find -- and I think the good news is, even in bad times, we don't view ourselves as having to be as conservative as perhaps others might be. We don't take big reductions in buying -- and open to buys or anything in that regard.

所以我認為總的來說，我們確實發現了——而且我認為好消息是，即使在糟糕的時期，我們也不認為自己必須像其他人那樣保守。我們不會大幅減少購買 - 並且願意購買或這方面的任何事情。

In fact, I remember back in '09, '10 or early '09 with the barbecue grills and patio furniture, midway through the new year, and it was clear it was going to continue to be a recession, whether it was Craig or Jim, prior to Craig or both, the reminder to the buyers was don't bring down price points. We've driven value at greater value and greater price points. If we want to be a little conservative, fine, but don't think it's not going to do -- go forward based on the assumption that we're providing the best value out there.

事實上，我記得在 09 年、10 年或 09 年初的時候，燒烤架和露台家具在新的一年中途，很明顯，無論是克雷格還是吉姆，經濟衰退都將繼續下去，在克雷格或兩者兼而有之之前，對買家的提醒是不要降低價格點。我們以更高的價值和更高的價格推動價值。如果我們想保守一點，很好，但不要認為它不會做 - 基於我們提供最佳價值的假設繼續前進。

Right. No, no. That's helpful. I think as I recall, maybe your renewal rates actually went up during that Great Recession as well. So definitely resilient.

正確的。不，不。這很有幫助。我想我記得，也許你的續訂率在大蕭條期間實際上也上升了。所以絕對有彈性。

Yes, they certainly have now, although auto renewal is certainly a piece of that.

是的，他們現在肯定有，儘管自動更新肯定是其中的一部分。

Yes, exactly. Last question just on traffic, Richard. I think 5% or so on the quarter. I think August maybe was maybe a shade below 3% in the U.S. Just how do you guys think about that? I mean is there a traffic level that you guys don't like to see it go below, obviously, more traffic better than less. But just kind of curious how you think about that.

對，就是這樣。最後一個關於交通的問題，理查德。我認為本季度約為 5%。我認為 8 月在美國可能低於 3%。你們怎麼看？我的意思是有一個你們不喜歡看到它低於的流量水平，顯然，更多的流量總比更少的好。但只是有點好奇你是怎麼想的。

Yes. Part of the challenge of -- in the last couple of years is every time something happens, some of it hits the fan. And it was like the Omicron surge or the Delta surge, and you'll see things change dramatically in a short period of time.

是的。在過去的幾年中，挑戰的一部分是每次發生某些事情時，其中一些都會影響到粉絲。就像 Omicron 激增或 Delta 激增，你會看到事情在短時間內發生巨大變化。

Look, at the end of the day, whenever we see any possibility of something weak, we figure out how to drive sales. And you usually drive sales by greater values, hot items. And that goes back to the comment I made earlier about the multi-vendor mailers. That's the one thing I think we're good at, is figuring out how to drive people into the door with hot items. And that's helped us as well.

看，歸根結底，每當我們看到任何弱點的可能性時，我們都會弄清楚如何推動銷售。而且您通常會通過更高的價值和熱門商品來推動銷售。這可以追溯到我之前對多供應商郵件程序所做的評論。這是我認為我們擅長的一件事，就是想辦法用熱賣的東西把人們趕進門。這也幫助了我們。

David here just shared with me. One of the other interesting things, we see more Monday through Thursday shopping than on the weekends and vice versa. We see less Monday through Thursday and more on the weekends because people are going back to work. But -- so during the week, we go, what's going on, and then by the end of the week, we go phew.

大衛在這裡剛剛與我分享。另一件有趣的事情是，週一到週四的購物比周末多，反之亦然。週一到週四我們看到的更少，週末更多，因為人們要重返工作崗位。但是 - 所以在一周內，我們去，發生了什麼事，然後到週末，我們去唷。

Our next question comes from John Heinbockel of Guggenheim Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自 Guggenheim Partners 的 John Heinbockel。

You guys have any sense of demographics by gold star versus executive? And the thought being, when you think about the structure going forward, could you leave gold star where it is, take executive up and maybe at an executive plus, right, that either has more than 2% or some other features, right? So you're catering to people through the income spectrum.

你們對金星與高管的人口統計有任何了解嗎？並且想法是，當您考慮未來的結構時，您是否可以將金星留在原處，擔任執行職務，並且可能擔任執行職務，對，或者俱有超過 2% 或其他一些功能，對嗎？因此，您正在通過收入範圍來滿足人們的需求。

Yes. I think we try to -- as you know, John, I think we try to keep things simple. We talk about all kinds of things, but we always come back home and say, let's do this and keep it simple. One of the issue -- one of the other issues about doing a higher level of membership than executive is the sales taxability in some states that is currently nonsales taxable, but at a certain level, states say it's sales taxable, not just the increment, but the whole membership fee. So that's something we take into account also. At this juncture, I think we still went towards simple.

是的。我認為我們會嘗試——如你所知，John，我認為我們會努力讓事情變得簡單。我們談論各種各樣的事情，但我們總是回到家說，讓我們這樣做並保持簡單。問題之一 - 關於會員級別高於行政人員的其他問題之一是某些州的銷售稅，目前是非銷售稅，但在一定程度上，各州說它是銷售稅，而不僅僅是增量，但全員會費。所以我們也考慮到這一點。在這個節骨眼上，我想我們還是走向了簡單。

Okay. And then secondly, when you think about -- I think somebody asked right about inflation going forward. A lot of what we hear is that it'll be sticky, right? Higher for longer. As it comes down, what -- how do you think vendors are likely to respond? We're not going to see list price decreases, right? We're probably going to see more trade money step up. So when you think about your participation in that and your ability to take advantage of that, how do you guys think about that?

好的。其次，當你想到——我認為有人問對未來通脹的問題。我們聽到的很多信息是它會很粘，對吧？越高越久。當它下降時，你認為供應商可能會如何回應？我們不會看到標價下降，對吧？我們可能會看到更多的貿易資金增加。因此，當您考慮參與其中以及利用它的能力時，你們是怎麼想的？

Well, again, I think, again, in terms of the stickiness, wages are still the culprit. I think again, we're in as good a position, if not better, than anybody, given that our buying power per item is off-the-charts high compared to anybody else and our buyers' focus on the detailed components of it. So there will be stickiness. You read articles every day or on television or in the periodicals, the journal about some CBG companies that just raised their prices, and they're sticky. Well, we'll try to unstick them, but I'm sure some of it will stick and some of them won't.

好吧，我再次認為，就粘性而言，工資仍然是罪魁禍首。我再次認為，鑑於我們每件商品的購買力與其他任何人相比都高得離譜，而且我們的買家專注於它的詳細組成部分，因此我們的地位甚至比任何人都好。所以會有粘性。您每天或在電視上或期刊上閱讀文章，這些文章是關於一些剛剛提高價格的 CBG 公司的，它們很粘人。好吧，我們會嘗試解開它們，但我相信有些會粘住，有些不會。

But I think, again, we're in the best position when you think about we've got lots of $50 million and $100 million and $200 million and even higher items and even a handful of billion-dollar SKUs. So we think we are pretty good at figuring that out with our suppliers, not only just to say, hey, the price went down on this commodity or this supply cost component, but also on figuring out how to make things more efficient.

但我再次認為，當你想到我們有很多 5000 萬美元、1 億美元和 2 億美元甚至更高的項目，甚至是幾十億美元的 SKU 時，我們處於最佳位置。因此，我們認為我們非常擅長與供應商一起解決這個問題，不僅是說，嘿，這種商品或供應成本部分的價格下降了，而且還解決瞭如何讓事情變得更有效率的問題。

I think we all -- one of the things somebody asked earlier about what have we learned on the freight and trade, container side, port side, I think we've learned through manufacturing as good as we think we are. There are things that I hear at the budget meetings all the time about how on $100 million, $200 million, $500 million SKUs, how they're taking costs. So which right now meant that the price increase was lower than it would have been. But now they took cost out by changing the production line or eliminating some of the inside packaging. And that's part of ESG as well as figuring out how to lower the cost.

我想我們所有人——之前有人問過我們在貨運和貿易、集裝箱方面、港口方面學到了什麼，我認為我們通過製造業學到的東西和我們認為的一樣好。我一直在預算會議上聽到一些關於 1 億美元、2 億美元、5 億美元的 SKU 是如何計算成本的。所以現在這意味著價格上漲低於本來的水平。但現在他們通過改變生產線或取消一些內部包裝來降低成本。這是 ESG 的一部分，也是研究如何降低成本的一部分。

And again, I don't know if anybody does it as well as we do, given that we're focused on such bigger volumes of an item.

再說一次，我不知道是否有人做得和我們一樣好，因為我們專注於如此大量的物品。

Our next question comes from Robby Ohmes of Bank of America Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行證券的 Robby Ohmes。

Maybe a follow-up on John's question. So the kind of signs of relief in inflation you're seeing, can you give example as in the kind of food and sundry side of the business? Are you seeing some relief on the food inflation side?

也許是對約翰問題的跟進。那麼，您所看到的通脹緩解跡象，您能舉出食品和雜貨行業的例子嗎？您是否看到食品通脹方面有所緩解？

Yes. I'm getting some help here. Certain commodities like corn are coming down. I mentioned the -- resin is coming down a little bit. So all these things are impacting a little bit. But in some cases, the supplier are committed at the higher priced -- we work with our suppliers. And the more transparent they are with us, which we feel they are very transparent, we work together on that.

是的。我在這裡得到一些幫助。玉米等某些商品正在下跌。我提到了——樹脂正在下降一點。所以所有這些事情都有一點影響。但在某些情況下，供應商會承諾更高的價格——我們與供應商合作。他們對我們越透明，我們覺得他們非常透明，我們一起努力。

In some cases, even when commodity price has gone down fast, if they committed to the next 3 months at a higher price because they -- we all were fearful it was going even higher, we work with them on that. So I think, again, it's, at this juncture, anecdotal. And I can't give you any specific examples.

在某些情況下，即使商品價格快速下跌，如果他們承諾在接下來的 3 個月以更高的價格，因為他們——我們都擔心價格會走得更高，我們會與他們合作。所以我認為，在這個時刻，這又是軼事。我不能給你任何具體的例子。

Got you. And then just a quick follow-up. I think you mentioned optical was down. I apologize. Has optical been weaker for a while? Or what -- or did something change there?

得到你。然後只是快速跟進。我想你提到光學下降了。我道歉。光學變弱了一段時間嗎？或者是什麼——或者那裡發生了什麼變化？

I think the big thing there was a promotion we did a year ago in the quarter. Okay. So we did a big promotion a year ago. And this year, we did -- we do a big promotion on lots of things all the time. But we did a big promotion this year on -- at a slightly later date. And so we're now seeing it. Yes. So it's more timing than anything on that example.

我認為我們一年前在本季度進行了一次促銷活動。好的。所以一年前我們做了一次大促銷。今年，我們做到了——我們一直在做很多事情的大促銷。但我們今年做了一次大促銷——稍晚一點。所以我們現在看到了。是的。所以在那個例子中，它比任何東西都更合適。

Our next question comes from Scot Ciccarelli of Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Scot Ciccarelli。

So Costco tends to put a line in the sand on pricing with some items. Obviously, the hot dog and soda versus your chicken offerings, for example, despite today's inflationary pressures. But your margins are actually holding in pretty well. So I guess the question is, are there other areas where you're being even more aggressive than normal on the pricing side? And then the flip side of that is what categories are you guys using to maybe harvest some extra margin to offset the presumed margin squeeze from holding the line of sand on pricing?

因此，Costco 傾向於在某些商品的定價上劃清界限。顯然，熱狗和蘇打水與您的雞肉產品相比，例如，儘管今天存在通貨膨脹壓力。但你的利潤實際上保持得很好。所以我想問題是，在定價方面，您是否在其他領域比平時更加激進？然後另一面是你們正在使用哪些類別來獲得一些額外的利潤，以抵消假定的利潤擠壓，因為他們在定價上保持了沙子線？

Lightning just struck me. No. We don't -- we really don't look at it that way. I think the thing I mentioned earlier about there are some businesses that are doing well with margin like gas business on a smaller way -- in the travel business, those things help us be more aggressive in other areas, or as you mentioned, hold the price on the hot dog and the soda a little longer, forever. But at the end of the day, no, I don't think we necessarily look to find places where we can harvest margin. But we are -- there are different areas.

閃電剛剛擊中了我。不，我們不——我們真的不這麼看。我認為我之前提到的一些業務在利潤方面做得很好，比如天然氣業務，在較小的範圍內——在旅遊業務中，這些事情幫助我們在其他領域更加積極，或者如你所說，保持熱狗和蘇打水的價格要長一點，永遠。但歸根結底，不，我認為我們不一定要尋找可以收穫利潤的地方。但我們是——有不同的領域。

Again, the fresh foods business, the strength in sales for a 2-year period where over 2 years, you had 30% and 40% -- 20-plus percent increase each year. The enormity of the improvement in the bottom line, even now as we're getting some of that back now, still net-net, were better than we were 2 years ago. So all those things help that process.

同樣，新鮮食品業務，在 2 年期間的銷售實力，在 2 年多的時間裡，你有 30% 和 40% - 每年增長 20% 以上。底線的巨大改善，即使現在我們現在得到了一些，仍然是淨淨值，比我們兩年前要好。所以所有這些都有助於這個過程。

But on a go-forward basis, if you're really not looking to take any extra margins on some other categories, should we presume that margins may actually start to drop on a year-over-year basis?

但在向前發展的基礎上，如果你真的不希望在其他一些類別上獲得任何額外的利潤，我們是否應該假設利潤率實際上可能開始逐年下降？

Well, we don't provide guidance, but we look at the bottom -- the top line first and how does that impact the bottom line. And historically, years ago was we want to raise margins by lowering prices, but keeping a little of it. That was the old saying, you're in an inflationary environment, and that changes a little bit.

好吧，我們不提供指導，但我們會看底線——首先是頂線，以及這對底線有何影響。從歷史上看，幾年前我們希望通過降低價格來提高利潤率，但要保留一點。那是一句老話，你處於通貨膨脹的環境中，並且會發生一些變化。

But at the end of the day, it's all about driving volume. If we can incrementally get another percentage point of comp sales, that does more than any kind of harvesting we would ever want to do, which we don't do.

但歸根結底，這一切都與驅動量有關。如果我們能夠逐步獲得另一個百分點的銷售，那將比我們想要做的任何一種收穫都要多，而我們不會這樣做。

Okay. Okay. I think that's it on our end. Thank you very much, everyone. We're all here to answer some additional questions, and talk to you soon.

好的。好的。我想這就是我們的目的。非常感謝大家。我們都在這裡回答一些其他問題，並很快與您交談。

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。