好市多 (COST) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the quarter 3 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，感謝您的耐心等待。歡迎參加第三季財報電話會議。 （操作說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄音。 （操作說明）

I would like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mr. Richard Galanti. Sir, you may begin.

我謹將會議交給今天的主講人理查‧加蘭蒂先生。先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you, Sarah, 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. 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.

謝謝Sarah，大家下午好。首先我要說明，本次討論將包含1995年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所界定的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際事件、結果和/或績效與此類陳述所指明的內容有重大差異。這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和不確定性，以及公司不時在公開聲明和提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）的報告中披露的其他風險。

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.

前瞻性聲明僅代表其發布之日的情況，除法律要求外，本公司不承擔更新這些聲明的義務。

In today's press release, we reported operating results for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 to 12 weeks ended this past May 9. Reported net income for the quarter was $1.220 billion or $2.75 per diluted share. Last year's third quarter net income was -- came in at $838 million or $1.89 per share. This year's third quarter included $57 million pretax or $0.09 per share in COVID-19-related costs. Last year's third quarter included $283 million pretax or $0.47 per share of COVID-19-related costs.

在今天的新聞稿中，我們公佈了截至今年5月9日的2021財年第三季（共12週）的經營業績。本季淨利為12.2億美元，即每股攤薄收益2.75美元。去年同期淨利為8.38億美元，即每股收益1.89美元。本財年第三季包含5,700萬美元的稅前新冠疫情相關成本，即每股0.09美元。去年同期包含2.83億美元的稅前新冠疫情相關成本，即每股0.47美元。

Net sales for the quarter increased year-over-year in the quarter by 21.7% from $44.38 billion -- to $44.38 billion this year from $36.45 billion a year ago. Comparable sales for the third quarter of fiscal '21 were as follows: in the U.S., on a reported basis, sales or comparable sales were up 18%, ex gas inflation, up 15.2%; Canada, on a reported basis, up 32.3%, ex both gas and strong Canadian dollar, ex gas and FX, up 16.7%; other international reported plus 22.9%, ex gas and FX, plus 13.1%. All told, company reported comp sales of 20.6% and, again, ex gas and FX, 15.1% up; e-commerce, on a reported basis, was 41.2%, ex FX was up 38.2%, and that's on top of a year ago in the third quarter when it was up 66.1% in Q3 a year ago versus the prior year to that.

本季淨銷售額年增21.7%，從去年同期的364.5億美元增至443.8億美元。 2021財年第三季可比較銷售額如下：美國，以報告基準計算，銷售額或可比銷售額成長18%，剔除汽油通膨因素後成長15.2%；加拿大，依報告基準計算，成長32.3%，剔除汽油和強勢加幣因素後成長16.7%；其他國際地區以報告基準計算，剔除成長22.9%，剔除成長13.13.13.13.後。總而言之，公司報告的可比銷售額成長20.6%，同樣剔除汽油和匯率因素後成長15.1%。據報道，電子商務成長了 41.2%，剔除匯率因素後成長了 38.2%，而去年同期第三季的成長率為 66.1%。

In terms of Q3 comp sales metrics, traffic or shopping frequency increased 12.5% worldwide and plus 11.9% in the U.S. Our average transaction or ticket was up 7.3% worldwide and up 5.7% U.S. during the third quarter. And these numbers include the positive impact both of gas inflation and FX. So adjusting for that, they would be in the 1.8% and 2.7% in the U.S. adjusted for those.

就第三季同店銷售指標而言，全球客流量或購物頻率成長了12.5%，美國成長了11.9%。第三季度，全球平均交易額或客單價成長了7.3%，美國成長了5.7%。這些數據包含了汽油價格上漲和匯率波動帶來的正面影響。因此，若剔除這些因素，美國的平均交易額增幅將分別為1.8%及2.7%。

Foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar positively impacted sales by approximately 290 basis points. And gasoline price inflation positively impacted sales by approximately 260 basis points.

外幣兌美元匯率的上漲對銷售額產生了約290個基點的正面影響。汽油價格上漲也對銷售額產生了約260個基點的正面影響。

Going down the income statement. Membership fee income reported for the third quarter, $901 million or 2.03% of sales. Again, we had strong FX and so adjusting for that out, the $86 million reported increase would have been up $67 million, so FX up 8.2%, on a reported basis up 10.6%.

繼續分析損益表。第三季會員費收入為9.01億美元，佔銷售額的2.03%。由於匯率波動較大，經調整後，報告的8600萬美元增長實際為6700萬美元，因此匯率影響下實際增長8.2%，而按報告數據計算則增長10.6%。

In terms of renewal rates, the U.S. and Canadian rate of -- came in at 91.0%, the same as it was at Q2 end. Worldwide, our total company renewal rate was 88.4% at Q3 end or 0.1% lower during the prior quarter end. China entered the renewal calculation for the first time this fiscal quarter. First year renewal rates generally lag those of later years. And excluding China, the worldwide rate would have actually improved 0.1% versus the prior quarter.

就續約率而言，美國和加拿大的續約率為91.0%，與第二季末持平。在全球範圍內，我們公司第三季末的整體續約率為88.4%，比上一季末下降了0.1%。中國在本財季首次納入續約率計算。通常情況下，第一年的續約率會低於後續年份。如果排除中國，全球續約率實際上會比上一季提高0.1%。

In terms of number of members at Q3 end, both member households and total cardholders, At the end of third quarter, total paid households 60.6 million, up from 59.7 million 12 weeks earlier. Total cardholders, 109.8 million, up from 108.3 million at the end of the second quarter 12 weeks ago. At Q3 end, paid executive membership totaled 24.6 million members, an increase of 817,000 during the 12 weeks since Q2 end.

截至第三季末，會員數（包括會員家庭及持卡人總數）方面，付費家庭總數為6,060萬戶，高於12週前的5,970萬戶；持卡人總數為1.098億，高於12週前第二季末的1.083億。第三季末，付費高級會員總數為2,460萬，較第二季末增加了81.7萬。

Moving down to gross margin line. Our reported gross margin in the third quarter was lower year-over-year by 35 basis points, coming in at 11.18% compared to a year ago at 11.53%.

接下來來看毛利率。我們第三季的毛利率年減了35個基點，為11.18%，去年同期為11.53%。

As I usually do, I ask you to jot down a few numbers, 2 columns, both the reported year-over-year change in gross margin and the second column, ex gas inflation. Merchandise core, reported minus 52 basis points year-over-year and ex gas inflation, minus 29 basis points. Ancillary and other businesses reported plus 2 basis points and ex gas inflation plus 7 basis points. 2% Reward, plus 1 basis point and minus 2 basis points. Other, plus 14 basis points in both columns. Total, therefore, reported gross margin, again, year-over-year was reported down 35 basis points and ex gas inflation down 10 basis points.

像往常一樣，我請您記下幾個數字，共兩列：第一列是報告的毛利率同比變化，第二列是剔除汽油通膨因素後的毛利率。商品核心業務毛利率年減 52 個基點，剔除汽油通膨因素後下降 29 個基點。輔助業務和其他業務毛利率較去年同期上升 2 個基點，剔除汽油通膨因素後上升 7 個基點。 2% 獎勵業務毛利率較去年同期上升 1 個基點，剔除汽油通膨因素後下降 2 個基點。其他業務毛利率在兩列中均為上升 14 個基點。因此，總體而言，報告的毛利率年減 35 個基點，剔除汽油通膨因素後下降 10 個基點。

The core merchandise component, as you show here was -- as I mentioned here, was down 52 basis points year-over-year on -- and down 29% on ex gas inflation. This is primarily a function of sales shifting from core to ancillary versus last year as we begin to revert back to more historical sales penetrations. Recall, last year, we saw a significant shift of sales out of ancillary and other businesses and into the core.

正如您在此展示的，核心商品業務板塊——正如我之前提到的——同比下降了52個基點，剔除汽油通膨因素後下降了29%。這主要是因為銷售額從核心業務轉向輔助業務，而去年我們開始逐步恢復到更接近歷史水準的銷售滲透率。回顧去年，我們看到銷售額從輔助業務和其他業務顯著轉移到了核心業務。

In terms of the core margin on their own sales, in third quarter, the core and core margin were better by plus 27 basis points, with nonfood up significantly, rebounding from last year's lows. Food and sundries flat year-over-year and fresh foods down from last year, the latter still strong by historical standards.

就其自身銷售的核心利潤率而言，第三季核心利潤率和核心利潤率均提升了27個基點，其中非食品業務顯著增長，從去年的低點反彈。食品及日用品業務與去年同期持平，而生鮮食品業務則較去年有所下降，但後者以歷史標準衡量仍表現強勁。

Fresh, as we've mentioned over the last few quarters, is lapping exceptional labor productivity and low product spoilage that occurred from the outsized sales that began a year ago in Q3 with the onset of COVID.

正如我們在過去幾季中提到的那樣，新鮮食材得益於一年前第三季新冠疫情爆發以來銷量激增所帶來的卓越勞動生產力和低產品損耗率。

Ancillary and other business gross margins, again, ex gas inflation was up 7 basis points year-over-year in the quarter. We have a lot going on here as last year we had closed the hearing aid and optical departments and had severely limited the service and selection at our food courts for most of Q3 last year.

剔除天然氣通膨因素後，輔助業務及其他業務的毛利率在本季年增7個基點。我們目前面臨諸多挑戰，因為去年第三季我們關閉了助聽器和眼鏡部門，並大幅縮減了美食廣場的服務和商品種類。

Gas had a particularly good quarter a year ago, which had helped to offset some of those closures a year ago. This year, we're showing margin improvement in optical, food court, e-com and hearing aids, somewhat offset by gas.

去年同期，汽油業務表現尤為出色，在一定程度上抵消了去年部分門市關閉的影響。今年，眼鏡、美食廣場、電商和助聽器業務的利潤率均有所提升，但部分被汽油業務的業績所抵銷。

The 2% Reward was, again, on excluding gas inflation, was lower by 2 basis points, indicating higher sales penetration to our executive members and the rewards associated with it. And other is plus 14 basis points. 9 of the 14 basis points is attributable to lower COVID-19 costs year-over-year. $44 million hit to margin in Q3 a year ago versus a $14 million hit to margin this year in the third quarter.

剔除汽油通膨因素後，2%的獎勵率再次下降了2個基點，這顯示我們針對高階主管會員的銷售滲透率更高，相應的獎勵也更高。其他因素則增加了14個基點。這14個基點中有9個基點歸因於新冠肺炎疫情相關成本較去年同期下降。去年第三季利潤率損失4,400萬美元，而今年第三季利潤率損失為1,400萬美元。

Last year, we incurred 10 weeks of the incremental $2 an hour premium wage. This -- that portion you see here relates to the labor associated with our fulfillment manufacturing businesses. This year, we incurred 2 weeks of the incremental 2 hour -- the incremental $2 an hour premium wage as the program was discontinued at the end of the second week of Q3 after 52 weeks in place.

去年，我們支付了10週的每小時額外2美元的工資補貼。您在這裡看到的這部分補貼與我們訂單履行製造業務相關的勞動成本有關。今年，我們只支付了2週的每小時額外2美元的工資補貼，因為該計劃在實施52週後，於第三季第二週結束時終止。

The other plus 5 basis points or $19.7 million came from accruing a reserve last year in Q3 for certain third-party gift cards and ticket programs that were adversely impacted by the onset of COVID. One other comment, as I discussed during our March 4 Q2 earnings conference call. In conjunction with the discontinuing of the $2 an hour premium pay, we implemented a permanent wage increase for our hourly employees as well as most of our salaried manager employees, which took effect in week 3 of this fiscal quarter. Since it's a permanent wage increase going forward, its impact is simply in our reported numbers and not separated out as COVID-related.

另一項增加的5個基點，即1,970萬美元，來自去年第三季為某些受新冠疫情影響的第三方禮品卡和票務項目計提的準備金。還有一點需要說明，正如我在3月4日第二季財報電話會議上所提到的。在取消每小時2美元的額外工資的同時，我們為小時工以及大多數領薪經理員工實施了永久性加薪，該加薪已於本財季第三週生效。由於這是永久性加薪，其影響已體現在我們的財報數據中，並未單獨列為新冠疫情相關影響。

Moving to SG&A. Our reported SG&A in the third quarter was lower or better year-over-year by 107 basis points. Again to jot down these following 2 columns and numbers, first column is reported, and second column, excluding gas inflation. In terms of operations, year-over-year, plus 37 basis points, meaning lower or better by 37 basis points, ex gas inflation, plus 20 basis points. Central plus 4 basis points and plus 1 basis point; stock compensation, plus 5 and plus 4; other, plus 61 and plus 61. For a total, on a reported basis, again, SG&A year-over-year was lower or better by 107 basis points on a reported basis and excluding gas inflation, better by -- or lower by 86 basis points.

接下來是銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A)。我們第三季報告的 SG&A 年減或改善了 107 個基點。再說明以下兩列資料：第一列為報告數值，第二列為剔除天然氣通膨因素後的數值。營運方面，年減 37 個基點，即下降或改善了 37 個基點；剔除天然氣通膨因素後，下降 20 個基點。中央營運成本分別下降 4 個基點和 1 個基點；股權激勵成本分別下降 5 個基點和 4 個基點；其他成本分別下降 61 個基點和 61 個基點。總而言之，以報告值計算，SG&A 年減或改善了 107 個基點；剔除天然氣通膨因素後，下降了 86 個基點。

Again, looking here, the core operation was better by 37 and plus -- better by 20, excluding the impact of gas inflation. A good result, particularly given that we implemented a permanent $1 an hour wage increase for the last 10 of the 12 weeks that comprise Q3. Central, nothing surprising there. Same with stock comp, and other, the plus 61 basis points ex gas inflation, 56 of the 61 was attributable to the lower cost from COVID. $239 million hits SG&A in Q3 a year ago compared to $44 million in Q3 this year. The balance or plus 5 basis points, lower by 5 basis points, was $18.5 million were cost associated with the acquisition and integration of Innovel a year ago.

再次強調，核心營運績效提升了37個百分點，若不計入天然氣通膨的影響，則提升了20個百分點。這是一個不錯的成績，尤其考慮到我們在第三季最後10週（共12週）實施了永久性每小時1美元的薪資成長。中心運作方面，這並不令人意外。股票選擇權和其他方面也是如此，剔除天然氣通膨的影響後，業績提升了61個基點，其中56個基點歸因於新冠疫情帶來的成本降低。去年同期第三季銷售、管理及行政費用為2.39億美元，今年同期為4,400萬美元。剩餘的5個基點（較去年同期下降5個基點）為1,850萬美元，是去年收購並整合Innovel的相關成本。

Next on the income statement is preopening expense. Basically, this year, it was -- it came in at $10 million, $2 million higher than the $8 million in Q3 of fiscal '20. Nothing out of the ordinary with the preopening this quarter.

接下來是損益表中的開業前費用。今年這筆費用為1000萬美元，比2020財年第三季的800萬美元高出200萬美元。本季的開業前費用並無異常。

All told, reported operating income in Q3 '21 increased 41%, coming in at $1.663 billion this year compared to $1.179 billion a year ago in the quarter.

總的來說，2021 年第三季報告的營業收入成長了 41%，達到 16.63 億美元，而去年同期為 11.79 億美元。

Below the operating income line, interest expense was $40 million this year versus $37 million a year ago. Interest income and other for the quarter was higher by $6 million or better by $6 million. Interest income was actually lower by $2 million year-over-year due to lower interest rates. Additionally, FX and other was higher by $8 million year-over-year.

在營業收入項下，今年的利息支出為4,000萬美元，而去年同期為3,700萬美元。本季利息收入及其他收入較上年同期增加600萬美元。由於利率下降，利息收入實際上比去年同期減少了200萬美元。此外，外匯及其他收入較上年同期成長了800萬美元。

Overall, reported pretax income in the third quarter was up -- reported pretax income was up 42%, coming in at $1.650 billion this year compared to $1.163 billion a year ago. In terms of e-commerce, our e-commerce sales, as I mentioned earlier -- I'm sorry, before I go to e-commerce, our tax rate in the third quarter came in at 25.2% compared to 26.7% a year earlier. This quarter benefited from onetime discrete tax item that benefited our number.

總體而言，第三季報告的稅前利潤有所增長——年增42%，達到16.5億美元，去年同期為11.63億美元。就電子商務而言，正如我之前提到的——抱歉，在談到電子商務之前，我想先說明一下，我們第三季的稅率為25.2%，而去年同期為26.7%。本季度受益於一項一次性稅收項目，該項目對我們的業績產生了積極影響。

For all of '21, based on our estimates, which, of course, are, sadly, subject to change, we anticipate that our effective normalized total company tax rate for the year to be in the 26% to 27% range. A few other items of note. In terms of warehouse expansion, in Q3, we opened 6 new warehouses, 1 in the U.S.; 3 in Canada; and 2 internationally. We also have plans in Q4 to open 7 additional ones, 5 in the U.S. and 2 others internationally. And that would put us in a total of 21 net new warehouses for the fiscal year, 23 -- which included 2 relocations, so 21 net.

根據我們的預估（當然，這些預估可能會有所變動），我們預計2021年全年公司實際正常化總稅率將在26%至27%之間。還有幾點要注意。在倉庫擴張方面，第三季我們新開了6個倉庫，其中1個在美國，3個在加拿大，2個在其他國家。我們計劃在第四季再開7個倉庫，其中5個在美國，2個在其他國家。這樣一來，本財年我們淨增倉庫總數將達到21個，加上2個倉庫搬遷，總共為23個。

In addition to the 21 planned openings for fiscal '21, we are looking to open about 25 new units, net new units in each of the next 2 fiscal years, including a second warehouse in China in fiscal '22, which would be the end of -- towards the end of calendar '21 and a third expected to open in late calendar '22, which would be early fiscal year '23.

除了 2021 財年計畫開設的 21 個新倉庫外，我們還計劃在接下來的兩個財年中每年淨增開設約 25 個新倉庫，其中包括 2022 財年在中國開設的第二個倉庫（即 2021 年末），以及預計在 2022 年末開設（即 2023 年末）的第三個倉庫。

Regarding CapEx, the third quarter fiscal '21 spend was approximately $1.03 billion. Our full year CapEx spend is now estimated to be in the $3.3 billion to $3.5 billion range, increased a little from our estimate made 12 weeks earlier to include the recent $340 million purchase of a distribution facility on the West Coast to support our big and bulky delivery activities.

關於資本支出，2021財年第三季支出約10.3億美元。我們預計全年資本支出將在33億至35億美元之間，比12週前的估計略有增加，這包括最近斥資3.4億美元在西海岸購置的配送中心，以支持我們的大件貨物運輸業務。

Now going -- turning to e-commerce. Again, e-commerce sales in the third quarter ex FX increased 38.2% year-over-year. Stronger departments included jewelry, home furnishings, sporting goods, hardware and majors, which, of course, includes both everything from appliances to consumer electronics.

接下來，我們轉向電子商務。第三季度，不計匯率因素，電子商務銷售額年增38.2%。表現強勁的部門包括珠寶、家居用品、體育用品、五金和大型商品，當然，大型商品涵蓋了從家電到消費性電子產品的所有商品。

In terms of Costco Logistics and an update there, we anniversary-ed the purchase of Innovel, now called Costco Logistics this fiscal quarter. Costco Logistics continues to drive big and bulky sales with the U.S. e-com sales on these items up 53% during the quarter.

關於 Costco Logistics 的最新進展，本財季我們慶祝了收購 Innovel（現在更名為 Costco Logistics）一周年。 Costco Logistics 持續推動大件商品的銷售，本季美國電商平台此類商品的銷售額成長了 53%。

Costco Logistics fulfilled about 70% of all U.S. big and bulky orders, and we also continue to add some new big and bulky vendors. Overall, we've improved delivery time on many items from up to 2 weeks to in many -- in several cases, now 5 to 7 days. As well, we've taken several items that were previously vendor-drop shipped that are now -- and are now being direct imported allowing us to not only speed up delivery but reduce prices to our members.

Costco物流已完成約70%的美國大型及笨重商品訂單，我們也不斷增加新的大型及笨重商品供應商。整體而言，我們已將許多商品的配送時間從長達兩週縮短至5至7天，部分商品的配送時間甚至更短。此外，我們已將先前由供應商直接出貨的多種商品改為直接進口，這不僅加快了配送速度，也降低了會員的購物成本。

From a supply chain perspective, port delays are continuing to have an impact. We are utilizing additional carriers, in some cases, to help alleviate some of that. Containers and pallets are also facing shortages anecdotally, 35% to 50% increase in incoming containers this year versus a year ago. Some of that's pent-up demand, but just from the low points a year ago. The turnaround of a container hitting the U.S., delivering its contents and being back at the U.S. port to head back overseas has gone from approximately 25 days to 50 days. So a combination of things in terms of delays.

從供應鏈的角度來看，港口延誤的影響仍在持續。在某些情況下，我們正在啟用額外的承運商來緩解部分延誤。據了解，貨櫃和托盤也面臨短缺，今年的入境貨櫃數量比去年同期增加了35%至50%。部分原因是對積壓的需求，但只是去年同期低迷時期的需求所致。貨櫃抵達美國、完成裝卸貨物並返回美國港口重新啟程的周轉時間已從約25天延長至50天。因此，延誤是由多種因素共同造成的。

Chips shortages are impacting many items from an inflation standpoint, some items more than others. And again, as I mentioned, with regard to containers and shipping, transportation costs have increased as well. Despite these issues, we continue to work to mitigate cost increases and supply chain delays in a variety of different ways as best we can. The biggest way we've handled supply chain delays is adjusted ordering and front-loading, if you will, orders of many items. And we think we've got that pretty well under control.

晶片短缺對許多商品造成了通膨影響，有些商品受到的影響更大。此外，正如我之前提到的，由於貨櫃和運輸成本上漲，運輸成本也隨之增加。儘管存在這些問題，我們仍在盡最大努力透過各種方式來緩解成本上漲和供應鏈延誤。我們應對供應鏈延遲的主要措施是調整訂單，並提前訂購許多商品。我們認為目前已經基本控制住了局面。

This will continue -- the feeling is that this will continue for the most part of this calendar year. We've had a lot of questions about inflation over the past few months. There have been and are a variety of inflationary pressures that we and others are seeing. Inflationary factors abound. These include higher labor costs, higher freight costs, higher transportation demand, along with the container shortage and port delays that I mentioned, increased demand in various product categories some shortages, various shortages of everything from chips to oils and chemical supplies by facilities hit by the Gulf freeze and storms and, in some cases, higher commodity prices.

這種情況還會持續下去——預計這種情況將在今年大部分時間持續下去。過去幾個月，我們收到了很多關於通膨的問題。我們和其他人都看到了各種各樣的通膨壓力。通脹因素比比皆是。這些因素包括勞動成本上升、貨運成本上升、運輸需求增加，以及我之前提到的貨櫃短缺和港口延誤，各種產品類別的需求增加，以及一些產品出現短缺，例如從薯片到油品和化學品等各種物資的短缺，這些短缺是由於墨西哥灣的寒流和風暴造成的，在某些情況下，還包括大宗商品價格上漲。

Some inflationary sound bites, if you will. Price increases on items shipped across the ocean with suppliers paying up to double for containers and shipping. Price increases of pulp, paper goods, some things up 4% to 8%, plastic and resin increases from trash bags to plastic cups, plates, et cetera, and plastic wraps. Metals, aluminum foil, mid-single-digit cost increases also cans for sodas and other beverages. Higher import prices on cheeses, the combination of the product itself as well as some FX strength of some foreign currencies as well as freight, anywhere from 3% to 10% increases on certain apparel items, not all.

以下是一些通膨方面的簡要說明。跨洋運輸的商品價格上漲，供應商支付的貨櫃和運費高達兩倍。紙漿、紙製品價格上漲，部分商品漲幅在4%到8%之間；塑膠和樹脂價格上漲，從垃圾袋到塑膠杯、盤子等，以及保鮮膜等產品都出現上漲。金屬、鋁箔以及汽水和其他飲料罐的價格也出現個位數中段的上漲。進口起司價格上漲，部分商品價格上漲是由於產品本身價格上漲、某些外幣匯率走強以及運費增加等因素共同導致的；部分服裝價格上漲3%到10%不等，但並非所有服裝都如此。

In terms of fresh, higher protein prices, for example, meat overall year-over-year is up 7%. Beef in the last month has been up as much as 20%. Some of that is due to feed labor and transportation costs as well as restocking some of the additional increased demand coming now from institutional needs as restaurants start to reopen. And the list could go on and on.

以新鮮高蛋白肉品價格為例，整體肉品價格較去年同期上漲7%。上個月牛肉價格漲幅高達20%。部分原因是飼料、人工和運輸成本上漲，以及隨著餐廳重新開業，機構需求增加，需要補充庫存。諸如此類的原因還有很多。

Now all this being said, I was asked back on our March 4 -- second quarter call. At what level we felt inflation was running overall at that time with our goods. I stated that our best guess was somewhere in the 1% to 1.5% range. As of today, we guess that overall price inflation at the selling level, and excluding our gasoline sales, would be estimated to be probably more in the 2.5% to 3.5% range.

說了這麼多，我在3月4日的第二季財報電話會議上被問到，當時我們認為我們銷售的商品整體通膨率是多少。我當時估計在1%到1.5%之間。而現在，我們估計，不包括汽油銷售在內，整體銷售價格通膨率可能在2.5%到3.5%之間。

Some items are up more and some items, the sale prices haven't yet changed. And some items are even down a little bit. We think, again, we've done pretty well in terms of controlling that as best as we can, but the inflation pressures abound.

有些商品價格上漲幅度更大，有些商品的售價尚未改變，甚至有些商品的價格略有下降。我們認為，在盡可能控制通膨方面，我們已經做得相當不錯了，但通膨壓力依然存在。

In terms of sampling and demos in the warehouse, as you all know, we eliminated our popular food sampling and demo activities in our warehouses last March at the onset of the pandemic. As various states opened and closed last summer and fall, we tried a few sampling events. A few single-serve items like cookies and crackers, take-out only, no cook to prepared sample items and a few enhanced talking demos such as items for display only.

關於倉庫內的試吃和演示活動，正如大家所知，我們在去年三月疫情爆發初期就取消了廣受歡迎的倉庫食品試吃和演示活動。去年夏秋兩季，隨著各州疫情情勢的反覆變化，我們嘗試舉辦了一些試吃活動。這些活動包括一些單份包裝的食品，例如餅乾和薄脆餅乾，僅限外帶，不提供烹飪或預製食品的試吃；以及一些增強講解效果的演示，例如僅供展示的食品。

I'm happy to report that over the next couple of weeks, we're beginning a phased return to full sampling. This will come in waves. The first wave of locations, about 170 of our 550-ish locations in the U.S. will be activated by the first week of June, with most of the remaining locations returning towards the near -- or towards the end of June. The first wave will actually determine how fast we roll out and what and when restrictions are lifted. I'm sure there will be a few states with unique restrictions as well.

我很高興地宣布，在接下來的幾週內，我們將分階段恢復全面採樣。這將分批進行。第一批採樣點，約170個（占我們在美國550個採樣點總數的近一半），將於6月第一週恢復，其餘大部分採樣點將在6月下旬或前後恢復。第一批採樣點的恢復情況將決定我們逐步恢復採樣的速度以及何時解除哪些限制。當然，我也相信會有一些州有特殊的限制措施。

Increased safety protocols are and will be in place, including all samples prepared behind plexiglass, prepared in smaller batches for better safety control and distribute it to members one at a time.

已經並將繼續實施更嚴格的安全規程，包括所有樣品均在有機玻璃後製備，分小批量製備以更好地進行安全控制，並一次分發給會員一個。

Food courts, same thing as well. I'm pleased to report that our food courts are also coming back over the next few weeks in a bigger way. Last March, again in 2020 as the pandemic took hold, we pared back menu basically to hotdogs and pizza and soda and smoothies, and we eliminated all seating, those takeout only. We began several weeks ago adding back tables and seating and -- at a handful of outdoor food courts in a few states.

美食廣場的情況也一樣。我很高興地告訴大家，我們的美食廣場也將在未來幾週內以更大的規模重新開放。去年三月，也就是2020年疫情爆發初期，我們大幅縮減了菜單，基本上只保留了熱狗、披薩、汽水和冰沙，並且取消了所有堂食，只提供外帶。幾週前，我們開始在幾個州的少數戶外美食廣場重新增設桌椅。

Over the past few months, we've also added back a few more food items, including bringing back a new and improved churros, which will be at all U.S. locations by the 4th of July, and adding a high-end soft ice cream to replace our frozen yogurt.

在過去的幾個月裡，我們也重新推出了一些食品，包括重新推出改良版的吉事果（將於 7 月 4 日在美國所有門市供應），以及推出高端軟冰淇淋來取代我們的冷凍優格。

And by June 7, we plan to have tables in seating back at most locations, but with more physical separation, tables of 4 instead of 6 and 8 and about half the seating capacity as we had before. Again, these are still subject to doing this in waves and see how it goes and subject to any additional state rules or restrictions in a few cases.

到6月7日，我們計劃在大部分門市恢復堂食，但會加大座位間距，每桌僅限4人而非6人或8人，座位容量約為之前的一半。再次強調，這些措施仍將分階段實施，視情況而定，部分情況下仍需遵守州政府的額外規定或限制。

Finally, in terms of upcoming releases, we will announce our May sales results. For the 4 weeks ending the Sunday, May 30, on next Thursday, June 4 after market closes. With that, I will open up to questions and answers, and I'll turn it back over to Sarah. Sarah?

最後，關於即將發布的產品，我們將在下週四（6月4日）股市收盤後公佈五月份的銷售業績，統計截至5月30日（週日）的四周數據。之後，我將開放問答環節，現在把麥克風交給莎拉。莎拉？

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Michael Lasser from UBS.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自瑞銀集團的麥可·拉塞爾。

Richard, you outlined a variety of inflationary pressures that you're seeing in the business. How is this going to impact Costco's gross margin over the next couple of quarters? Costco tends to move more slowly with changing prices than others, should we expect this to be a pressure point, especially as you lap a period of strong gross margin gain given the good sell-through last year?

理查德，你概述了公司目前面臨的各種通膨壓力。這些壓力將如何影響 Costco 未來幾季的毛利率？ Costco 的價格調整速度通常比其他公司慢，我們是否應該預期這會成為一個壓力點，尤其是在去年銷售情況良好，毛利率持續強勁增長的情況下？

Well, I mean, we'll have -- of course, Michael, we'll have to wait and see. I mean our view is, is that while historically, we want to be -- mitigate those increases and work with our vendors and try to be as efficient as possible to lower those pressure points, some of it will pass through, and some of it has passed through. From a competitive standpoint, our view is it has not really impacted our margins in any big way. Some of the inflationary pressures, some very simple examples might be things like our $4.99 rotisserie chicken and our $2.99 40-packet of water. Those have stayed the same, notwithstanding there's been some pressure on some cost components of these items. So those are already impacting our margins a little. And I don't -- I think overall, relative to competition, that's not going to be an impact -- a big impact of where we go margin-wise.

嗯，我的意思是，當然，邁克爾，我們得等等看。我們的觀點是，雖然從歷史經驗來看，我們希望盡可能減輕這些成長，與供應商合作，並盡可能提高效率來降低這些壓力點，但部分成長終究會過去，而且部分成長已經過去了。從競爭的角度來看，我們認為這並沒有對我們的利潤率造成太大影響。一些通膨壓力，例如我們4.99美元的烤雞和2.99美元40包的瓶裝水，價格保持不變，儘管這些商品的某些成本構成確實面臨一些壓力。所以這些因素已經對我們的利潤率產生了一些影響。但我認為，總體而言，相對於競爭對手，這不會對我們的利潤率產生太大影響。

Okay. My follow-up question is on the value of the Costco membership. Amazon is enhancing the value of its membership with more media content. Walmart continues to focus on the value of its membership offering. Do you think these factors are influencing the pricing power that Costco has to raise the fees associated with either the gold or executive membership? And do you feel like there has been a sharp increase in the value of a Costco membership over the last 4 years is that as you approach the normal cadence of when you would typically raise your fees, you could do it this time again?

好的。我的後續問題是關於Costco會員的價值。亞馬遜正在透過提供更多媒體內容來提升其會員價值。沃爾瑪也持續專注於提升會員服務的價值。您認為這些因素是否會影響Costco提高金卡或高級會員費的定價權？您是否覺得過去四年Costco會員價值的顯著提升，使得在通常的提價週期臨近時，您或許可以再次提價？

Sure. Well, look, we focus first on driving more value. And I would like to think that some of the benefits that we've had in terms of strong business over the last -- not only the last year with COVID, certainly, we've been helped by the fact that we've been deemed an essential business and the strength in fresh and food items has helped quite a bit as well and buying things for the home.

當然。嗯，你看，我們首先關注的是創造更多價值。而且我認為，過去一年來，我們業務的強勁增長得益於——當然，這不僅是去年受新冠疫情影響，我們也受益於被認定為必需行業，生鮮食品的強勁銷售以及居家用品的需求也對我們大有裨益。

But I think we've gained market share on top of that, and that's all about value. I mean our model is -- our view is our model is intact as it relates to the best prices on the best quality goods and services. And certainly, our buying power keeps improving in that regard.

但我認為我們在此基礎上又獲得了市場份額，而這一切都源自於價值。我的意思是，我們的模式——我們認為我們的模式仍然有效，因為它能以最優的價格提供最優質的商品和服務。當然，我們在這方面的採購能力也不斷提升。

We've added things as it relates to different forms of procuring the merchandise, whether it's in-store or a big increase like many people with e-commerce. Certainly, our acquisition of what's now called Costco Logistics has been a big boom for our -- we believe, for our sales strength and competitiveness in those areas. So we think from a value proposition standpoint, the value of what we offer our members keeps going up.

我們增加了與不同商品採購方式相關的項目，無論是實體店還是像許多人一樣大幅成長的電商通路。當然，我們收購了現在的 Costco Logistics，這對我們來說無疑是一次巨大的飛躍——我們相信，這極大地提升了我們在這些領域的銷售實力和競爭力。因此，我們認為，從價值主張的角度來看，我們為會員提供的價值正在不斷提升。

As it relates to fee increases, historically, we've done it about every 5 years, so we would expect now to start getting questions since this is a year before that, and our answer is pretty straightforward. We'll have to wait and see. But we certainly feel good about our competitive position.

關於費用上漲，我們歷來大約每五年調整一次，所以今年是下一次調整的前一年，我們預計會收到一些相關問題，我們的回答很簡單：拭目以待。但我們對自身的競爭優勢充滿信心。

Your next question comes from the line of Simeon Gutman from Morgan Stanley.

你的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的西蒙古特曼。

Richard, the core on core, I think you said up 27. And I know you don't guide on this. I just want to ask maybe about the puts and the takes, if you talk about other categories that are higher margin that have yet to recover on the positive side. And then on the other side, the spoilage and some other things that helped you last year sort of come back. So just kind of think are there more good guys, the bad guy and just another way to think about the gross margin core on core going forward?

理查德，核心業務利潤率，我記得你說過上漲了27%。我知道你不做業績指引。我只是想問關於看跌期權和看漲期權的問題，如果你談到其他利潤率更高的類別，但這些類別尚未完全恢復，情況會如何？另一方面，去年幫助你業績回升的損耗和其他一些因素呢？所以，我想問，是否有更多利好因素、利空因素，以及未來如何從另一個角度來看待核心業務利潤率？

Sure. Well, there's always different pieces to that equation. As I mentioned, one of the things that we mentioned over the last few quarters was particularly strong fresh foods margins with higher labor productivity and much lower products spoilage. While, again, we're still above where we were pre-COVID, it's come down a little from its peak a year ago in Q3, but still nonetheless better than historical numbers.

當然。不過，影響因素很多。正如我之前提到的，過去幾季我們重點關注的一點是，生鮮食品的利潤率非常強勁，這得益於更高的勞動生產力和更低的損耗率。雖然我們目前的水平仍然高於疫情前的水平，但與去年第三季的峰值相比略有下降，不過仍然優於歷史平均水平。

One of the things that I mentioned picked up was nonfood. Again, the strength that we've seen in nonfoods has continued. It really started in the summer when people buying things for their home. Outside of that, certainly, I would expect on an ancillary business, taking gas out of it for a minute because that goes up and down at -- with a lot of factors causing it who the heck knows. But at the end of the day, if you look at some of the other ancillary businesses, I would expect to see, of course, margin improvement with optical and hearing aid relative to a year ago, for sure, even in Q4.

我之前提到的成長點之一是非食品業。非食品業的強勁勢頭仍在持續。這股成長勢頭始於夏季，當時人們開始購買家居用品。除此之外，我預期輔助業務也會有所成長，但暫時先不談汽油業，因為汽油價格波動較大──受很多因素影響，誰也說不準。但總的來說，如果你看看其他一些輔助業務，我預計光學和助聽器行業的利潤率肯定會比去年同期有所提高，即使在第四季度也是如此。

Same thing with travel. Travel is coming back as we see on the news every night. Travel is coming back in a big way with the improvement with COVID as well as probably a lot of pent-up demand. And we're seeing that ourselves in our travel business. And that's a high-margin business, although a small piece of the total sales action for the company.

旅遊業也是如此。正如我們每晚在新聞中看到的那樣，旅遊業正在復蘇。隨著新冠疫情的緩解以及大量被壓抑的需求釋放，旅遊業正在強勢復甦。我們自己的旅遊業務也印證了這一點。儘管旅遊業務在公司總銷售額中所佔比例不大，但它仍然是一個高利潤業務。

So I think, overall, we seem to figure out how to get there in different ways, even something like Costco Logistics that in the last 3-or-so quarters, I pointed out, it was a 5 to 7 basis point hit to margin. It's finally -- anniversary-ed some of that, and hopefully, we'll start to show some improvement. But there's little things like that that might show you a little improvement in the future.

所以我覺得，總的來說，我們似乎總是能找到不同的方法來實現目標，即使是像 Costco Logistics 這樣的業務，正如我之前提到的，在過去三個季度左右，它導致我們的利潤率下降了 5 到 7 個基點。現在，這種情況終於有所改善，希望我們能開始看到一些好轉。但正是這些小細節，或許能在未來帶來一些改善。

So -- but overall, it gets back to our ability to price our goods for great value and being competitive and still hopefully improving the bottom line will continue. But we'll let you know each quarter.

所以——但總的來說，關鍵在於我們能否以極具競爭力的價格銷售商品，並希望能夠繼續改善獲利狀況。我們會每季向您報告情況。

Okay. Sorry about the noise, but one quick question on inflation. It sounds like maybe other retailers are raising prices, but you're just -- your prices are up and not letting them lag. So I guess you're seeing the demand staying healthy. Or are you seeing the environment just stay rationale all across the board, and that's allowing you to take pricing up sort of at the same time as the input costs go up?

好的。不好意思打擾一下，我有個關於通膨的問題想問一下。聽起來其他零售商好像都在漲價，但你們的價格卻一直在上漲，沒有延遲。所以我想你們是覺得需求依然旺盛。還是說你們覺得整體市場環境比較理性，所以才能在投入成本上漲的同時也提高價格？

Well, look, I think, first of all, we look at what we can do with our own blinders on. There's been a lot of CPG companies, both in paper goods, soda pop that have announced increases. And many of them are sticking because we and other retailers are aware of the underlying costs associated with it. I think we -- I'd like to think we can do as good a job as any given our purchasing power and limited number of SKUs that can mitigate that as best we can. To the extent that those are happening, the fact that, on average, our competitors are taking those probably as fast as not a little faster than us is a positive. But we've taken some price increases on things that have gone up.

嗯，首先，我認為我們應該先考慮自身能做些什麼。許多消費品公司，包括紙製品和汽水公司，都宣布了漲價。而且很多公司堅持漲價，因為我們和其他零售商都清楚漲價背後的成本。我認為，考慮到我們的採購能力和有限的SKU數量，我們能夠做到和其他公司一樣好，並盡可能降低成本。就目前的情況來看，我們的競爭對手平均漲價的速度可能和我們一樣快，甚至更快，這算是個正面的訊號。但我們也對一些價格上漲的產品進行了提價。

Your next question comes from the line of Paul Lejuez from Citigroup.

你的下一個問題來自花旗集團的保羅‧勒朱茲。

It's Tracy Kogan filling in for Paul. I have a question about your customer -- the customers that you've gained over the past year during the pandemic. And I was wondering if you could talk about maybe the demographics of that customer and what the repeat purchases have looked like, and how their spending might differ from your core group of customers.

我是崔西·科根，代替保羅。我有一個關於您客戶的問題—也就是您在過去一年疫情期間新增的客戶。我想請您談談這些客戶的人口統計特徵、複購情況，以及他們的消費習慣與您的核心客戶群有何不同。

Right. What's -- I guess, most interesting is, other than from an age standpoint, being a demographic that's so -- the next young generation of Gen Z or millennials before that and Gen Y or whatever else, we're getting our share of them. We did see over the -- as COVID hit, there was, of course, a spike not only -- there was a big spike, a big increase with same-day fresh delivery in many -- in most cases, with us with our relationship with Instacart. And also doing ourselves 2-day dry grocery and some other items.

沒錯。我覺得最有趣的是，除了年齡因素之外，我們這個群體——Z世代、千禧世代、Y世代等等——正處於年輕一代的行列，我們也迎來了相當一部分客戶。隨著新冠疫情的爆發，我們看到，當日新鮮食材配送的需求出現了激增，尤其是在我們與Instacart的合作下，這種情況更為普遍。此外，我們也提供兩天送達的乾貨和其他一些商品的配送服務。

And again, anecdotally, we know that we garnered some additional members that way. On the 2-day, since that is done via mostly UPS, you may have -- we've gotten some members that are outside of our geographic market areas of physical warehouses, but not a big giant number. So overall, I think if anything, we've seen our continued strength of adding net new members to existing warehouses.

此外，根據一些非正式的回饋，我們知道我們確實透過這種方式獲得了一些新會員。在兩日達配送中，由於主要透過 UPS 配送，您可能注意到——我們確實獲得了一些位於我們實體倉庫地理市場區域之外的會員，但數量並不多。所以總的來說，我認為我們仍然保持著為現有倉庫增加淨新會員的強勁勢頭。

Certainly, opening new warehouses helps and perhaps getting a few related to the online next-day delivery of fresh and things like that. Beyond that, again, when we see who from -- again, from an age demographic, we're getting -- we think that we're getting our good share of younger people as we did in previous. That was -- historically, that was sometimes a concern of some on Wall Street. Is this for the older generation? And what we're finding is as long as we keep changing our product mix to gear towards our -- who the member is, and in our case, when you see what we've done with organics over the last 10 years or more now, and summer sporting equipment and you name it, we get our fair share of those people.

當然，開設新倉庫絕對有幫助，或許還能帶來一些與生鮮產品隔日達相關的線上配送服務。除此之外，從年齡層來看，我們的顧客群依然保持著相當可觀的年輕顧客比例，與以往一樣。過去，華爾街有些人曾對此表示擔憂：這是否會影響老年人？但我們發現，只要我們不斷調整產品組合，使其更符合會員的需求，就能持續獲得相當數量的顧客。就我們而言，看看過去十年我們在有機食品、夏季運動器材等方面的投入，就能明白我們一直在努力拓展業務，贏得這些人群的青睞。

Your next question comes from the line of Chuck Grom from Gordon Haskett.

你的下一個問題來自戈登·哈斯克特的查克·格羅姆的詩句。

Richard, inventory dollars were up about 27%, which is much higher than you guys currently run. Just curious if there's any pull forward of items. And I guess, how do you feel about the current -- the position right now?

理查德，庫存金額上漲了約 27%，遠高於你們目前的水準。我只是好奇是否有提前售出的商品。另外，你對目前的狀況有何看法？

I think what's interesting is -- yes, it was a little lower last year because we were just being hit with it. And so while we were scurrying to get merchandise in, we would also -- if you recall, back in March and early April, as we were realizing like everybody else that this was going to last longer, we were starting to cut back where we could seasonal orders and might have reduced our patio furniture needs for the part of the summer season and some of our Halloween needs and Christmas needs.

我覺得有趣的是——是的，去年的銷售量確實略低一些，因為我們當時正遭受疫情的衝擊。所以，在我們忙著進貨的同時，我們也——如果你還記得的話，在三月和四月初，當我們和其他人一樣意識到疫情會持續更長時間時，我們開始盡可能地減少季節性訂單，比如減少了部分夏季戶外家具的需求，以及一些萬聖節和聖誕節的需求。

And then we found out that we needed it even more. So probably some of it has to do with the fact that it being a little lower. And then as what I talked to earlier in this call about front-loading and buying early, that's -- we are happy to have some extra inventory. We clearly have a lot of -- we have plenty of cash to do that. And certainly, the cost of buying forward a little bit on some of these things is de minimis relative to what we earn on our cash.

後來我們發現我們更需要它了。所以，部分原因可能在於價格略低。正如我之前在電話會議中提到的提前採購，我們很樂意擁有一些額外的庫存。我們顯然有很多現金可以這樣做。當然，提前採購某些商品的成本相對於我們現金流的收益而言微不足道。

Okay. Great. That makes sense. And then just on the consumer. Curious what you're seeing over the past few weeks or maybe the past couple of months from a behavior perspective, both frequency in your clubs, basket sizes, particularly in states that are further along in the reopening process.

好的，太好了，這很有道理。接下來我想談談消費者方面。我很好奇您在過去幾週甚至幾個月裡，從行為學的角度來看，觀察到了哪些變化，包括您門市的客流量、購物籃的金額，尤其是在那些重啟進程較為成熟的州。

Well, again, it's hard to figure all these out because so many things were happening particularly last year in April, May, June time frame. What we saw is the states that opened a little early, we started seeing a little bit more shopping frequency a little earlier like Texas and Florida, but not in a meaningful discernible way. Trend-wise, yes, but not like let's wait for that everywhere.

嗯，再說一遍，很難把所有情況都弄清楚，因為去年四五六月發生了很多事情。我們看到，像德州和佛羅裡達州這樣開放得比較早的州，購物頻率也開始略有增加，但並沒有呈現出明顯的趨勢。從趨勢上看，確實如此，但這並不意味著所有地方都會如此。

But even in states that have been a little bit more closed, I mean the U.S., in particular, has opened up quite a bit in the last 1 month, 1.5 months as evidenced by new CDC guidelines and I think the spring weather in general, and so -- and just the pent up interest in doing that. So I think a lot of that's already in there.

但即使在一些之前比較封閉的州，我的意思是，特別是美國，在過去一個月到一個半月裡也已經開放了很多，這可以從疾控中心的新指南以及春季的整體天氣狀況中看出，而且——再加上人們長期以來渴望外出活動。所以我認為很多因素都已經顯現出來了。

And in other countries, in Canada, there's still some -- for much of the last fiscal quarter, in about 38 of the 101 or 102 Costcos in Canada, one of the main provinces, there was limitations on -- we had to cordon off nonessential items or so nonfood items. We can only sell food and cleaning supplies and paper goods and health and beauty and the like. So -- but that's -- even that is, I think, in a big way pretty much over.

在其他國家，例如加拿大，上個財政季度的大部分時間裡，在加拿大主要省份的101或102家Costco門市中，大約有38家仍然實行了限制措施——我們不得不將非必需品或非食品類商品隔離開來。我們只能銷售食品、清潔用品、紙製品、健康美容產品等等。所以——但我認為，這種情況在很大程度上也已經結束了。

Okay. Great. And then just last one for me. COVID costs were down meaningfully here in the third quarter. I'd imagine relative to the $281 million that you booked in the fourth quarter last year, you'd expect them to come down a lot. Is that a fair assumption for 4Q?

好的，太好了。最後一個問題。第三季新冠疫情相關成本顯著下降。我估計，與去年第四季2.81億美元的預算相比，第四季成本應該會大幅下降。這樣的假設對第四季來說合理嗎？

Yes. Yes, again, a big chunk of that is the $2 an hour premium, which has been eliminated. And again, mind you that there'll still be a chunk related to the $1 permanent -- mostly $1 permanent wage increase that we did.

是的。沒錯，其中很大一部分是每小時2美元的額外津貼，這項津貼已經被取消了。另外，請注意，還有一部分與我們之前實施的1美元永久性工資增長有關——主要是1美元的永久性工資增長。

Your next question comes from the line of Karen Short from Barclays.

你的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的凱倫·肖特。

Actually, just following up on that last question. So looking at your sales growth versus your SG&A growth and recognizing that within SG&A dollars, you did still have the $2 for part of the quarter, I mean, it's been -- it's a much wider gap than we've seen for a long time, like even kind of looking at pre-COVID. So I'm wondering if there's anything you could point to on that specifically, and how to think about that going forward. And then I had one other question.

實際上，我只是想接著上一個問題再問。讓我們來看你們的銷售成長和銷售、管理及行政費用（SG&A）成長，雖然SG&A部分在季度中仍然有2美元的缺口，但這個差距比我們很長一段時間以來看到的都要大得多，甚至比疫情前都要大。所以我想請教一下，您能否具體指出一些原因，以及未來該如何看待這個問題？我還有一個問題。

Sure. I think first and foremost, it's sales, strong sales. This is a business that we know the benefits -- the operating leverage we got when we could do a 7% comp instead of a 4 or 5, and enjoying the comps that we have now, that's the biggest single piece of it. If anything, in the quarter, health care cost probably a little higher because people weren't going for their regular doctor visits a year ago in the third quarter. And so that was probably a little bit of a hit. But more -- what offsets all those types of anecdotal things is strong sales and just a core labor costs.

當然。我認為最重要的是銷售額，強勁的銷售額。我們深知這項業務的優勢——例如，當我們能夠實現7%的同店銷售額增長而不是之前的4%或5%時，我們獲得的營運槓桿效應，以及我們現在所享有的同店銷售額增長，這才是最重要的因素。如果有什麼影響的話，那就是本季醫療保健成本可能略高，因為人們不像去年第三季那樣經常去看醫生。所以這可能造成了一些衝擊。但更重要的是——所有這些零星的因素都被強勁的銷售額和核心勞動成本所抵消。

Okay. And then...

好的。然後…

Gas as well, taking gas inflation out of there would reduce that a little bit.

如果把汽油價格上漲因素排除在外，汽油價格也會有所下降。

Right. Okay. And then my second question or actually maybe 2 more, with respect to the membership fee, obviously, recognizing the value of membership fee to your members, how are you thinking about time line on the next possible increase just because I think we did anniversary what would be the 5-year mark?

好的。好的。那麼我的第二個問題，或者實際上可能是兩個問題，是關於會員費的。顯然，我們認識到會員費對會員的價值，您是如何考慮下一次可能漲價的時間表的？因為我認為我們剛剛慶祝了周年紀念日，那應該是5週年紀念日吧？

No. Actually, the 5-year mark is next June.

不，實際上，五年紀念日是明年六月。

Okay. And so what's -- how are you thinking about that philosophically?

好的。那麼──從哲學角度來說，你是如何看待這個問題的呢？

Philosophically, I get to think about not thinking about it for several months. No, jokes aside, again, we feel good about our member loyalty. Needless to say, with our renewal rates, we feel very good about our competitive position. But there's -- we really haven't given a lot of thought yet.

從哲學角度來說，我可以好幾個月都不用想這件事了。不開玩笑，我們仍然對會員忠誠度感到滿意。毋庸置疑，憑藉我們的續訂率，我們對自身的競爭優勢非常有信心。但是——我們真的還沒有深入考慮過這個問題。

Okay. And then just my last question. In terms of e-com, obviously, you gave us a good percent of sales and the growth that doesn't include third party. Can you actually give us a number -- and can you just give us an update on where that stands when you include the third-party in food?

好的。最後一個問題。關於電商方面，您之前提到銷售額佔比和成長情況，但這些都不包括第三方管道。您能否提供一個具體的數字？另外，能否更新一下，如果將第三方通路也納入食品業的銷售數據，情況又會如何？

Yes. I think it's -- my guess is it's probably not as impactful now. The third party, most particularly the same-day fresh delivery really peaked last, I want to say, May or April, late April. And where -- it was huge and, I mean, it was tenfold increase. And it's now probably halved, still huge relative to pre-pandemic. But -- so it's not as impactful as it was. So again, I think there are a couple of quarters where we had -- a couple of quarters ago, we had like an 86% comp in e-commerce.

是的。我覺得──我猜現在它的影響力可能不如以前了。第三方配送，尤其是當日生鮮配送，在去年，我想應該是四月或五月，四月底達到了頂峰。當時——規模非常大，我的意思是，成長了十倍。現在可能已經減半了，但相對於疫情前來說仍然非常龐大。但是——所以它的影響力不如以前了。所以，我想說的是，有幾個季度前，我們的電商銷售額達到了86%左右的同店銷售額。

And we said that if you added back the stuff that we don't put in there like same-day fresh since third parties come in and buy it in the warehouse and take it to you, that 86% -- that 85% or 86% was up towards 100%. If you just -- this is -- I'm shooting from the hip here, but if that was 15 percentage points, let's assume it's 5 to 8 percentage points, but certainly not 15.

我們說過，如果把我們不放進去的東西，例如當日新鮮貨（因為第三方會從倉庫購買然後送到你那裡），也算進去，那86%——或者說85%或86%——就接近100%了。如果你──我只是隨便說說，但如果那是15個百分點，我們假設是5到8個百分點，但肯定不是15個百分點。

Your next question comes from the line of John Heinbockel from Guggenheim.

你的下一個問題來自古根漢美術館的約翰·海因博克爾。

Richard, let me start, Costco Logistics, where are you guys now with capacity utilization? And where will you be when you add this new facility? And to the degree that costs are coming down, have you yet invested in price? Or are you investing more in delivery timetable, quickness of delivery?

理查德，我先來問問好市多物流，你們目前的產能利用率是多少？新設施投入使用後，產能利用率又會達到什麼水準？隨著成本的下降，你們是否已經加大了成本控制方面的投入？還是更投入了配送時間和速度的提升上？

Well, we were proving -- not to say that we don't have a few complaints every day from someone that screwed something up. But at the end of the day, we're improving in a big way. We actually were aggressive on pricing immediately. It's kind of like when we went into a new country like France or Spain, we're pricing in low volume, less efficient departments like fresh as if we were doing a lot of volume. And so those are examples where it's hurting us to start with as it relates to -- we're going to price the goods or lower the price of a mattress or a furniture set delivery based on what we can do before we actually do it.

嗯，我們一直在努力改進——當然，每天也會有人抱怨我們做錯了什麼。但總的來說，我們的進步非常顯著。事實上，我們一開始就採取了積極的定價策略。這有點像我們進入法國或西班牙這樣的新市場時，我們會對銷量低、效率低的部門（例如生鮮部門）以銷售量大的標準來定價。所以，這些例子說明，一開始這樣做會對我們造成不利影響——我們會根據實際操作之前的能力來定價，例如降低床墊或家具套裝的送貨價格。

Now that's thankfully catching up for itself -- with itself. In terms of capacity, it has a lot of capacity. As I mentioned, right now, about 70% of our big and bulky is now delivered through Costco Logistics. Some of it was being delivered by third parties that we're doing fine, but now we're doing it ourselves. That business, as I mentioned, is continuing to grow very handily not only for us but industry-wide with furniture and things for the home, exercise equipment, TVs and the like. And we think that we have tremendous capacity available. What we bought was at a capacity of less than 50% of what it had been doing itself a few years before. But again, those aren't completely -- you can't completely compare those two.

現在，令人欣慰的是，它正在迎頭趕上——與自身能力相匹配。就產能而言，它擁有龐大的產能。正如我之前提到的，目前我們大約70%的大件和笨重物品都是透過Costco物流配送的。之前一部分是由第三方配送，我們做得不錯，但現在我們自己負責配送了。正如我之前提到的，這項業務持續快速成長，不僅對我們而言如此，對整個產業也是如此，涵蓋家具、家居用品、健身器材、電視等等。我們認為我們擁有巨大的可用產能。我們收購的那家公司，產能還不到幾年前自身產能的50%。但話說回來，這兩者並不完全相同——你不能完全比較這兩者。

What we just bought was a huge facility and acreage that allow us to do more big and bulky and recognizing so many things come in from overseas in big and bulky, and it's again on the West Coast in California. And so it's going to help us continue to grow that business.

我們剛剛收購了一座規模龐大的廠房和土地，這使我們能夠處理更多的大型笨重貨物。我們意識到，許多大型笨重貨物都是從海外進口的，而且它位於加州西海岸。因此，這將有助於我們繼續發展這項業務。

We think we have a lot of growth. Way before COVID and more big and bulky and everything else, recall in the U.S., what we saw over the last 5 years, I think it was 5 years ago, we said in just white goods when all we did was sell them in store, we did about $50 million. And the year pre-COVID, 3 years hence, we did about $750 million or something. We're well beyond that now, both natural growth as well as what COVID has done in terms of people buying things for the home and then us being able to become more competitive on pricing.

我們認為我們還有很大的成長空間。早在新冠疫情之前，尤其是在大型笨重家電等其他產品流行之前，回想一下過去五年（我想應該是五年前），我們僅銷售白色家電（當時我們只在實體店銷售）就達到了約5000萬美元的銷售額。而新冠疫情爆發前的那一年，也就是三年後，我們的銷售額達到了約7.5億美元。現在，我們的銷售額已經遠遠超過了這個數字，這既得益於自然增長，也得益於新冠疫情對家居用品需求的影響，這使得我們能夠在價格方面更具競爭力。

We've seen items, not across the board, but items where we've lowered the price by 10% and 15% or more, greatly improved the delivery time and are driving that business.

我們發現，雖然並非所有商品都如此，但有些商品我們降低了 10% 到 15% 甚至更多，大大縮短了交貨時間，從而推動了業務成長。

And then just real quick, lastly, the cold and frozen delivery program, the 2-day program, how is that being fulfilled? And how do you think about that conceptually, right, in terms of consumer uptake versus the dry grocery that you did previously?

最後再快速問一下，關於冷凍食品配送計劃，也就是兩天送達計劃，目前進展如何？從概念上講，您如何看待這項計劃，以及它與您之前銷售的乾貨相比，在消費者接受度方面有何不同？

It's really too early, John, to tell. We just started that 3 weeks ago, and something that our people in that operation wanted to try. And business centers, it's -- we think it's something that lends itself well to our business customer needs as well, and we'll see.

約翰，現在下結論還太早。我們三週前才開始嘗試這個項目，這是我們營運部門的人員想嘗試的。至於商務中心，我們認為它也很適合我們企業客戶的需求，讓我們拭目以待。

Your next question comes from the line of Scott Mushkin from R5 Capital.

你的下一個問題來自 R5 Capital 的 Scott Mushkin。

So Richard, I actually wanted to get back at this big and bulky that we were talking about before. Kind of hoping you can maybe size the opportunity. Obviously, you guys are putting a lot of money into it. What kind of -- maybe you can give us like what percentage of your sales are in those items now, where do you think it's going to go. Like how much do you think you can drive sales? I was just wondering if you could do anything to size it because it's obviously a big focus for the company and a big capital investment.

理查德，我其實想再跟你聊聊我們之前提到的那個又大又笨重的產品。我希望你能幫我評估一下這個產品的潛在市場。顯然，你們在這方面投入了許多資金。你能不能透露一下，例如現在這些產品佔你們銷售額的百分比是多少？你覺得未來的發展趨勢會是怎麼樣的呢？你覺得你們能把銷售額提升多少？我只是想了解一下，因為這顯然是公司的一個重點項目，也是一筆巨大的資本投資。

Yes. I don't have that detail in front of me. We're seeing 30% and 50% increases on items within some of those categories, everything from outdoor patio furniture or indoor furniture to mattresses to exercise equipment, the TV's along the way.

是的。我手頭上沒有具體數據。我們看到某些類別的商品價格上漲了30%到50%，從戶外露台家具或室內家具到床墊、健身器材，當然也包括電視機。

And is your expectation to bring in more vendors? And I don't know how many SKUs you're offering, but will you have more SKUs? And how are you thinking about advertising at your membership base?

你們是否計劃引進更多供應商？我不知道你們目前提供多少SKU，但你們會增加SKU嗎？你們打算如何向會員群體進行廣告宣傳？

Well, yes, I mean, first of all, I think that when we look at our 3- to 5-year plan, we think there will be outsized growth certainly for the next 3-plus years, we'll see. In terms of adding SKUs, yes, but we're not going crazy. Certainly, there's more SKUs online furniture sets, sofa and chair sets. We might have 1 or 2 on display, sometimes, in a warehouse, we'll have a dozen or so online. So we are adding both vendor names as well as additional selection, but still greatly limited relative to the traditional retail of those items.

是的，首先，我認為當我們審視未來3到5年的發展規劃時，我們認為未來3年甚至更長時間內肯定會有顯著成長，具體情況我們拭目以待。至於增加SKU，確實會增加，但我們不會盲目擴張。當然，線上家具套裝、沙發和椅子套裝的SKU數量有所增加。有時，我們可能只會在倉庫裡展示一兩套，但線上卻會有十幾套。所以，我們既增加了供應商，也增加了產品選擇，但與傳統零售通路相比，仍然非常有限。

Perfect. And then my second question is something we've talked about all the time, and I could go at it again. It's just on the openings. I know you said 25 this year over '22 and 25 in '23, I guess. I mean obviously, our research suggests you guys could do a lot more. And I know we've talked about the, I guess, the hard thing of getting the right locations and everything else. But what would it take to get that to 30 to 35, again on a more permanent basis? And is that something you guys would kind of strive to do? Because clearly the market opportunity is there.

完美。我的第二個問題我們之前也討論過很多次，我還可以再問一次。就是關於新店開的。我知道您說過今年比2022年多開25家，2023年也是25家，我想應該是這樣。我的意思是，很明顯，我們的調查顯示你們還可以開更多。我知道我們之前也討論過，找到合適的店址等等都是難點。但是，如果要把開業數量增加到30到35家，並且保持這種更穩定的規模，需要做些什麼呢？這是你們努力的目標嗎？因為很明顯，市場機會就在那裡。

This is the operator. I'm sorry. The line of the speaker got disconnected for a second.

這裡是接線生。抱歉，揚聲器的線路剛才斷線了。

(technical difficulty)

（技術難題）

Sorry about that. Scott, let's go back to your question. My apologies.

抱歉。史考特，我們還是回到你的問題。我深表歉意。

That's all right. So my question was, I don't know what -- did you guys hear any of my question or no?

沒關係。所以我的問題是，我不知道──你們有沒有聽到我的問題？

You can start again.

你可以重新開始。

Okay. So basically, you said fiscal '22 and '23, 25 clubs and 25 clubs, we've talked about this a number of times about trying to get that number up. Obviously, the market opportunity is there. Can you beef up the real estate department? Like what's the -- what's holding you guys back to getting to 30 to 35? Again, because it looks like the opportunity is there to us with the research.

好的。所以基本上，您剛才說2022和2023財年要建25傢俱樂部，我們已經多次討論過如何增加這個數字。顯然，市場機會是存在的。你們能加強一下房地產部門嗎？是什麼阻礙了你們達到30到35家的目標？再說一遍，根據我們的研究，機會確實存在。

Well, I think some other countries tend to be a little slower and challenged, but we have beefed it up. That's one of the reasons I think that I went out as far as I did by saying 25 in each of the next 2 years. We feel relatively confident that the -- all the items that we have in the fire right now, both U.S. and Canada as well as other parts of the world, we feel good about. We've got a lot of things going on.

嗯，我覺得其他一些國家進展可能比較慢，也面臨一些挑戰，但我們已經加強了。這也是我為什麼敢說未來兩年每年要新增25個項目的原因之一。我們對目前美國、加拿大以及世界其他地區正在推進的所有項目都比較有信心。我們有很多項目正在進行中。

Now going from 25 to 35, I'm not sure we're prepared to do that yet. Could we do it? Yes. But certainly, in some of the countries that are smaller, we like to go slow. And I mean, we picked up the pace in China by now having 2 ready either under construction or getting ready to be under construction and to open over the next 18 months. And for us, that's faster than we would have gone. And you'll see more announcements both there and elsewhere over the next few quarters.

現在從25家增加到35家，我不確定我們是否已經準備好了。我們能做到嗎？當然可以。但對於一些規模較小的國家，我們傾向穩紮穩打。我的意思是，我們在中國加快了步伐，目前已有兩家公司正在建設或即將開工，並將在未來18個月內開業。對我們來說，這比我們預想的速度還要快。未來幾個季度，您將會看到更多關於中國和其他地區的公告。

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

你的下一個問題來自奧本海默公司的魯佩什·帕里克。

This is actually Erica Eiler on for Rupesh. So first, I wanted to touch on your services business. As we look at travel and optical and food court, is there any way you can help us frame, at this point, how much of your service businesses have recovered versus 2019 levels?

這裡是 Erica Eiler 代替 Rupesh 發言。首先，我想談談您的服務業務。我們關注的是旅遊、眼鏡和美食廣場，您能否幫我們概括一下，目前您的服務業務與 2019 年的水平相比，恢復了多少？

Well, there's a few different things. I mean if I look at travel, I think, in the last month, we probably had 10 of our top 15 days ever in our history, so even at holiday time in '19. Part of that, again, though, was the pent-up demand. So we'll see where it normalizes out. Right now, both car rentals, we also pivoted and added in addition to -- while cruises are still down, they're being booked again now, but still down.

嗯，這其中有很多因素。就旅遊而言，我認為上個月我們可能經歷了有史以來業績最好的15天中的10天，即使是在2019年的假期期間也是如此。當然，部分原因也是被壓抑的需求釋放。所以我們也要看看情況會如何恢復正常。目前，租車業務也進行了調整，增加了其他業務——雖然郵輪業務仍然低迷，但現在預訂量有所回升，不過仍然低於平均水平。

We did a big push starting several months ago to negotiate and offer some great deals on other, what I'll call, U.S., Mexico and Hawaii-type trips -- vacation trips.

幾個月前，我們開始大力推廣其他類型的旅行，例如我稱之為美國、墨西哥和夏威夷類型的旅行——度假旅行，並提供一些優惠的價格。

Yes. So bookings, they're not revenue yet, but bookings are particularly strong now. And hearing aid, you had a little bit of the same issue when they were essentially closed down because of direct one-to-one contact, when you're getting fitted for a hearing aid. There was a lot of pent-up demand that we've seen and we continue to see, the same with optical. We think that will continue to be normalized, but we'll have to wait and see.

是的。所以，雖然預訂量目前還不能轉化為收入，但預訂量確實非常強勁。助聽器方面，之前也遇到類似的問題，因為驗配助聽器時需要一對一的直接接觸，所以基本上暫停了服務。我們看到，而且這種被壓抑的需求還在持續，眼鏡產業也是如此。我們認為這種情況會逐漸恢復正常，但還需要觀察一段時間。

Food courts is probably going to take another several months. Having tables out there will help, expanding the menu will help. And of course, pharmacy didn't really ever see a big dramatic downturn.

美食廣場可能還需要幾個月的時間才能恢復。擺放桌椅會有幫助，擴充菜單也會有所幫助。當然，藥局的生意其實從未真正經歷過大幅下滑。

Okay. Great. And then your food categories have held up really well in spite of lapping the difficult comparisons last year. So maybe just an update on how you're thinking about food-at-home consumption from here.

好的，太好了。儘管去年同期數據對比比較激烈，但你們的食品類別表現依然非常出色。那麼，能否請你們更新一下對未來居家食品消費的看法呢？

Well, I mean, our 40,000-foot view of that is that what was gained because of food away from home stopping a year ago, and while it picked up some with takeout and delivery, it's now starting to improve a little bit, but some of that's going to be sticky. I don't know what the exact number is going to be, but our view is, is that it still certainly hasn't reverted back.

嗯，我的意思是，從宏觀角度來看，一年前外出就餐減少帶來的收益，雖然隨著外賣和送餐的興起有所回升，現在情況開始略有好轉，但其中一些影響可能難以持續。我不知道確切的數字會是多少，但我們的看法是，情況肯定還沒有完全恢復原狀。

I mean restaurants are just beginning to open in a bigger way. In many cases, still people are reluctant to go in. In many cases, the tables are further separated. So some of that's going to continue for the next 6-plus months, is my guess. Beyond that, when all is said and done, will some of it still be sticky? Our view is probably the fact that we, as a company, have done a pretty good job of staying in stock and certainly the quality of our fresh foods, I think that we've not only benefited from that. I'd like to think that we gain market share from other traditional food retailers in that regard, particularly on the fresh side.

我的意思是，餐廳才剛開始大規模恢復營業。在很多情況下，人們仍然不願意進店。許多餐廳的餐桌之間也拉開了更大的距離。我估計這種情況還會持續六個月甚至更久。之後，當一切塵埃落定，這些情況是否還會持續存在？我們認為，我們公司在保持庫存充足和保證新鮮食品品質方面做得相當不錯，這不僅讓我們受益匪淺，也讓我們從其他傳統食品零售商那裡贏得了市場份額，尤其是在新鮮食品領域。

Your next question comes from the line of Kelly Bania from BMO Capital Markets.

你的下一個問題來自 BMO 資本市場的 Kelly Bania。

Richard, first, just wanted to ask about executive membership, the penetration, I guess, up over $800,000 this quarter. This is high as I can see it in our model here. Just was curious if that's still happening in a meaningful way in the U.S.? Or if there's any other countries? And just any color you can provide on that point.

理查德，首先我想問關於高階主管會員的問題，我猜這季度會員費增加了80多萬美元。根據我們的模型來看，這個數字相當高。我只是好奇這種情況在美國是否仍然普遍存在？或其他國家的情況如何？您能否就此提供一些資訊？

I think the 1 factor that was a little a bit of an anomaly is as we -- just in the last year, we expanded executive membership to Japan where we have 29 locations, 28 locations -- 29 locations, and including 2 new Japan locations this quarter. And as a company, I think, overall, we continue to get better at signing people up as executive members, telling them what the virtue of it is and doing a better job of having a higher percentage of every 100 new members that sign up as well as converting.

我認為唯一有點反常的因素是，就在去年，我們將高級會員計畫擴展到了日本，目前我們在日本有29個分支機構，包括本季新增的2個分支機構。作為一家公司，我認為總體而言，我們在招募高級會員方面做得越來越好，我們向他們解釋了高級會員的優勢，並且在每100名新會員中，我們的註冊轉換率和轉換率都更高。

I think within that 817,000 something just under 200,000 was Japan. So even taking that out, I think it was 180-something thousand. So even taking that out, the 6 30 or 40 pluses, it was still a very strong number for the quarter outside of that.

我認為在那81.7萬多人口中，日本人口略低於20萬。所以即使扣除日本人口，我認為還有18萬多。因此，即使扣除這63萬或4萬多人口，除日本人口外，該季度其他地區的數字仍然非常強勁。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just any update on the pickup test that's happening?

好的，這很有幫助。那麼關於取車測試，有什麼最新進展嗎？

It's still a test. We're still just doing it in New Mexico in 3 locations. And the utilization of it, when we first did it, we marketed a little bit. The utilization has not set the world on fire in terms of where it's trending.

這目前還處於測試階段。我們目前只在新墨西哥州的三個地點進行試點。最初推出時，我們也做了一些推廣。但就目前的趨勢而言，它的使用情況並沒有引起轟動。

Your next question comes from the line of Laura Champine from Loop Capital.

你的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Laura Champine。

So Richard, you mentioned the negative impact on renewals from the Chinese store lapping. Are they renewing at about the same pace that you would normally expect first year renewals relative to prior store openings in new geographies?

理查德，你提到了中國門市的後續對續約的負面影響。它們的續約速度是否與你通常預期的新地區首年門市續約速度大致相同？

One of the unique things, if I go back over the last 15 years when we've opened in new countries, you have outsized new sign-ups and, frankly, probably some that are just [lucky of us]. And so you have a lower-than-average renewal rate to start with. When I look back at the 7 or 8 countries outside of the U.S. and Canada, I mean, there's 10 or so, but what we've seen is that instead of -- in the U.S. or Canada, we might add anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 members in the first year, recognizing in some of these are existing markets. So you've got people shopping more often because they're closer to the new opening.

回顧過去15年我們在新國家開設分店的情況，一個獨特的現像是，新註冊用戶數量異常龐大，坦白說，其中一些可能只是我們運氣好。因此，這些國家的續訂率一開始就低於平均值。回顧美國和加拿大以外的七八個國家（實際上大約有十個國家），我們發現，與美國或加拿大相比，我們在新市場第一年可能會新增5000到20000名會員，當然，其中一些市場已經存在。所以，人們會更頻繁地光顧新店，因為他們離新店更近。

We've enjoyed in Korea, Taiwan, Japan and even more so in China 50,000 to 100,000 new member sign-ups when we open up. And then a year later, 1.5 years later, when they're renewing -- when that first batch is renewing for the first time to get to that 88-plus worldwide renewal rate and the 90.1 in the U.S. and Canada, it starts off, it could be anywhere from the high 50s to the mid-60s in that first year.

我們在韓國、台灣、日本，尤其是在中國，每次開業都能吸引 5 萬到 10 萬新會員註冊。一年後，或一年半後，當第一批會員續費時——也就是為了達到全球 88% 以上的續費率，以及美國和加拿大 90.1% 的續費率——第一年的續費率可能在 50% 到 60% 之間。

And I don't have in front of me what China is. But China is also outsized in that regard. I think we have close to 400,000 members in that 1 location. Remind you, it's a very large city and Costco entered as a well-known entity, notwithstanding the fact that it was our first one. So for all those reasons, it alone affected that worldwide renewal rate.

我手頭上沒有中國的具體數據。但就市場規模而言，中國確實非常龐大。我想我們在那個地方就有近40萬會員。別忘了，那是一個非常大的城市，而且Costco作為一家知名企業入駐，儘管它是我們的第一家門市。因此，僅憑這些原因，就對全球續費率產生了影響。

We're not surprised. And by the way, even whatever renewals, nonrenewals we've been -- that have been incurred, we've gotten more than that in terms of new sign-ups. I think at the end of about 3 months after we opened in China, which was August of '19, we had around 300,000 members, and I think now we have about 400,000. So even if we've lost a bunch, we've gained a bunch plus some more.

我們並不感到意外。順便說一句，即使有續費或取消續費的情況發生，我們新增的會員數量也遠遠超過了這些損失。我記得在2019年8月，也就是我們在中國上線大約三個月後，我們的會員人數約為30萬，而現在大約有40萬。所以，即使我們流失了一些會員，我們也獲得了相當數量的新會員，甚至更多。

Understood. And then secondly, on the roughly 30 basis points decline in core margins on an ex gas basis, you mentioned that that is related in part to the sales shift back to lower-margin ancillary business. Was this the quarter where you're lapping the most extreme move away from ancillary? Or is it -- are we likely to see a similar impact as we move through the year?

明白了。其次，關於剔除天然氣業務後核心利潤率下降約30個基點的問題，您提到這部分是因為銷售重心轉向利潤率較低的輔助業務所致。本季是否正處於輔助業務流失最嚴重的時期？或者說，隨著年內業績的推進，我們會看到類似的趨勢？

I think Q3 was probably the most. It will still be impactful in Q4, probably not as much.

我認為第三季的影響最大。第四季也仍會有影響，但可能不會像第三季那麼大。

Your next question comes from the line of Greg Melich from Evercore ISI.

你的下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Greg Melich。

Two questions. First on e-commerce and multichannel. Do you have an update on the penetration now for e-commerce? Is it 10% or close? And what are you seeing in terms of the percentage of members that use multichannel and what their renewal rates look like, if they're any different?

兩個問題。首先是關於電子商務和多通路的。您目前有關於電子商務滲透率的最新數據嗎？是10%還是接近這個數字？另外，您觀察到使用多通路的會員比例是多少？他們的續訂率如何？如果有的話，情況又是如何？

First of all, I think it's about 7.5 or 8, and part of that is the huge shrink in gas.

首先，我認為大概是 7.5 或 8，其中一部分原因是氣體的大幅減少。

Got it.

知道了。

And what was the other part of the question, Greg?

格雷格，問題的另一部分是什麼？

The other part of that was just for people that -- like what percentage of members actually use multichannel offering? Like used either 2-day or Instacart, is it majority that have used it? And then what do their renewals look like once they've used you in multiple channels?

另一部分的內容則是針對那些使用多通路服務的會員－例如，有多少比例的會員實際使用了多通路服務？例如，使用過兩日達或Instacart的會員，使用過多通路服務的會員佔比是否佔多數？此外，當他們在多個管道使用過您的服務後，續訂情況如何？

Somewhere around 45% of our members have used e-commerce. And the renewal rate is slightly better. I'm not talking about new members that signed up that have just used e-commerce, I'm talking about just how many people -- how many existing members have used e-commerce.

大約45%的會員使用過電子商務。續訂率略高。我指的不是新註冊後才使用過電子商務的會員，而是現有會員中使用過電子商務的人數。

Got it. No, that's great. And then the second question was on gasoline, I just want to make sure I got this right. Do you have a number for what the gallons growth was? And a penny profit was up or down. I think -- I know it hurts the mix, but just where we are in that cycle right now with gas inflation?

明白了。太好了。第二個問題是關於汽油的，我想確認我理解得是否正確。您有加侖數成長的具體數據嗎？還有，每美分的利潤是上升了還是下降了？我知道這會影響整體經濟結構，但目前汽油通膨正處於這個週期的哪個階段？

Gas dollar profits were down because we had a -- it was interesting. Notwithstanding the fact that -- well, if you think back again in the third quarter last year, it was mid-February effectively to mid-May. The first 4 -- 3 to 4 weeks of that, there was a frenzy. It was either pre-COVID or the frenzy of people hoarding and everything. So gas was pretty strong in those first few weeks.

汽油利潤下降是因為我們遇到了——這很有意思。儘管如此——嗯，如果你回想起去年第三季度，也就是從二月中旬到五月中旬這段時間，前三到四周，市場一片瘋狂。那可能是新冠疫情爆發前，也可能是人們囤積居奇的時期。所以，那幾週汽油價格非常堅挺。

Then it plummeted and -- but not withstanding the fact that it plummeted, pricing was less competitive. So we had a very strong P&L, as I think I'm sure I mentioned last year in the quarter, it was particularly strong. We had a fine gas profit this quarter. But last year was fine with a capital F.

然後價格暴跌，但即便如此，價格競爭也減弱了。所以我們的損益表表現非常強勁，我想我去年季度報告裡也提到過，當時的損益表尤其強勁。本季我們的天然氣利潤相當不錯。但去年的業績簡直糟糕透頂。

Got it. And so the pressure on any penny profit that you can get when gallons are recovering, I mean gallons are recovering now. Are we at that stage?

明白了。所以，當油價回升時——我的意思是，油價現在正在回升——任何能獲得的微薄利潤都會受到壓力。我們現在處於那個階段嗎？

Yes, very much so.

是的，的確如此。

Okay. And what's -- do you have a number that you can give us in the quarter?

好的。那麼—您能為我們提供一個季度的具體數字嗎？

I have one I cannot give you. No, I can't. Gas has been -- for those of you who've known us for many years, gas used to be a business that, on a given day or week, on a fully allocated P&L, could actually lose a little or all the way to make a lot. And it would be very volatile. In a matter of a week or 2, it could switch from the top to the bottom there.

我有一個不能告訴你的秘密。不，我不能。對於認識我們多年的朋友來說，天然氣行業過去是一個波動性極大的行業，在損益表上，每天或每週的盈虧情況都可能截然不同，可能略有虧損，也可能大賺。而且波動性非常大。短短一兩週內，價格就可能從頂峰跌至谷底。

The normal over the last few years has been it is a profitable business, and there's still some outlying big profitable days and a lot more days that are just regularly profitable. But the fact that it's coming up and the fact that it is probably overall a little less competitive out there, but that's not just in the last few weeks, that's been over the last year.

過去幾年，這一直都是一個盈利的行業，偶爾會有盈利頗豐的日子，但更多的時候都是穩定盈利。但事實上，隨著市場競爭的加劇，整體競爭程度可能會下降，但這並非僅僅發生在最近幾週，而是過去一年來的普遍現象。

Your next question comes from the line of Robert Moskow from Crédit Suisse.

你的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的羅伯特·莫斯科。

I want to know, do you have any data you can share about the demographics or income levels of the new members that you've picked up in the past year? Is it trending any differently than your typical new member growth? Is it younger? I think Tracy kind of asked this question already, but I wonder if you had any specifics.

我想了解一下，您能否分享一下過去一年新會員的人口統計資料或收入水平？他們的成長趨勢與您以往的新會員成長趨勢有何不同？他們是否更年輕？我覺得Tracy之前已經問過類似的問題，但我想知道您是否有更具體的數據。

And then lastly, I wanted to know, do you think you've got any benefit this quarter from consumers having just more money in their pocket from stimulus payments? Or is that not really characteristic of your membership?

最後，我想知道，您認為本季消費者因政府發放刺激性補貼而手頭寬裕，這對您有任何好處嗎？或者說，這並非您會員業務的典型特徵？

I don't have any economic average income demographics in front of me. I know when we look at new member sign-ups currently versus a year ago versus 2 and 3 years ago, we still are getting our share of younger people maybe a little younger than that right now simply because of e-com and what have you has helped a little bit on that area, but nothing discernibly different.

我手頭上沒有平均收入的人口統計。我知道，如果我們比較一下目前的新會員註冊量、一年前、兩年前和三年前的數據，我們仍然吸引到相當一部分年輕人，或許現在年輕人群的年齡更小一些，這主要是因為電子商務等因素在一定程度上促進了這一領域的發展，但總體而言，並沒有明顯的變化。

As it relates to where we helped -- when we've looked at things in the past as it relates to some unusual stimulus, our view is we haven't seen as big a benefit as some of the other discounters or general merchandise discounters have seen. But it can't hurt. So my guess is it certainly it's probably helped us some, but not as much as others.

就我們所提供的幫助而言——回顧過去，當我們應對一些特殊刺激措施時，我們認為我們並沒有像其他一些折扣店或綜合商品折扣店那樣獲得顯著的收益。但總比沒有好。所以我估計，這肯定對我們有幫助，但不如其他公司有效。

It probably helped a little, not a lot. Okay.

可能有點幫助，但不多。好吧。

Yes.

是的。

Your next question comes from the line of Peter Benedict from Baird.

你的下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Peter Benedict 的系列。

Richard, first question, just given the sourcing challenges around the pandemic, I'm just curious, any updated thoughts you have on your vertical sourcing initiatives? Anything being sped up or slowed down? Just what's your -- what's the latest update on that?

理查德，第一個問題，鑑於疫情帶來的採購挑戰，我很好奇，你對垂直採購計畫有什麼最新的想法嗎？哪些專案加快了進度，哪些專案放緩了？這方面的最新進展是什麼？

Yes. Well, look, I mean, in a big way, I think the fact that we've got 2 meat plants and a chicken plant and a bakery commissary and a couple of optical grinding labs, if anything, those things have helped us a little bit. They're at full production in a big way. When feed costs go up -- in the chicken plant, for example, we go out somewhat with feed costs, but I'm sure we don't hedge ourselves completely in either directions, but we've done a pretty good job of managing those costs.

是的。嗯，你看，我的意思是，在很大程度上，我認為我們擁有兩家肉類加工廠、一家雞肉加工廠、一家烘焙食品加工中心和幾家光學研磨實驗室，這些都對我們有所幫助。它們目前都處於滿載生產狀態。當飼料成本上漲時——例如在雞肉加工廠，我們會受到飼料成本的影響，但我確信我們並沒有完全規避任何風險，不過我們在控制這些成本方面做得相當不錯。

Yes, go ahead -- but nothing major there. And then what was the other question?

好的，繼續——不過沒什麼大不了的。然後，另一個問題是什麼來著？

No. Yes, I was just wondering if you accelerated any initiatives that you maybe had in the pipeline, given what you've seen in COVID? Or if there's been any maybe new areas of the business that you maybe weren't considering vertical before, but maybe now you are?

不，是的，我只是想知道，鑑於新冠疫情的影響，您是否加快了之前正在籌備的一些項目？或者，您是否考慮過將一些之前未曾涉足的業務領域拓展到其他垂直領域？

Yes. I think the big one that has -- again, that has surprised us in the sense that we think there's lots of opportunity there is the whole Costco Logistics side. For a variety of reasons, not only handling it ourselves and controlling the destiny of delivery times. But actually, there's a number of items that we historically have drop-shipped, if you will. The supplier carries the inventory, the supplier sends it and, needless to say, there's a cost associated with that. As we get bigger and higher volume and do some of those things direct, we're able to basically improve the delivery time and lower the price, and we've seen that.

是的。我認為最大的改變——再次強調，這讓我們感到驚喜，因為我們認為其中蘊藏著巨大的機會——就是Costco的物流環節。原因有很多，不只在於我們可以自主處理物流，掌控配送時間。實際上，我們過去有很多商品都是採用代發貨模式的。供應商負責庫存和出貨，這自然會產生一定的成本。隨著我們規模的擴大和銷售的提升，我們開始直接處理這些業務，從而能夠縮短配送時間，降低成本，而我們也已經看到了這一點。

And then we're getting better at insulation. That's something that we will continue to improve on as well. So I think that's probably the one area. I don't -- there's nothing currently planned in terms of the next big chicken plant, if you will. There's going to still be significant money spent on fulfillment, in distribution and logistics, as I just mentioned earlier about our CapEx. Beyond that, there was one other thing I was going to mention, which I can't remember now. Why don't we take 2 more questions.

然後，我們在隔熱方面也做得越來越好。這也是我們會繼續改進的領域。所以我覺得這可能是唯一需要改進的地方。目前，我們還沒有計劃建造下一個大型雞肉加工廠。正如我剛才提到的資本支出，我們仍然會在配送和物流方面投入大量資金。除此之外，我還想提一件事，但我現在想不起來了。我們再回答兩個問題吧。

No worries. Richard, just one follow-up on self-checkout, that effort you have. How penetrated is that across the chain right now? And what's been the member feedback? Are you guys pleased with the service you're giving there? Obviously, volumes are really high through the club, so I'm just curious on that.

別擔心。理查德，關於自助結帳，我還有一個後續問題。目前這項服務在整個連鎖店的普及程度如何？會員的回饋如何？你們對目前的服務品質滿意嗎？顯然，俱樂部的客流量非常大，所以我很好奇。

Self-checkout works. It's in 90-plus percent of our warehouses. I've seen locations where we started with 6, 2 stacks of 3, and now we're at 9 and 12 in a couple of locations. So it's working. Certainly, the customer likes it. And it improves the frontline and service. So -- and it's cost efficient.

自助結帳確實有效。我們超過 90% 的倉庫都配備了自助結帳機。我看過一些地方，一開始只有 6 台自助結帳機，或是兩疊三台一組，現在有些地方已經配備了 9 台甚至 12 台。所以，自助結帳確實有效。顧客也很喜歡。它提升了前台服務效率，而且——它還具有成本效益。

Your next question comes from the line of Scott Ciccarelli from RBC Capital Markets.

你的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的 Scott Ciccarelli。

This is Jake Chinitz on for Scott. I know you've done a couple of things to stay more in touch with members, especially on the e-commerce side, for example, building a database of updated member e-mails. So can you just give us an update where that may be from a progression standpoint? And any results you've seen from that?

這裡是傑克·奇尼茨，他代表史考特發言。我知道您採取了一些措施來加強與會員的聯繫，尤其是在電子商務方面，例如建立了一個更新的會員郵件資料庫。您能否從進展的角度，向我們介紹一下這些措施的最新情況？以及您從中看到了哪些成果？

Well, I think we're improving and a lot of the improvement we're doing in terms of a better mobile site and is -- and better service to our members, and ability to communicate to our members. Hold on 1 second here.

嗯，我認為我們正在進步，我們所做的許多改進都體現在更好的行動網站、更好的會員服務以及與會員溝通的能力上。稍等一下。

In the last quarter -- I'm sorry, the last year, we've gone -- we've increased the number of e-mailable addresses by 24%. And we're seeing higher conversion rates, as I mentioned already. And we're doing more things in the warehouse with -- to drive traffic online as well. So I think all those things are working, and we'll continue to improve our mobile. I'll make a point on the next earnings call to talk about -- I mentioned on Q2 earnings call, there were kind of like 3 phases of upgrades to our mobile site starting in September and then over the next 6-or-so months after that. I'll make a point of pointing some of those things out. Recognizing some of those things others have been doing, and we're just getting around to do.

上個季度——抱歉，應該是去年——我們的電子郵件地址數量增加了24%。正如我之前提到的，轉換率也更高了。此外，我們還在倉庫方面做了更多工作，以吸引更多流量到線上。我認為所有這些措施都行之有效，我們將繼續改進行動端。在下次財報電話會議上，我會重點談談——我在第二季財報電話會議上提到過，我們的行動網站從9月份開始分三個階段進行升級，並在接下來的六個月左右持續改進。我會著重介紹其中的一些內容。同時，我也要指出，其他公司已經在做這些事了，而我們現在才開始著手去做。

Why don't we take 1 more question and that will be it.

我們再問一個問題，然後就結束了。

Your last question, sir, comes from the line of Edward Kelly from Wells Fargo.

先生，您的最後一個問題源自富國銀行的愛德華凱利。

Just first one for you, Richard, on timing and next openings in China. Any more detail on when that next door is going to open? And then you talked about good news coming on pace of maybe opening beyond that. Thoughts on the potential to accelerate there now that you've had that first store open for a while?

理查德，第一個問題是關於中國門市的開業時間和後續計劃。能否透露一下下一家門市的開幕時間？您之前提到過，可能會有好消息傳來，而且開業速度可能會更快。既然第一家門市已經開業一段時間了，您覺得是否有可能加快在中國的擴張步伐？

Well, yes. I mean our view originally was we'd open 1, and even before that opening, we -- where would be 5 years hence, maybe we'd have 3. And my guess is today, we'll shoot for a number a little bigger than that, maybe 4 or 5. But there's a lot of -- there's a few irons in the fire over there, but those are the 2 that are signed, sealed and under construction.

是的。我的意思是，我們最初的想法是先開一家，甚至在那之前，我們——也就是五年後——可能會開三家。而我估計，現在我們會爭取開一家，也許四家或五家。不過，我們還有很多其他項目——那邊也有幾個正在籌備的項目，但目前只有這兩家已經簽約、蓋章，正在建設中。

And the next opening, when is that scheduled for?

下次開業預計何時舉行？

I believe the fall -- hold on a second. Late next summer.

我認為是秋天——等一下。是明年夏末。

Calendar '22.

22年日曆。

Yes, calendar '22, which would be Q1 of '23.

是的，是2022年的日曆，也就是2023年的第一季。

And then just one for -- on your business customer. Just remind us of your business customer mix. And then what are you seeing in that customer as things start to recover? Do you think there's any permanent damage to that business at all? Or do you expect it to just sort of come back with reopen?

然後，還有一個問題—關於您的企業客戶。請您簡單介紹一下您的企業客戶組成。隨著業務開始復甦，您觀察到這些客戶的情況如何？您認為他們的業務會受到任何永久性損害嗎？還是您預計隨著業務重新開放，一切都會恢復正常？

Look, there's fewer businesses. I mean yes, I think one of the things that recognize this change over our 37 years or so in business, if you go back in the first few years, it was probably 75-25 or 80-20 business to consumer. And consumers were buying a lot of institutional business items. Today, arguably while we're still a wholesaler and, certainly, business members are important to us, it's probably 75-25 the other way, 75 consumer. And recognize one of the reasons we've done our business center is to focus more on that as well. In fact, I think all 3 openings in Canada this coming quarter or this past quarter, are business centers. And our deliveries are starting to come back.

你看，企業數量確實減少了。我的意思是，沒錯，我認為在我們過去37年左右的經營歷程中，這種變化顯而易見。如果你回顧最初幾年，當時企業對消費者（B2C）的比例大概是75%比25%或80%比20%。那時消費者購買的很多都是機構用的產品。而如今，雖然我們仍然是批發商，企業客戶對我們來說也很重要，但情況可能正好相反，75%比25%面向消費者。我們開設商務中心的原因之一就是為了更專注於這方面。事實上，我認為我們在加拿大新開的三家門市，無論是上個季度還是下一個季度，都是商務中心。而我們的送貨量也開始恢復了。

Look, at the end of the day, I don't have the statistics in front of me, but if there were -- for every 100 small restaurants, be it a food truck or takeout or ethnic, I don't know how many of them closed, probably not a lot, but was it 10 or 20, I don't know. And the others are coming back. So there's probably a little bit of detriment there. And as I mentioned earlier, though, our view is that we think some of the business, not just in the food area, will be sticky to us as well.

說到底，我手邊沒有具體統計數據，但如果有的話——每100家小餐館，不管是餐車、外賣店還是特色餐廳，我不知道有多少家倒閉了，可能不多，大概10家還是20家吧，我不清楚。而其他的餐廳都在重新開張。所以，這方面可能確實受到了一些影響。不過，就像我之前提到的，我們認為，不只是餐飲業，其他一些行業也會繼續支持我們。

There are no question at this time. Sir, you may continue.

目前沒有問題。先生，您可以繼續。

I would like to just say one last thing. At the end of the call before opening it to Q&A, I mentioned that our May sales release for the 4 weeks ending May 30 would be on Thursday, June 4. It's actually Thursday, June 3. So thanks for that correction. Thank you, everyone, and have a good day.

最後我想補充一點。在電話會議結束、進入問答環節之前，我提到我們5月截至5月30日的四週銷售數據將於6月4日（週四）發布。實際上是6月3日（週四）。感謝大家的指正。謝謝大家，祝大家今天愉快。

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。您可以斷開連線了。