好市多 (COST) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Krista, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Costco Wholesale Corporation third-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝你的支持。我叫克里斯塔，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時此刻，我歡迎大家參加 Costco 批發公司 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）

Thank you. I will now turn the conference over to Gary Millerchip, Executive Vice President and Chief Finance Officer. Gary, you may begin your conference.

謝謝。我現在將會議交給執行副總裁兼財務長 Gary Millerchip。加里，你可以開始你的會議了。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining the call today. I'd like to start by saying how excited I am to be part of the Costco team, and it is a pleasure to be hosting my first Costco quarterly conference call. The whole Costco team has been incredibly welcoming. And as you might imagine, my first three months working alongside Richard has been a lot of fun.

大家下午好，感謝您今天加入電話會議。首先，我想說，能夠成為 Costco 團隊的一員，我感到非常興奮，並且很高興主持我的第一次 Costco 季度電話會議。 Costco 的整個團隊都非常熱情。正如您可能想像的那樣，我與理查德一起工作的前三個月非常有趣。

It's also being great visiting warehouses and facilities to immerse myself in the Costco culture and experience first-hand how this is positioning the company for continued growth. Over recent months, I've spent time and met with many analysts and investors, several of whom I know through my prior role, and it's clear you value and appreciate the company's current approach to investor communications.

參觀倉庫和設施，讓自己沉浸在 Costco 文化中，並親身體驗這如何幫助公司實現持續成長，這也是很棒的體驗。近幾個月來，我花時間會見了許多分析師和投資者，其中有幾位是我在之前的職位上認識的，很明顯，您重視並欣賞公司當前的投資者溝通方式。

While I can't promise to be able to match the humor that Richard Galanti has become famous for, I can promise the same level of open dialogue and transparency you've come to expect. Oh, and to clear up some recent media speculation, I also wanted to confirm the 1.50 hotdog price is safe.

雖然我不能保證能夠與理查德·加蘭蒂（Richard Galanti）聞名的幽默相媲美，但我可以保證與您所期望的相同水平的公開對話和透明度。哦，為了澄清最近媒體的一些猜測，我還想確認 1.50 熱狗的價格是安全的。

Before I talk about our results, I wanted to mention that Ron Vachris has also joined today's call. Many of you have expressed interest in hearing from Ron, and so we thought it would be a good idea to have Ron join the discussion, and he can also take a few questions.

在談論我們的結果之前，我想提一下 Ron Vachris 也參加了今天的電話會議。你們中的許多人都表示有興趣聽取羅恩的意見，因此我們認為讓羅恩加入討論是個好主意，他也可以回答一些問題。

Ron, would you like to add anything before we talk about the quarter?

羅恩，在我們討論本季之前，您想補充一下嗎？

Thank you, Gary. And again, welcome to Costco. I'm very happy to report that the transition from Richard to Gary has gone very well. And we're very excited to have Gary onboard as part of Costco, and I look forward to working together on the growth opportunities ahead for our company.

謝謝你，加里。再次歡迎來到 Costco。我很高興地向大家報告，從理查德到加里的過渡進展順利。我們非常高興加里加入 Costco，我期待與他們共同努力，為我們公司帶來未來的成長機會。

Before we jump into the quarter, I wanted to make a couple of comments on the leadership transition. As Richard has mentioned on previous calls, I've worked closely with Craig Jelinek for many years, including side by side for the last two years as President. And so the CEO transition has been a very seamless process. Since January, my time has been focused on working closely with teams around the world to ensure we continue to deliver the best-quality merchandise at a best value for our members.

在我們進入本季度之前，我想就領導層換屆發表一些評論。正如理查德在之前的電話中提到的那樣，我與克雷格·耶利內克（Craig Jelinek）密切合作多年，包括在擔任總裁的最後兩年裡並肩工作。因此，執行長的過渡是一個非常順利的過程。自一月以來，我的時間一直專注於與世界各地的團隊密切合作，以確保我們繼續以最佳價值為我們的會員提供最優質的商品。

I'm incredibly proud of our employees, and I believe our consistency of results is a reflection of their commitment to our members and to each other. Consistent with how Craig and Richard manage investor communications, I intend to have Gary host the quarterly conference calls, and I will join as business permits to answer a few questions. So Gary, let's go to the results, and I'm happy to jump back in for the Q&A portion to the field some questions today.

我為我們的員工感到無比自豪，我相信我們結果的一致性反映了他們對我們的會員和彼此的承諾。與克雷格和理查德管理投資者溝通的方式一致，我打算讓加里主持季度電話會議，並且在業務允許的情況下我將參加回答幾個問題。蓋瑞，讓我們看看結果，我很高興今天回到問答部分，回答一些問題。

Thanks, Ron. 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.

謝謝，羅恩。首先我要指出的是，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。結果和/或業績有重大差異。

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.

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向 SEC 提交的公開聲明和報告中不時發現的其他風險。前瞻性陳述僅代表截至其作出之日的情況，本公司不承諾更新這些陳述，除非法律要求。

Comparable sales and comparable sales excluding impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange are intended as supplemental information and are not a substitute for net sales presented in accordance with GAAP. In today's press release, we reported operating results for the third quarter of fiscal '24 for the 12 weeks ended May 12.

可比銷售額和不包括汽油價格和外匯變化影響的可比銷售額旨在作為補充信息，不能替代根據公認會計原則提出的淨銷售額。在今天的新聞稿中，我們報告了 24 財年第三季截至 5 月 12 日的 12 週的營運表現。

Before I walk through all the numbers, new for this quarter, we are making available a slide presentation on our investor site under Events and Presentations. These slides summarize much of the information I will share today, including Richard's famous matrices. We intend to make this information available every quarter.

在我詳細介紹本季度的所有數據之前，我們將在投資者網站的「活動和簡報」下提供幻燈片演示。這些幻燈片總結了我今天將分享的大部分信息，包括理查德著名的矩陣。我們打算每季提供此資訊。

Reported net income for the third quarter came in at $1.68 billion, or $3.78 per diluted share, up from $1.3 billion and $2.93 per diluted share in the third quarter last year. Last year's results included a non-recurring charge to merchandise costs of $298 million pretax, or $0.50 per diluted share, primarily for the discontinuation of our charter shipping activities.

第三季報告的淨利潤為 16.8 億美元，即稀釋後每股收益 3.78 美元，高於去年第三季的 13 億美元和稀釋後每股收益 2.93 美元。去年的業績包括稅前 2.98 億美元的非經常性商品成本費用，即稀釋後每股 0.50 美元，主要用於終止我們的包機運輸活動。

Net sales for the third quarter were $57.39 billion an increase of 9.1% from $52.6 billion in the third quarter last year. The following comparable sales reflect comparable locations year over year and comparable retail weeks. US comp sales were 6.2% or 6% adjusted for gas inflation and FX. Canada was 7.7% or 7.4% adjusted. Other international was 7.7% or 8.5% adjusted, and this led to total company comp sales of 6.6% or 6.5% adjusted for gas inflation and FX. Finally, e-commerce comp sales were 20.7%, both on a reported basis and adjusted for foreign exchange.

第三季淨銷售額為 573.9 億美元，比去年第三季的 526 億美元成長 9.1%。以下可比較銷售額反映了可比較地點的年比情況和可比較零售週數。美國公司銷售額成長 6.2%，或根據天然氣通膨和外匯調整後成長 6%。加拿大為 7.7% 或 7.4% 調整後。其他國際業務調整後為 7.7% 或 8.5%，這導致根據天然氣通膨和外匯調整後的公司總銷售額為 6.6% 或 6.5%。最後，電子商務銷售額佔 20.7%（按報告資料計算並經過外匯調整）。

In terms of Q3, comp sales metrics, traffic or shopping frequency increased 6.1% worldwide and 5.5% in the US. Our average transaction or ticket was up 0.5% worldwide and up 0.7% in the US. Foreign currencies relative to the US dollar negatively impacted sales by approximately 20 basis points, while gasoline price inflation positively impacted sales by approximately 30 basis points.

就第三季而言，全球範圍內的比較銷售指標、流量或購物頻率增加了 6.1%，美國成長了 5.5%。我們的全球平均交易或門票成長了 0.5%，美國成長了 0.7%。外幣相對於美元對銷售產生約 20 個基點的負面影響，而汽油價格上漲對銷售產生約 30 個基點的正面影響。

Moving down the income statement to membership fee income. We reported membership fee income of $1,123 million an increase of $79 million or 7.6% year over year. Membership fee income growth was 8%, excluding FX. In terms of renewal rates at Q3-end, our US and Canada renewal rate was 93%, up [one-tenth of a percent] from Q2-end. The worldwide rate came in at 90.5%, the same as Q2-end.

將損益表下移至會員費收入。我們的會員費收入為 11.23 億美元，年增 7,900 萬美元，即 7.6%。會員費收入成長 8%（不含外匯）。就第三季末的續訂率而言，我們的美國和加拿大續訂率為 93%，比第二季末上升[十分之一]。全球比率為 90.5%，與第二季末相同。

We ended Q3 with 74.5 million paid household members, up 7.8% versus last year and 133.9 million cardholders, up 7.4% year over year. By Q3-end, we had 34.5 million paid executive memberships, an increase of 661,000 since Q2-end. Executive members now represent over 46% of paid members and 73.1% of worldwide sales.

截至第三季末，我們的付費家庭成員數量為 7,450 萬，年增 7.8%；持卡人數量為 1.339 億，年增 7.4%。截至第三季末，我們擁有 3,450 萬付費高階主管會員，較第二季末增加了 661,000 名。執行會員目前佔付費會員的 46% 以上，佔全球銷售額的 73.1%。

Our reported gross margin rate in the third quarter was higher year over year by 52 basis points, coming in at 10.84% compared to 10.32% last year and up 54 basis points excluding gas inflation. Core was flat and higher by 2 basis points without gas inflation. In terms of core margin on their own sales, our core-on-core margins were higher by 10 basis points.

我們報告的第三季毛利率年增了 52 個基點，為 10.84%，而去年為 10.32%，不包括天然氣通膨則上升了 54 個基點。在沒有天然氣通膨的情況下，核心持平並上漲了 2 個基點。就其自身銷售的核心利潤率而言，我們的核心間利潤率高出 10 個基點。

Ancillary and other businesses gross margin was lower 6 basis points and lower 5 basis points, excluding gas inflation. This decrease year over year was driven by gas, partially offset by e-commerce. 2% Reward was lower by 1 basis point, both with and without gas inflation, with higher sales penetration coming from our executive members.

輔助及其他業務毛利率下降 6 個基點，並下降 5 個基點（不含天然氣通膨）。這一同比下降是由天然氣推動的，但被電子商務部分抵消。無論有沒有天然氣通膨，2% 獎勵都降低了 1 個基點，而我們的執行成員的銷售滲透率更高。

LIFO was a benefit of 2 basis points. We had an $11 million LIFO credit in Q3 this year compared to no LIFO charge or credit in Q3 last year. This is the third LIFO credit this year, following a $15 million LIFO credit in Q1 and a $14 million credit in Q2.

LIFO 帶來了 2 個基點的好處。今年第三季我們有 1,100 萬美元的後進先出信用，而去年第三季沒有後進先出費用或信用。這是繼第一季 1,500 萬美元的後進先出信貸和第二季 1,400 萬美元的後進先出信貸之後，今年的第三筆後進先出信貸。

And finally, other was high at 57 basis points or 56 basis points excluding gas inflation. This was all related to lapping last year's negative impact from the $298 million pretax charge for charter shipping activities.

最後，其他利率高至 57 個基點或 56 個基點（不包括天然氣通膨）。這一切都與去年包機運輸活動稅前費用 2.98 億美元的負面影響有關。

Moving on to SG&A, our reported SG&A rate in the third quarter was lower or better year over year by 15 basis points, coming in this year at 8.96% compared to last year's 9.11%. SG&A was lower year over year by 12 basis points adjusted for gas inflation.

接下來是 SG&A，我們報告的第三季 SG&A 率年減或提高了 15 個基點，今年為 8.96%，而去年為 9.11%。經天然氣通膨調整後，SG&A 年減 12 個基點。

The operations components of SG&A was lower by 14 basis points and lower by 12 basis points excluding the impact from gas inflation despite an increase in warehouse wages this year. Higher labor productivity and great cost discipline by our operators drove the improved core SG&A results for the quarter. Central was better by 1 basis point and flat without gas inflation. Stock compensation and preopening were both flat year over year.

儘管今年倉庫工資有所增加，但 SG&A 的營運部分下降了 14 個基點，排除天然氣通膨的影響則下降了 12 個基點。更高的勞動生產力和營運商嚴格的成本控制推動了本季核心 SG&A 業績的改善。中央銀行的表現優於 1 個基點，並且在沒有天然氣通膨的情況下持平。股票報酬和開業前均與去年同期持平。

Below the operating income line, interest expense was $41 million this year versus $36 million last year. And interest income and other for the quarter was flat year over year as lower interest income was offset by a foreign exchange gain in the quarter. In terms of income taxes, our tax rate in Q3 was 26.4% compared to 26.5% in Q3 last year. Overall reported net income was up 29.1% year over year. And excluding last year's charge related to the discontinuation of charter shipping activities, it was up 10.3% year over year.

營業收入線以下的利息支出今年為 4,100 萬美元，而去年為 3,600 萬美元。本季的利息收入和其他收入同比持平，因為本季的外匯收益抵消了利息收入的下降。在所得稅方面，我們第三季的稅率為26.4%，而去年第三季為26.5%。整體報告淨利潤年增 29.1%。排除去年與終止租船活動相關的費用，年增 10.3%。

A few other items of note. In terms of warehouse expansion, in the third quarter, we opened two new warehouses, both in the US. Additionally, since the end of Q3 we had two more openings.

其他一些值得注意的事項。在倉庫擴張方面，第三季我們開設了兩個新倉庫，兩人都是位於美國。此外，自第三季末以來，我們又增加了兩個職缺。

Last week we opened in Loomis, California. And two days ago, we opened our seventh building in China in the Nanjing market. For the remainder of fiscal '24, we plan to open another 12 new locations: 9 in the US, 2 in Japan, and 1 in Korea. This would bring the total for the full year to 30 openings, including 1 relocation for a net of 29 new warehouses.

上週我們在加州盧米斯開業。兩天前，我們在南京市場開設了在中國的第七棟大樓。在 24 財年剩餘時間內，我們計劃開設另外 12 個新地點：美國 9 個、日本 2 個、韓國 1 個。這將使全年空缺倉庫總數達到 30 個，其中包括 1 個搬遷倉庫，總共 29 個新倉庫。

Regarding capital expenditures, Q3 spend was approximately $1.06 billion, and we estimate full year '24 capital expenditure will be between $4.3 billion and $4.5 billion.

關於資本支出，第三季支出約為 10.6 億美元，我們估計 24 年全年資本支出將在 43 億至 45 億美元之間。

Diving a bit deeper into some of the key themes we saw during the quarter. Non-foods have the highest comps of our core categories. This strength was aided by lapping some softness in sales a year ago, but was really driven by our merchandising teams, doing a great job identifying high-quality items with values that really resonated with our members and buying those items with conviction.

更深入地探討我們在本季看到的一些關鍵主題。非食品在我們的核心類別中具有最高的競爭力。這項優勢得益於一年前的銷售疲軟，但真正的推動力是我們的銷售團隊，他們出色地識別了具有真正與我們的會員產生共鳴的價值觀的高品質商品，並堅定地購買了這些商品。

As inflation has leveled off, our members are returning to purchasing more discretionary items and growth in the category was led by toys, tires, lawn and garden, and health and beauty aids. Bakery sales also showed great momentum in the quarter as our fresh foods team has reinvented that department with a number of new and exciting items, including the Kirkland Signature lemon blueberry loaf and morning buns.

隨著通貨膨脹趨於平穩，我們的會員開始購買更多的非必需品，而玩具、輪胎、草坪和花園以及健康和美容用品帶動了該類別的成長。麵包店銷售在本季度也表現出強勁勢頭，因為我們的生鮮食品團隊推出了許多令人興奮的新產品，包括柯克蘭招牌檸檬藍莓麵包和早餐麵包，徹底改造了該部門。

Within our ancillary businesses, the food court had the strongest quarterly sales with continued success of the chocolate chip cookie that was added to the food court this year. On the inflation front, it's more of the same from last quarter. Across all core merchandise, inflation was essentially flat in Q3 with fresh foods close to zero and slight inflation in food and sundries being offset by some deflation in non-foods.

在我們的輔助業務中，美食廣場的季度銷售最為強勁，今年美食廣場新增的巧克力餅乾繼續取得成功。在通膨方面，與上季基本相同。在所有核心商品中，第三季通膨基本上持平，生鮮食品接近零，食品和雜貨的小幅通膨被非食品的部分通貨緊縮所抵消。

The deflation in non-foods was led by hardware, sporting goods, and furniture, all still benefiting from lower freight costs year over year. Keep in mind that when we speak to inflation or in the case of non-foods deflation, we're referring to our selling prices.

非食品領域的通貨緊縮主要由五金、體育用品和家具主導，這些產業仍受貨運成本逐年下降。請記住，當我們談論通貨膨脹或非食品通貨緊縮時，我們指的是我們的銷售價格。

We're intentionally creating incremental value for our members by delivering lower prices wherever possible. We believe our strategy of delivering value to drive unit volume and member satisfaction is a winning combination for us.

我們有意透過盡可能提供更低的價格來為我們的會員創造增量價值。我們相信，透過提供價值來提高銷售和會員滿意度的策略對我們來說是一個成功的組合。

In that vein, our buying teams are constantly aware of changing costs across all of their SKUs and are ensuring that we are capturing all cost decreases quickly so that we can pass on incremental value through price reductions. If we are unsuccessful in delivering ultimate value with branded goods, we evaluate the potential for new high-quality Kirkland Signature items with a goal of providing at least 20% value versus what we would sell the national brand item at.

本著這種精神，我們的採購團隊不斷意識到所有 SKU 的成本變化，並確保我們快速捕捉所有成本下降，以便我們可以透過降價傳遞增量價值。如果我們未能成功地透過品牌商品實現最終價值，我們會評估新的高品質 Kirkland Signature 商品的潛力，目標是提供比我們銷售全國品牌商品至少 20% 的價值。

This quarter, we released a new Kirkland Signature men's walking shoe and new Kirkland Signature facial wipes, both of which are doing very well. We also reduced prices on a number of existing items, including lowering Kirkland Signature pine nuts from $29.99 to $24.99 and reducing the price of our Kirkland Signature frozen shrimp skewers by $1. These are just a couple of examples that came out of our recent monthly budget meetings, where each country and region shares new and exciting items they have introduced to their warehouses and items where they've lowered prices.

本季度，我們發布了新款 Kirkland Signature 男士步行鞋和新款 Kirkland Signature 面部濕紙巾，這兩款產品的表現都非常好。我們也降低了一些現有商品的價格，包括將 Kirkland Signature 松子從 29.99 美元降低至 24.99 美元，並將 Kirkland Signature 冷凍蝦串的價格降低 1 美元。這些只是我們最近的每月預算會議中的幾個例子，每個國家和地區都分享了他們引入倉庫的新的令人興奮的物品以及他們降低了價格的物品。

Turning now to digital, we continue to make enhancements to the app and website and are excited about this traction that these initiatives are getting with members. Total e-commerce sales growth in the quarter was led by gold and silver bullion, gift cards, and appliances. In appliances, Costco Logistics is playing a key role in providing both greater value and a better end-to-end experience for members.

現在轉向數位化，我們繼續改進應用程式和網站，並對這些舉措對會員的吸引力感到興奮。本季電子商務銷售總額成長主要由金銀條、禮品卡和電器帶動。在家電領域，Costco Logistics 在為會員提供更大價值和更好的端到端體驗方面發揮關鍵作用。

Deliveries through Costco Logistics were up 28% in the quarter. Costco Next, our curated marketplace, also continues to grow nicely, and we added 8 new vendors in Q3, bringing the total to 75. Our app downloads were up 32% versus a year ago with about 2.5 million new downloads in the quarter, bringing total downloads to more than 35 million. Site traffic was up 16%, and average order value was up 8%.

本季透過 Costco Logistics 的交付量成長了 28%。我們精心策劃的市場Costco Next 也持續保持良好成長，我們在第三季新增了8 家供應商，使供應商總數達到75 家。新增下載量約250 萬次，總下載量超過3500萬次。網站流量增加了 16%，平均訂單價值增加了 8%。

You may have also recently seen an announcement that we are expanding our relationship with Uber. Previously Uber Eats delivered Costco orders in Texas, and this new agreement allows consumers the ability to order from Costco through Uber Eats across all of Canada as well as 17 states in the US. We are also working to expand this partnership to several of our international countries in the coming months.

您最近可能也看到了我們正在擴大與 Uber 合作關係的公告。在此之前，Uber Eats 曾在德州為 Costco 訂單配送，而這項新協議允許消費者在加拿大全境以及美國 17 個州透過 Uber Eats 向 Costco 訂購訂單。我們也致力於在未來幾個月內將這種夥伴關係擴展到我們的幾個國際國家。

In addition to the increased access to Uber Eats customers, the agreement will allow us to sell the Uber gift cards globally and offer discounted Uber One annual membership to Costco members. Finally, in terms of our upcoming releases, we will announce our May sales results for the four weeks ending Sunday June 2, on Wednesday June 5, after market close. Also remember that our fiscal fourth quarter ending September 1, 2024, will have 16 weeks versus the 17 weeks in the fiscal fourth quarter last year.

除了增加與 Uber Eats 優食客戶的接觸外，該協議還將允許我們在全球銷售 Uber 禮品卡，並向 Costco 會員提供折扣的 Uber One 年度會員資格。最後，就我們即將發布的產品而言，我們將在 6 月 5 日星期三收盤後公佈截至 6 月 2 日星期日的四個星期的 5 月份銷售結果。另請記住，截至 2024 年 9 月 1 日的第四財季將有 16 週，而去年第四財季為 17 週。

And with that, we will now open up for Q&A.

接下來，我們將開始問答環節。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。 （操作員說明）

Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

西蒙古特曼，摩根士丹利。

Good afternoon. Hey, Gary. I'm going to take a stab at this membership question. The way that we thought about is it's an inflation offset to the model. And it was described as if you have enough levers in the middle of the P&L to deliver whenever stated EBIT growth you're trying to do; you didn't need to touch the membership fee. Is that still the way that you look at it? And is that visibility on enough levers still intact?

午安.嘿，加里。我將嘗試這個會員資格問題。我們考慮的方式是它是模型的通貨膨脹抵消。根據描述，如果您在損益表中擁有足夠的槓桿，可以在您嘗試實現規定的息稅前利潤增長時實現；你不需要碰會員費。現在還是這樣看嗎？足夠多的槓桿上的可見性是否仍然完好無損？

Thanks. Simeon. And you're talking about a membership fee increase now. Is that where you question is coming ?

謝謝。西蒙.你現在正在談論增加會員費。這就是你提出問題的地方嗎？

Correct.

正確的。

I would really kind of revert back to some of the comments that Richard shared previously. I don't think that we're thinking about it any differently than he's talked about in the last few calls. We've, historically, looked at increasing the membership fee every five years or so. And obviously, we're beyond that time period now in terms of what would be the typical cycle.

我真的很想回到理查德之前分享的一些評論。我認為我們對這個問題的思考與他在過去幾次電話中談到的沒有什麼不同。從歷史上看，我們曾考慮每五年左右增加一次會員費。顯然，就典型週期而言，我們現在已經超越了那個時間段。

There's nothing about anything that we see within how the business is performing that's changing our view on that. We feel really good about membership renewal rates. We feel really good about the test of delivering significantly more value to members than we were or have since we last increased the membership fee.

我們在業務表現中看到的任何事情都不會改變我們對此的看法。我們對會員續訂率感覺非常好。自從我們上次增加會員費以來，我們對為會員提供顯著更多價值的測試感到非常滿意。

But I think we are our own probably toughest competitor in that we look at what happened in the marketplace over the last few years, and when we were seeing high inflation and the risk and concern around recession, we -- I know before I joined the company was talked about extensively, and it continues to be talked about as it's something that is still a case of when we increase the fee rather than if we increase the fee. But we're still evaluating those considerations to determine what the right timing is. And when we reach that point where we feel is the right time, of course, we'll be very open on directly communicating that.

但我認為我們可能是我們自己最強大的競爭對手，因為我們看看過去幾年市場上發生的事情，當我們看到高通膨以及圍繞衰退的風險和擔憂時，我們——我在加入之前就知道了公司被廣泛談論，並且繼續被談論，因為這仍然是我們何時增加費用而不是我們是否增加費用的情況。但我們仍在評估這些考慮因素，以確定正確的時機。當然，當我們到達我們認為合適的時機時，我們會非常開放地直接溝通。

Okay. Fair enough. Can I ask about your opinion on the US expansion? It's been holding in a lot better, and it's been more giving than we would have thought several years ago. Do you have any thoughts? Just your own perspective -- you're probably looking at members per warehouse. Are you surprised at the runway you still have in the US? Do you think it could be even more than what we're aware of today? Less? Just curious if there's anything surprising on that item.

好的。很公平。可以問一下您對美國擴張的看法嗎？它比我們幾年前想像的要好得多，而且給予的也更多。你有什麼想法嗎？只是您自己的觀點 - 您可能正在查看每個倉庫的成員。您對美國仍然擁有的跑道感到驚訝嗎？您認為它可能比我們今天所了解的還要多嗎？較少的？只是好奇該物品是否有什麼令人驚訝的地方。

I think it's only surprising in as much as -- I know we've talked previously about we thought that we would potentially run out of runway for new warehouses in the US. And as you know, this year, we're opening close to 29 net new warehouses. And many of those will be -- continue in the US, and we still see some significant runway to continue to opening more warehouses in the US in the future.

我認為這只是令人驚訝——我知道我們之前已經討論過我們認為我們可能會耗盡美國新倉庫的跑道。如您所知，今年我們淨開設近 29 個新倉庫。其中許多將在美國繼續進行，我們仍然看到未來繼續在美國開設更多倉庫的重要途徑。

I think that 25 to 30 new warehouse counties is a reasonable proxy for what we think the runway is for the foreseeable future for new warehouses. And I'd be surprised if at least half of those weren't in the -- continue to be in the US, because we still see significant growth when we open those new warehouses. And what it's doing for us in fill-in markets is it is creating capacity for our members that are shopping in very busy warehouses today to be able to shop more frequently and drive more engagement with us. And it also increases membership renewal rates over time as well.

我認為 25 到 30 個新倉庫縣是我們認為在可預見的未來新倉庫跑道的合理代表。如果其中至少有一半不在美國，我會感到驚訝，因為當我們開設這些新倉庫時，我們仍然會看到顯著的成長。它在填充市場中為我們所做的事情是，為今天在非常繁忙的倉庫中購物的會員創造能力，使其能夠更頻繁地購物並推動與我們的更多互動。隨著時間的推移，它也會提高會員續約率。

So I think we still see plenty of runway in the US to continue to open more warehouses, but we also see a lot of growth opportunity across in the international markets as well.

因此，我認為我們在美國仍然有足夠的空間繼續開設更多倉庫，但我們也看到國際市場有許多成長機會。

Michael Lasser, UBS.

麥可拉瑟，瑞銀集團。

Good morning -- good afternoon. Thank you so much for taking my question. There's been a lot of announcements from consumable retailers in recent times about making price investments. Do you think you need to make a sizable price investment in next couple of quarters in order to remain competitive?

早安，下午好。非常感謝您回答我的問題。最近，消費品零售商發布了許多關於進行價格投資的公告。您認為您是否需要在接下來的幾季進行大量價格投資才能保持競爭力？

This is Ron Vachris. No, I think that this is part of our everyday DNA. We are competitive on a daily basis. Our buyers are on top of pricing daily, weekly, and we all review them each month. And so we feel very good about where we are today and our runway to continue to be as competitive as we are moving forward.

這是羅恩·瓦克里斯。不，我認為這是我們日常生活 DNA 的一部分。我們每天都充滿競爭力。我們的買家每天、每週都會了解定價，我們每個月都會對其進行審核。因此，我們對我們今天所處的位置以及我們在前進過程中繼續保持競爭力的跑道感到非常滿意。

My follow-up question is, given some of the changes in leadership over the last year or so, is there any thought given to being more aggressive with some of the evolution on the model? Things like buy online, pickup in store; deploying technology in store; or capitalized being on ever to a great amount of data that Costco has in the form of trying to monetize it through retail media. Thank you very much.

我的後續問題是，考慮到過去一年左右領導層的一些變化，是否考慮過對模型的一些演變採取更積極的態度？例如網上購買、店內取貨；在店內部署技術；或者利用 Costco 擁有的大量數據，試圖透過零售媒體將其貨幣化。非常感謝。

And I think the answer to that is yes on all those fronts. We are working on all those aspects right now. We're rolling out from an expanded buy online, pickup in warehouse. That is always going to be limited in scope based on the volume in our warehouses that we have. We can't expand to all categories, but we're expanding as we currently speak in televisions and other electronic items that are there. And so, yeah, we see that as a real opportunity for us.

我認為在所有這些方面答案都是肯定的。我們現在正在研究所有這些方面。我們正在擴大線上購買、倉庫提貨的範圍。根據我們倉庫的數量，其範圍總是受到限制。我們無法擴展到所有類別，但我們正在擴展，就像我們目前在電視和其他電子產品中所說的那樣。所以，是的，我們認為這對我們來說是一個真正的機會。

Technology is going to be one of our key priorities moving forward -- how do we improve that member engagement and the relationship we have with them in our brick-and-mortar warehouses as well as online and through other aspects such as travel and so forth. So technology, we see is a great opportunity to enhance the member relationship with Costco and also drive a lot more business for us as well as we move forward.

科技將成為我們前進的關鍵優先事項之一——我們如何提高會員參與度以及我們在實體倉庫、線上以及透過旅行等其他方面與他們建立的關係。因此，我們認為科技是一個很好的機會，可以增強與 Costco 的會員關係，並為我們帶來更多業務並推動我們前進。

So we're going to continually innovate. With the management changes, I wouldn't expect major changes as we have a proven strategy now. But as we've done for the past 41 years, we can continue to innovate to the needs of our members.

所以我們要不斷創新。隨著管理層的變動，我預計不會發生重大變化，因為我們現在已經有了經過驗證的策略。但正如我們過去 41 年所做的那樣，我們可以繼續創新以滿足會員的需求。

And then the last on data, absolutely. We see a great opportunity for our data. We have expanded our group there. We have a significant program now with retail media, and we see some great upside potential. We've expanded that team, and we see some good potential and some good runway for us in that as well. Things like personalization and so forth.

最後是數據，絕對是。我們看到了數據的巨大機會。我們在那裡擴大了我們的團隊。我們現在與零售媒體有一個重要的計劃，我們看到了一些巨大的上升潛力。我們已經擴大了該團隊，我們也看到了一些良好的潛力和良好的跑道。例如個性化等等。

Chuck Grom, Gordon Haskett.

查克·格羅姆，戈登·哈斯克特。

Hey, good afternoon and congrats again, Gary. Historically, Richard and team have been steadfast on the 14% to 15% margin ceiling, which has clearly paid dividends for the company over the years. I'm curious how you and Ron view this threshold. Are you going to adhere to it? Do you think you're going to earn more? Just your thoughts on the margin front.

嘿，下午好，再次祝賀，加里。從歷史上看，理查德和團隊一直堅定不移地堅持 14% 至 15% 的利潤率上限，這表明該公司多年來帶來了股息。我很好奇你和榮恩如何看待這個門檻。你會堅持下去嗎？你認為你會賺更多嗎？只是您對保證金方面的想法。

No, with that -- that 14%, 15%, that has been part of ROI for many years. So our objective, our buyers' goals is really how aggressive they can get on pricing and deliver the best value. So I don't see -- there's no plans to move that cap at all.

不，多年來，14%、15% 一直是投資回報率的一部分。因此，我們的目標，我們的買家的目標實際上是他們在定價上的積極性並提供最佳價值。所以我不認為——根本沒有計劃改變這個上限。

And Chuck, maybe just one thing to build on that too. I think as you think about some of the opportunities that Ron mentioned on the earlier call, I completely echo Ron's comment about we have already clear growth strategy that's, obviously, delivering momentum in the company today, and these opportunities through technology and media, I think, are great opportunities for us to find new ways to unlocking value.

查克，也許也只是在此基礎上發展的一件事。我認為，當您考慮到羅恩在之前的電話會議中提到的一些機會時，我完全同意羅恩的評論，即我們已經制定了明確的增長戰略，顯然，該戰略為今天的公司帶來了動力，並且透過科技和媒體提供了這些機會，我認為，這對我們來說是尋找釋放價值的新方法的絕佳機會。

But again, I think -- i see those very much in the mindset of how do we give 90%-ish of that back to the members so that we're continuing to drive member engagement, member loyalty, and member value.

但我再次認為，我認為這些非常重要的是我們如何將其中 90% 左右的回報回饋給會員，以便我們可以繼續提高會員參與度、會員忠誠度和會員價值。

Okay, great. And then just going to build off Michael's questions, just wanted to get your high-level thoughts on digital e-comm. What do you think Costco's strengths are? What do you think that the weaknesses are today? And where do you think the biggest focus is going to be for the company are in the coming years?

好的，太好了。然後，我將繼續回答邁克爾的問題，只是想了解您對數位電子商務的高層次想法。您認為Costco的優勢是什麼？您認為今天的弱點是什麼？您認為公司未來幾年最大的關注點將在哪裡？

Our biggest strengths on digital e-commerce, of course, the merchandise and the values that we have. I mean, that's what works for us in our brick and mortar -- the technology, the systems that we have. The teams have got a great road map of where they're going. A lot of the work that's being done right now is very foundational. So better fulfillment, quicker delivery times, reliability of the site, those type of things.

我們在數位電子商務方面的最大優勢，當然是我們擁有的商品和價值觀。我的意思是，這就是我們實體中最有效的東西——我們擁有的技術和系統。這些團隊已經制定了他們前進方向的偉大路線圖。目前正在進行的許多工作都是非常基礎的。因此，更好的履行、更快的交貨時間、網站的可靠性等等。

So those are the things. And then following that will come iterative changes or forward-facing improvements that you'll see in the sites and move forward. So I think we've got a very good roadmap to do that.

這些就是事情。接下來，您將在網站中看到並繼續進行迭代更改或前瞻性改進。所以我認為我們有一個非常好的路線圖來做到這一點。

But I think that does -- I think personalization is a big deal for members that we could do a much better job on and also a better correlation of the warehouse and the online business. We're working towards warehouse inventory online, so members could use that on the apps. But app functionality is one of our greatest opportunities.

但我認為確實如此——我認為個人化對會員來說是一件大事，我們可以在這方面做得更好，也可以更好地關聯倉庫和線上業務。我們正在努力實現線上倉庫庫存，以便會員可以在應用程式上使用它。但應用程式功能是我們最大的機會之一。

Scot Ciccarelli, Truist Securities.

斯科特·西卡雷利 (Scot Ciccarelli)，Truist 證券公司。

Thanks, guys. Scot Ciccarelli. So given the strength of your discretionary sales following the level that we've seen with -- as the economy got a little funky, does that suggest your members are starting to feel better and more willing to spend on wants rather than needs?

多謝你們。斯科特·西卡雷利。因此，考慮到您的可自由支配銷售的強度符合我們所看到的水平——隨著經濟變得有點不穩定，這是否表明您的會員開始感覺更好並且更願意花錢在想要的而不是需要的方面？

It does, indeed, look that way. I've got to tell you that the discretionary spend we're seeing, we're definitely winning in consumables as we see the food business and dining away from home has softened up a bit and people are eating, and we're seeing that in our fresh foods.

看起來確實是這樣。我必須告訴你，我們看到的可自由支配支出，我們肯定在消耗品方面獲勝，因為我們看到食品行業和外出就餐已經有所緩和，人們正在吃飯，我們看到在我們的新鮮食品中。

But I have to tell you that categories such as the home division and toys are categories that have lagged quite a bit post-COVID. That with great excitement -- I mean, our buyers have come out and delivered some great items at phenomenal values -- have really rejuvenated those categories. And those are both leading categories for us. And sporting goods, toys furnishings, domestics -- all those categories are really coming on very strong now and all of it, discretionary nature.

但我必須告訴你，像家居、玩具這樣的品類是在新冠疫情之後落後了相當多的品類。令人非常興奮的是——我的意思是，我們的買家已經出來並以驚人的價值交付了一些很棒的物品——確實讓這些類別煥發了活力。這些都是我們的主要類別。體育用品、玩具家具、家居用品——所有這些類別現在都非常強勁，而且都是可自由支配的。

Fascinating. And then, today we had a presentation. Obviously, Ron, you joined the call. Are there other changes we could potentially expect given some of the C-suite changes?

迷人。然後，今天我們進行了演示。顯然，羅恩，你加入了通話。考慮到高階主管的一些變化，我們還可能期待其他變化嗎？

I mean, again, like I said, there's no major changes planned. The team is the team that's been running this company for some time. Gary has been a great addition to us and is contributing nicely. But our model is working. It's working around the world, great value on quality merchandise. It seems to resonate in every region that we do business.

我的意思是，正如我所說，沒有計劃進行重大改變。該團隊是經營這家公司一段時間的團隊。加里對我們來說是一個很好的補充，並且做出了很好的貢獻。但我們的模型正在發揮作用。它的業務遍及世界各地，優質商品物超所值。它似乎在我們開展業務的每個地區都引起了共鳴。

So we'll continue to innovate. We'll continue to see new things and be relative to what our members' needs are. But I can't sit here today and tell you to expect anything -- any great momentous changes in the near future. We just want to continue to actually execute well.

所以我們會繼續創新。我們將繼續看到新事物並關注會員的需求。但我今天不能坐在這裡告訴你們期待任何事情——在不久的將來發生任何重大的變化。我們只是想繼續實際執行得很好。

And Scot, maybe just to add from my perspective of being new to the role and new to the company. Early observations for me, obviously, the -- incredibly impressed with the culture, and the strategy is clearly working very well. So my first priority is to really -- being new to the company is to really acclimatize and to support and enable a smooth transition with the culture to make sure the momentum that we have continues going forward.

史考特，也許只是從我剛接觸這個角色和剛接觸公司的角度來補充。對我來說，早期的觀察顯然對這種文化印象深刻，而且該策略顯然運作得非常好。因此，我的首要任務是真正——作為公司的新人，真正適應並支持文化並實現平穩過渡，以確保我們繼續前進的動力。

And I think the other point is, as we talked about a little bit earlier on the call, is we're on a journey with technology and data. And so hopefully, there's things that I can bring to work with the team and help us continuing on that journey and accelerate that journey. And really that's the priorities in my mind being new into the CFO role.

我認為另一點是，正如我們之前在電話會議中談到的那樣，我們正在踏上技術和數據的旅程。希望我可以為團隊帶來一些東西，幫助我們繼續這趟旅程並加速這一進程。事實上，這是我剛擔任財務長職位時的首要任務。

Kelly Bania, BMO Capital.

凱利·巴尼亞 (Kelly Bania)，BMO 資本。

Thanks for taking our questions. And Ron and Gary, pleasure to have you both on the call. And love the slides. Thank you.

感謝您回答我們的問題。羅恩和加里，很高興你們兩個參加電話會議。並且喜歡幻燈片。謝謝。

Wanted to just maybe go back a little bit to retail media strategy and personalization. I think, Ron, you noted a hire or maybe some key hires in that department. And Gary, I think you bring a unique perspective to this area or both of these areas.

我想稍微回顧一下零售媒體策略和個人化。我想，羅恩，你注意到了該部門的一名僱員或一些關鍵僱員。加里，我認為你為這個領域或這兩個領域帶來了獨特的視角。

So I guess just can you help size up the opportunity for us on these two fronts in retail media and personalization? Is it at all different than a typical retailer because of Costco's unique model and SKU count or anything along those lines? And I guess would your plans in these areas include any increase in technology spend in coming years?

所以我想你可以幫助我們評估一下零售媒體和個人化這兩方面的機會嗎？由於 Costco 獨特的模式和 SKU 數量或類似的因素，它與典型的零售商有什麼不同嗎？我想您在這些領域的計劃是否包括未來幾年技術支出的增加？

Sure. Thanks, Kelly. Yeah, I'll go first, and then Ron may want to add some color as well.

當然。謝謝，凱利。是的，我先走，然後羅恩可能也想添加一些顏色。

I think many of your comments are relevant to how we think about the opportunity from -- a first thing, I guess, I would say as being new and having joined the company is, as you think about where a lot of companies talk about alternative profit streams, there are a lot of areas today, where Costco is doing great things in that area today. So using and the strength of the membership relationship in driving a very large co-brand payment program that delivers value to members and delivers value to the company, the travel services business that we have, which is pretty unique in retail, but I think in any other company would be viewed as a way of generating new revenue and alternative revenue streams from -- sort of expanding from that overall retail relationship.

我認為你的許多評論都與我們如何看待機會有關——我想，我想說的第一件事是，作為新人並加入公司，就像你想到很多公司談論替代方案一樣利潤流，今天有很多領域，Costco 在這些領域都做得很好。因此，利用會員關係的力量來推動一個非常大的聯合品牌支付計劃，該計劃為會員提供價值，並為公司提供價值，我們擁有的旅行服務業務，這在零售業中非常獨特，但我認為任何其他公司都將被視為一種產生新收入和替代收入來源的方式——從整體零售關係中擴展。

And then thirdly, I would say we have media revenue today in areas of the business. So it's not as though it isn't something that actually the business is delivering on today. But I think as Ron mentioned in an earlier comment that as technology and data or something that was sort of building a path towards, I would still say the significant opportunity for us to grow in that space because of the unique nature of the relationship we have with our members and the ways in which we can deliver value for them and tap into that data and tap into the growth that we're creating, both in the warehouse and through digital channels.

第三，我想說我們今天在業務領域有媒體收入。因此，這並不是說這不是該公司今天實際上正在交付的東西。但我認為，正如羅恩在之前的評論中提到的那樣，作為技術和數據或某種正在建立道路的東西，我仍然會說，由於我們之間關係的獨特性，我們在該領域成長的重要機會與我們的會員以及我們為他們提供價值的方式，利用這些數據並利用我們在倉庫和數位管道中創造的成長。

I think it's a little bit early to sort of size it in totality, because you're right; there also some unique elements about our model that would make our opportunity a little bit different. But from what we know today and from the team that's been brought in to help the companies in through it, we certainly believe it's got significant runway to drive a lot of growth for the company. And as I mentioned earlier, though, I would definitely think of it is something that we will look at to -- as we do with everything, reinvest in the member to really accelerate the growth of the company overall.

我認為現在確定整體規模還為時過早，因為你是對的；我們的模式還有一些獨特的元素，這些元素將使我們的機會有所不同。但從我們今天所了解的情況以及為幫助公司渡過難關而聘請的團隊來看，我們當然相信它有重要的跑道來推動公司的大幅成長。不過，正如我之前提到的，我肯定會認為這是我們會關注的事情 - 正如我們對所有事情所做的那樣，對會員進行再投資，以真正加速公司的整體成長。

I would have to mirror what Gary says; we do have a unique model. We have a relationship with all of our members. Our responsibility is, use that data wisely and respectfully.

我必須效法加里所說的話；我們確實有一個獨特的模型。我們與所有成員都有關係。我們的責任是明智且尊重地使用這些數據。

As far as IT spend, yeah, there will be some IT spend. We don't see -- as we look in the future, we don't see that to be driving that will really change our trajectory of our cap investments, but then there will be some IT requirements, but we feel that will be in the normal course of business.

就 IT 支出而言，是的，將會有一些 IT 支出。我們不認為——正如我們展望未來那樣，我們認為這不會真正改變我們的上限投資軌跡，但也會有一些 IT 要求，但我們認為這將是在正常的業務過程中。

John Heinbockel, Guggenheim Securities.

約翰·海因博克爾，古根漢證券公司。

Guys, I wanted to go back to personalization again. Where do you think that conceptually the biggest opportunities are? When you think about wallet share, every one of your members is going to be a little different, but you can probably do cohorts. What are they not buying from you and why? Personalized promotions, outreach on new items coming into the warehouse, where do you think that the biggest opportunities are to build further wallet share?

夥計們，我想再次回到個性化。您認為概念上最大的機會在哪裡？當你考慮錢包份額時，你的每個成員都會有點不同，但你可能可以做群組。他們不從您那裡購買什麼？個人化促銷、對進入倉庫的新商品進行推廣，您認為最大的機會是進一步擴大錢包份額？

John, I'll go ahead and start out. I think the biggest opportunity is, just like you said, the awareness of the warehouse and keeping our members in tune on what's active, what's going on the warehouse near them, and how we can continue to enhance and drive those sales. I think that that's probably our greatest opportunity with digital as we see moving forward.

約翰，我要開始了。正如您所說，我認為最大的機會是提高倉庫意識，讓我們的會員了解哪些活動、附近倉庫的情況以及我們如何繼續增強和推動這些銷售。我認為，隨著我們的發展，這可能是我們數位化發展的最大機會。

Personalization is good. We talk here a lot about a fair, reasonable amount of personalization. We never want to compromise the Treasure Hunt of Costco. And that's equally as important as people that go to costco.com never knew that they needed a 16-foot shed, and they see a phenomenal value as they do in the warehouse.

個性化很好。我們在這裡談論了很多關於公平、合理的個人化的內容。我們永遠不想妥協 Costco 的尋寶活動。這同樣重要，因為造訪 costco.com 的人們從來不知道他們需要一個 16 英尺的棚子，而且他們看到了與倉庫一樣的驚人價值。

And so we don't want to personalize to a detriment. That changes our DNA and who we are. But we do know that there's definitely some improvements we could have that would enhance the member experience, and that's everything that our team is focused on is that how does this move to the member and how does it improve their experience with us digitally.

因此，我們不想因個人化而受到損害。這改變了我們的 DNA 和我們是誰。但我們確實知道，我們肯定可以進行一些改進來增強會員體驗，而我們團隊所關注的一切就是如何將其轉移到會員以及如何改善他們與我們的數位體驗。

Okay. Maybe -- and then as a follow-up, Gary, you talked a little bit about the core on core. Maybe you step back a little bit if you -- and I know the idea is not necessarily to maximize margin, but maybe some thoughts on core on core this quarter. And I know -- I think there had been pressure on fresh as you kind of normalize post-COVID back to a regular level. Are we now through that process of fresh getting back down to a certain level?

好的。也許 - 然後作為後續行動，加里，你談論了一些關於核心的核心。也許你會退一步，如果你——我知道這個想法不一定是為了最大化利潤，但也許是對本季核心核心的一些想法。我知道，我認為隨著新冠疫情後的正常化恢復到正常水平，新鮮食品面臨壓力。我們現在是否正在經歷重新回到某個層次的過程？

Yeah, thanks, John. Just maybe to give you a little bit more color on the core on core, how it kind of played out during the quarter. So if you think about the three main categories in core between foods and sundries, fresh and non-foods, fresh would have continued to have been slightly lower year over year. And that's a very deliberate strategy for us to make sure we're delivering more value for the member, and we think that's a really important in place for us to drive member engagement and support, especially as we're still seeing some commodities a little bit inflationary right now.

是的，謝謝，約翰。也許只是為了讓您對核心的核心內容有更多的了解，以及本季的表現如何。因此，如果你考慮一下食品和雜貨、新鮮食品和非食品之間的三個主要類別，新鮮食品的銷售將繼續同比略有下降。這對我們來說是一個非常深思熟慮的策略，以確保我們為會員提供更多價值，我們認為這對我們推動會員參與和支持非常重要，特別是因為我們仍然看到一些商品有點現在有點通貨膨脹。

So that would have been very much a part of the plan from our perspective. But it was more than offset, as you mentioned, by the improvement in non-food during the quarter, which was what led to the 10-basis-point improvement on core on core. Food and sundry actually was pretty flat overall.

因此，從我們的角度來看，這在很大程度上是計劃的一部分。但正如您所提到的，本季非食品的改善完全抵消了這一影響，這導致核心指標提高了 10 個基點。食物和雜貨實際上總體上相當平淡。

So we feel good about the way that we're managing the balance while staying true to that principle of delivering the best value for the member. And we were pleased with how it played out during the quarter based on the work all the merchandising teams did.

因此，我們對管理平衡的方式感到滿意，同時堅持為會員提供最佳價值的原則。基於所有銷售團隊所做的工作，我們對本季的表現感到滿意。

Peter Benedict, Baird.

彼得·本尼迪克特，貝爾德。

Thanks for taking the question. Ron, maybe one for you. Just kind of back to the member behavior -- maybe back to Scot's question a little bit. Can you just talk about maybe just your observations around maybe income cohorts. Any other ways you bucket or slice your membership base -- just how the behaviors have evolved here over the last several months? Is there any change that you would think is interesting to call out. You talked better general non-foods trends. Just curious if this environment remind you of anything else historically. That's my first question.

感謝您提出問題。羅恩，也許有一個適合你。只是有點回到會員行為——也許稍微回到斯科特的問題。能談談您對收入群體的觀察嗎？您還有其他方式來劃分或分割您的會員基礎嗎？有沒有您認為值得提及的變化？您更好地談到了非食品的總體趨勢。只是好奇這個環境是否讓您想起歷史上的其他事情。這是我的第一個問題。

Okay. It's a very healthy environment from what we see from our members right now. And as you're taking categories such as our meat department, which is growing very nicely -- a lot of volume being driven in ground beef and our new everyday lower price on boneless, skinless chicken breasts, really driving a lot of volume units there while wagyu beef and prime are growing at a great clip for us as well. So we're seeing that benefit from both sides of the consumer that great value in both areas are doing very well.

好的。從我們現在從會員那裡看到的情況來看，這是一個非常健康的環境。當你選擇諸如我們的肉類部門之類的類別時，該部門的增長非常好——碎牛肉的銷量很大，而去骨、去皮雞胸肉的價格每天都在下降，確實帶動了很多銷量單位的成長。因此，我們看到消費者雙方都受益，這兩個領域的巨大價值都表現得很好。

The non-foods -- I tell you that non-foods is strictly driven by newness and excitement. And we see big and bulky going very well. It's been a year of our $1,200 swing set that we have on the floor. We can't get enough. They're just blowing out.

非食品－我告訴你，非食品完全是由新鮮感和興奮感驅動的。我們看到大型和笨重的進展非常順利。我們價值 1,200 美元的鞦韆已經在地板上使用了一年了。我們還不夠。他們剛剛爆發。

But it's again that continuous innovation of merchandise that is exciting our members and really driving some sales force there. The executive membership continues to -- and that drives our executive base, because people are engaging at a much higher level.

但正是商品的持續創新讓我們的會員興奮不已，並真正推動了那裡的一些銷售團隊。行政成員繼續——這推動了我們的行政基礎，因為人們在更高的層面上參與。

Good. So sounds good across the board. We're expecting a dryer to get delivered from Costco Logistics in the next couple of days. So looking forward to that.

好的。所以整體來說聽起來不錯。我們預計 Costco Logistics 將在未來幾天內交付一台烘乾機。所以很期待。

And then the second question would be -- yeah, Ron or Gary, to one of you. Just your view on vertical sourcing. I mean, this has been something that Costco has been involved in for several years going across different categories as you guys continue to grow your business. You need more, I guess, definable sources of supply. Just curious your view of vertical sourcing, where you are today and what areas you might focus on over the next several years. Thank you.

然後第二個問題是──是的，羅恩或加里，問你們中的一個。只是您對垂直採購的看法。我的意思是，隨著你們不斷發展業務，好市多多年來一直參與不同類別的活動。我猜你需要更多可確定的供應來源。只是想知道您對垂直採購的看法、您現在所處的位置以及您在未來幾年可能關注的領域。謝謝。

Sure. We have we gotten into vertical integration and sourcing as the need arises. And if you think back in the infamous story about the hot dog and (technical difficulty) at $1.50 and how are you going to figure out how to keep that price there. Well, we're going to open our own meat plants. And as we looked at the prices of optical lenses go going up, and then we opened up our optical grinding plants. So we did that to continue to look at those things.

當然。我們根據需要進行了垂直整合和採購。如果你回想一下關於熱狗和（技術難度）1.50 美元的臭名昭著的故事，你將如何弄清楚如何保持這個價格。好吧，我們要開辦自己的肉類加工廠。當我們看到光學鏡片的價格上漲時，我們開設了光學研磨廠。所以我們這樣做是為了繼續關注這些事情。

The chicken plant came, because we saw an inflection point where supply was not going to meet demand. So we had to get involved, and because we didn't have a partner that was willing to expand in that area as well.

養雞廠來了，因為我們看到了供應無法滿足需求的轉折點。所以我們必須參與其中，因為我們沒有願意在該領域擴張的合作夥伴。

There is a focus that I have -- group focused on to is that let's not try and be everything though. We've got a business to run here, and we're not going to get vertically integrated just because it's something we can do some. It really is going to be driven by where the needs are and when do you need to step in.

我的團隊有一個重點是，我們不要試圖成為一切。我們在這裡經營一項業務，我們不會因為我們可以做一些事情就進行垂直整合。這實際上取決於需求所在以及您何時需要介入。

It's equally -- we have great partners out there that supply our goods for us, and they are long-term suppliers. And so it's -- strategically using that relationship is going to be the key in the future. So there's nothing that I could announce at this time that we're going to expand into. But we continue to keep that in our back pocket should we need to.

同樣，我們有優秀的合作夥伴為我們供應產品，而且他們是長期供應商。因此，策略性地利用這種關係將成為未來的關鍵。因此，目前我無法宣布我們將要擴展的內容。但如果需要的話，我們會繼續把它放在我們的後口袋裡。

Paul Lejuez, Citigroup.

保羅‧勒胡埃斯，花旗集團。

Hey, everyone, this Brandon Cheatham on for Paul. Thanks for taking the question. Recently, you were selling in Instacart gift cards at a discount online and in warehouse. Thought that was pretty interesting, because it's potentially a gift card that could be used at a competitor as well. So I'm just curious, is there any strategy behind that? Are you trying to drive member engagement online? (technical difficulty) any learnings from the initiative?

嘿，大家好，這位布蘭登·奇塔姆（Brandon Cheatham）替補保羅。感謝您提出問題。最近，您在網路和倉庫中以折扣價銷售 Instacart 禮品卡。我認為這非常有趣，因為它可能是一張也可以在競爭對手處使用的禮品卡。所以我很好奇，這背後有什麼策略嗎？您是否想提高會員的線上參與度？ （技術難度）從該倡議中可以學到什麼？

The strategy behind it was another avenue to bring value to our members is really what that was about, is that there is an up-charge on having grocery delivered to home. We work closely with Instacart, and now will Uber to try and keep those costs at a minimum. But they've got people to pay on their side as well.

背後的策略是為我們的會員帶來價值的另一種途徑，這就是將雜貨送貨上門收取額外費用。我們與 Instacart 密切合作，現在 Uber 也將努力將這些成本降至最低。但他們也有人為他們付出代價。

So the partnership was really to how do we continue to enhance that service for our members and drive more sales. And so that was truly the -- yeah, somebody can go out and use that somewhere else, but again, our job is to save the members where we can, be it airline tickets or Uber drive tickets or Instacart shopping. We look at all those opportunities to add value to the member.

因此，此次合作實際上是為了我們如何繼續增強為會員提供的服務並推動更多銷售。所以這確實是——是的，有人可以出去在其他地方使用它，但同樣，我們的工作是盡可能地保存會員，無論是機票、Uber 車票還是 Instacart 購物。我們關注所有為會員增加價值的機會。

Got it. Thanks. My follow-up -- how do warehouses react when you open an in-fill warehouse? Does it open differently than other new markets? Does the current market feel an impact? And how many warehouses that you opened over the past year would you quantify as in-fill versus new market? Thanks.

知道了。謝謝。我的後續行動－當你開設一個填充倉庫時，倉庫會如何反應？它的開放與其他新市場有何不同？目前的市場是否受到影響？您在過去一年中開設了多少倉庫，您將其量化為填充倉庫與新市場倉庫？謝謝。

I guess, how they react -- we normally have good data before we'll open up an in-fill building, and we can judge based on our member information what cannibalization we'll realize in what building. So we're able to get in front of that and adjust labor and payroll and buying and all those type of things for the upcoming cannibalization that we plan.

我猜想，他們會如何反應——在開放一座填充建築之前，我們通常會有良好的數據，我們可以根據我們的會員資訊判斷我們將在哪座建築中實現什麼樣的蠶食。因此，我們能夠提前應對這一情況，調整勞動力、工資、採購以及所有這些類型的事情，以應對我們計劃即將到來的蠶食。

And our team does a very good job. They're normally within a percent or so of what the reality is to the execution of where our plans are as well.

我們的團隊做得非常好。我們計劃的執行情況通常與實際情況相差百分之一左右。

So we've gotten pretty good at planning those things out. And it's strategic, and the numbers of cannibalized locations, I'd have to tell you, I'd have to say that we probably opened eight this year that cannibalized other buildings. Some may have cannibalized one warehouse, others maybe in the middle. We had one in Toronto that cannibalized four buildings around it, but they've built back their sales within six months.

所以我們已經非常擅長規劃這些事情了。這是策略性的，我必須告訴你，我們今年可能開設了八個蠶食其他建築物的地點。有些人可能已經拆毀了一個倉庫，有些人可能在中間。我們在多倫多有一家，拆毀了周圍的四棟建築，但他們在六個月內就恢復了銷售。

So those are the opportunities where you know -- to Gary's earlier point -- frequency improves significantly, because members can get back into a high-volume club. And so it's strategic cannibalization, if you would, as we look around the world.

因此，正如加里之前所說，這些機會可以顯著提高會員的頻率，因為會員可以重新加入高容量的俱樂部。因此，當我們環顧世界時，如果你願意的話，這就是戰略蠶食。

Greg Melich, Evercore ISI.

格雷格·梅里奇，Evercore ISI。

Hi, thanks. Ron, I wanted to follow up on -- the gross margin cap is still very much in place at 14%, 15%. Is there any reason that SG&A, now that it's back under 9% of sales, couldn't fall to 8% if you keep having the growth that you have?

你好謝謝。 Ron，我想跟進一下——毛利率上限仍然在 14%、15%。既然 SG&A 佔銷售額的比例已經回到 9% 以下，那麼如果您繼續保持現有的成長，有什麼理由不能下降到 8% 呢？

No, that's a very fair -- that's a very good point. No, we continue to see -- the company, we had a very healthy SG&A number this quarter. Inventory was flowing very well. We had fresh goods coming through the system. Our warehouses did a phenomenal job. SKU counts are in line.

不，這是非常公平的——這是一個非常好的觀點。不，我們繼續看到——公司本季的銷售、管理及行政費用（SG&A）數字非常健康。庫存流動得很好。我們有新鮮的商品透過系統送來。我們的倉庫做得非常好。 SKU 數量一致。

And so it's one of those things where all the stars aligned. And this is the way we operate well, when you can deliver that kind of a top-line growth. At our size now, our operators do a tremendous job leveraging that to the SG&A.

所以這是所有星星齊齊的事情之一。當您能夠實現這種營收成長時，這就是我們良好的營運方式。就我們目前的規模而言，我們的營運商在 SG&A 中利用這一點做了大量工作。

So what could that get to? I'd hate to say 8%, but I do think that we can have continued runway of driving down that number.

那麼這會帶來什麼呢？我不想說 8%，但我確實認為我們可以繼續降低這個數字。

That's great to hear. And maybe some insight on gas gallons in the quarter. I know it was volatile, and it's certainly a point of pressure for a lot of members and consumers. Did that help the traffic acceleration in the quarter -- gas gallon growth?

聽到這個消息我很高興。也許還可以對本季的汽油加侖數有一些了解。我知道它很不穩定，這對許多會員和消費者來說無疑是一個壓力點。這是否有助於本季交通量的加速—汽油加侖的成長？

Yeah, we were 5% up in gallons. And again, that's -- I think all those things when you can save people on gas, that's also going to lend to your traffic as well. But gallons were up 5% for the quarter.

是的，加侖數上漲了 5%。再說一次，我認為，當你可以節省人們的汽油費時，所有這些事情也將有助於你的流量。但本季加侖價格上漲了 5%。

A great number. And if I could follow up on gas, is that still -- is the profitability in gas, Gary, kind of similar versus a year ago or last quarter, or is that trending up or down?

一個很大的數字。如果我可以跟進天然氣，加里，天然氣的盈利能力是否與一年前或上個季度相似，還是呈上升或下降趨勢？

Yeah, the gas profitability would have been down a little bit. I think you may have heard me mention in the prepared comments that when we looked at the overall gross margin rate for the quarter, the sort of headwind that we had was in the ancillary businesses, the other businesses. And it was essentially gas that created that headwind.

是的，天然氣獲利能力會略有下降。我想你可能已經聽我在準備好的評論中提到，當我們查看本季的整體毛利率時，我們遇到的阻力來自於輔助業務和其他業務。造成這種逆風的本質是天然氣。

So we did see a reduction in gas profitability during the quarter. But overall, the core-on-core margin improvement and e-commerce improvement essentially offset that to bring us pretty close to flat overall when you adjust for gas inflation in the results. So it was down.

因此，我們確實看到本季天然氣獲利能力下降。但總體而言，核心利潤率的改善和電子商務的改善基本上抵消了這一點，當你調整結果中的天然氣通膨時，我們的整體水準接近持平。所以它就下來了。

I would say, in general, we've seen on gas profitability, it's been relatively consistent to slightly improving if you look over the last few years. But obviously, there are points in time when you think about volatility in fuel prices where you can have those ups or downs in any given quarter, and this last quarter was one where we did see a headwind in year-over-year gas profitability.

我想說的是，總的來說，我們已經看到天然氣盈利能力，如果你回顧過去幾年，它相對穩定，略有改善。但顯然，當你考慮燃料價格的波動時，在任何特定季度都可能出現上漲或下跌，而上個季度我們確實看到天然氣盈利能力同比出現逆風。

That's fantastic. Well, welcome. And I'll let somebody else ask about the how much gold volume drove the comp. Take care, guys.

這太妙了。好吧，歡迎。我會讓其他人問一下黃金交易量對股市的推動作用有多大。保重，夥計們。

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer.

魯佩什·帕里克，奧本海默。

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. So just going back to unit growth. In recent years, it's been stuck in that -- let's call that -- mid-20s. It looks like this year will be closer to 30. Just want to get a sense of the opportunities that potentially accelerate that unit growth, especially in the US, just given some of your competitors are planning to accelerate growth from here.

午安.感謝您提出我的問題。那麼回到單位成長。近年來，它一直停留在——我們稱之為——20 多歲。看起來今年將接近 30 週年。

It is a good -- when you look at -- I talked before about the managed cannibalization and when you do these in-fills, and 29 locations is a solid number for us. As you start getting into in-fills, some of these projects take a little longer. It's a little tougher than -- there's not a whole lot of green land out there for us to go in and open up a warehouse. So we have to do some creative things to find a way to in- fill in a very high market.

這是一個很好的——當你看到——我之前談到過管理性蠶食，當你進行這些填充時，29 個地點對我們來說是一個可靠的數字。當您開始進行填充時，其中一些項目需要更長的時間。這有點困難──外面沒有一大片綠地可供我們進去開倉庫。因此，我們必須做一些創造性的事情來找到一種方法來填補一個非常高的市場。

International expansion continues to be strong. Some of the countries or regions that we do business in take quite a bit longer to get things done. So I think you'll see that ebb and flow. That number 25 to 29 or 25 to 30 is a good number for us. We feel good with our staffing and leadership and building out the infrastructure behind these warehouses, so we open with great solid support there.

國際擴張持續強勁。我們開展業務的一些國家或地區需要更長的時間才能完成工作。所以我想你會看到這種潮起潮落。 25 到 29 或 25 到 30 這個數字對我們來說是一個很好的數字。我們對我們的人員配置和領導力以及這些倉庫背後的基礎設施建設感到滿意，因此我們在那裡得到了強有力的支持。

Great. And then maybe just one follow-up question. So as you guys added Uber to a number of locations. So as you guys think about the intermediate to longer term, would you expect multiple providers at all Costco US stores over time? So maybe just more the rationale in terms of adding Uber and the longer-term vision.

偉大的。然後也許只是一個後續問題。你們將 Uber 加入了許多地點。因此，當您考慮中長期時，您是否期望隨著時間的推移，所有 Costco 美國商店都會有多個供應商？因此，也許更多的是加入 Uber 的理由和長期願景。

We saw -- we were testing Uber for some time in Texas. We had a test going on there, and we did see a new cohort of members engagement that are on the Uber platform. Uber also allowed us to expand our international footprint, too. So we're going to be out in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, UK that we'll be expanding and where we don't have grocery delivery now.

我們看到——我們在德克薩斯州測試了優步一段時間。我們在那裡進行了一項測試，我們確實在 Uber 平台上看到了一批新的會員參與。優步也讓我們能夠擴大國際足跡。因此，我們將在日本、韓國、台灣、英國擴張，而且我們現在還沒有雜貨配送服務。

So there were some real benefits to that relationship, along with the long-standing Instacart relationship that we had -- has been very good for many years. So we think that it does open up a window for us for some new member engagement, and we also think that it's going to be very good for us internationally and expansion there as well.

因此，這種關係以及我們與 Instacart 的長期關係確實帶來了一些好處——多年來一直非常好。因此，我們認為它確實為我們打開了一個新會員參與的窗口，我們也認為這對我們的國際化和在那裡的擴張也非常有好處。

Christopher Horvers, JPMorgan.

克里斯多福‧霍弗斯，摩根大通。

Hi. Good afternoon. It's Christian Carlino on for Chris. Could you speak to some of the innovation you're seeing in non-foods and anything else you think is driving some of the performance, particularly in discretionary categories? You called out toys, sporting goods, and home. So maybe any incremental color you can provide on those in particular?

你好。午安.克里斯汀·卡利諾 (Christian Carlino) 替補出場。您能否談談您在非食品領域看到的一些創新以及您認為推動某些業績的其他任何事物，特別是在非食品類別中？你喊出了玩具、運動用品和家。那麼也許您可以為這些特別提供任何增量顏色？

And while you're clearly gaining share, when you compare your own performance to some of the syndicated data out there, does the emerging newness suggest there's also somewhat of a rising tide in some of these categories that saw some pull-forward over the pandemic? Thanks.

雖然你的份額明顯在增加，但當你將自己的表現與一些聯合數據進行比較時，新興的新鮮事物是否表明其中一些類別也出現了某種程度的上升趨勢，在大流行期間出現了一些拉動？謝謝。

Well, yeah. I think if you look at -- if you talk about the home category -- and definitely is furnishings, which is one that was quite soft post-pandemic, that has come back strong in furniture, those type of things. When home decor -- it's been some very unique items. I mean, we've got seven-foot artificial trees that have come in and just exploded out and just blowing out of the warehouses, and those are going at a nice clip.

嗯，是的。我認為，如果你看一下——如果你談論家居類別——肯定是家具，這是一種在大流行後相當疲軟的家具，但在家具等領域已經強勢回歸。當家居裝飾時——它是一些非常獨特的物品。我的意思是，我們有七英尺高的人造樹，它們已經進來，剛剛爆炸，剛從倉庫裡吹出來，而且這些樹進展得很好。

Domestics, the most unique items: Swedish dish towels. Import items we're finding from around the world are doing very well. But it really comes down to unique items at great values that are exciting the members in all those categories.

國貨中，最有特色的單品：瑞典洗碗巾。我們從世界各地找到的進口商品表現良好。但它實際上歸結為具有高價值的獨特商品，這些商品讓所有這些類別的會員感到興奮。

The housewares categories have been great. Sporting goods and toys -- inflatable outdoor toys have been a big, big category for us as well. We've added the Kirkland Signature driver into our golf lineup. That sells out as quick as it goes online. So we're seeing wins in several different categories.

家居用品類別很棒。運動用品和玩具－充氣戶外玩具對我們來說也是一個很大的類別。我們已將 Kirkland Signature 發球桿添加到我們的高爾夫陣容中。剛上線就賣光了。所以我們看到了幾個不同類別的勝利。

Got it. That's really helpful. And just broadly, are you seeing the competitive environment heat up in terms of peers investing in price, particularly in non-foods? You have some peers talking more and more about looking to drive units. Others are talking about big step-up in appliance promotions recently. So any color on what you're seeing competitively?

知道了。這真的很有幫助。從廣義上講，您是否看到同行在價格投資方面的競爭環境正在升溫，特別是在非食品領域？有些同行越來越多地談論尋找驅動裝置。其他人則在談論最近家電促銷活動的大幅升級。那麼你所看到的競爭有什麼顏色嗎？

There'll be ebbs and flows with the competition, but I'm very confident that we are always in the right position, and we're staying ahead of that to keep the value there for our members. So those things are cyclical, but we're going to be of value every day.

競爭將會有起有落，但我非常有信心我們始終處於正確的位置，並且我們將保持領先地位，以保持我們會員的價值。所以這些事情是週期性的，但我們每天都會有價值。

And I think maybe just one thing to mention on that -- Ron, too, you mentioned it earlier but with the -- on the appliances, obviously, making sure we're always very competitive on price. But I do think the acquisition of Innovel -- Costco Logistics now -- and the value that we offer members there through both including the delivery and the installation and the removal of the old appliances is proving to be a real differentiator for us on the member experience as well.

我想也許只有一件事要提一下——羅恩，你之前也提到過，但顯然，在電器上，確保我們在價格上總是非常有競爭力。但我確實認為，收購 Innovel（現在是 Costco Logistics）以及我們透過包括交付、安裝和拆除舊電器在內的方式為會員提供的價值，被證明是我們在會員方面真正的差異化因素經驗也是如此。

Scott Mushkin, R5 Capital.

斯科特·穆甚金，R5 Capital。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. And, Gary, welcome. It's nice to be talking to you at Costco. And Ron, thanks for (technical difficulty) appreciate it.

大家好。感謝您回答我的問題。加里，歡迎。很高興在 Costco 與你交談。羅恩，感謝您（技術難度）的讚賞。

So my first question is kind of the opposite of what everyone asks all the time around the fee. But given some of the stuff you've outlined around media and maybe driving the SG&A down, why do you need to increase the fee? Your sales are strong, your fee income growth is strong. So what's -- just because you've always done it doesn't mean you should do it. So what would be the rationale behind driving a fee increase at this point?

所以我的第一個問題與每個人一直在詢問費用的問題相反。但考慮到您在媒體方面概述的一些內容可能會導致銷售費用、一般行政費用下降，為什麼您需要增加費用？您的銷售強勁，您的費用收入成長強勁。那麼，你一直這樣做並不意味著你應該這樣做。那麼此時推動費用上漲的理由是什麼？

Fee increases go back to the member in lower prices. I mean, it creates -- that's one of the key parts that we use that money for is that it allows us to broaden that distance from the competition and bring greater values in improving our operation overall for the member. So that's the primary focus.

費用增加以較低的價格返還給會員。我的意思是，它創造了——這是我們使用這筆錢的關鍵部分之一，它使我們能夠拉大與競爭的距離，並為會員改善我們的整體運營帶來更大的價值。所以這是主要焦點。

OK. And then, my next question actually is -- dovetails on the last one, but you guys talked about the consumer being a little bit better overall. And I guess what I was wondering, is that really a Costco phenomenon? In other words, are you gaining share, and that's what's really driving your improvements in some of these categories like electronics and appliances and big ticket rather than the consumer actually getting better? Is there any way to tease that out?

好的。然後，我的下一個問題實際上是——與上一個問題相吻合，但你們談到消費者總體上好一點了。我想我想知道的是，這真的是 Costco 現象嗎？換句話說，您是否正在獲得份額，這才是真正推動您在電子產品、家用電器和大宗商品等某些類別中取得進步的原因，而不是消費者真正變得更好的原因？有什麼辦法可以解決這個問題嗎？

I would say that that's very fair. Our merchants report monthly on industry trends in the country and/or internationally as we're seeing -- and we can see our sales performance compared to the rest of market. And I would think that you're spot on when you say that we're gaining market share.

我想說這是非常公平的。正如我們所見，我們的商家每月都會報告國內和/或國際的行業趨勢，並且我們可以看到與其他市場相比我們的銷售業績。當您說我們正在獲得市場份額時，我認為您說得很對。

Scott, maybe one thing I would just add to it. I think we're all reading a lot about the consumer verticals and what they're going through right now. And I think what we see is that value and quality has never been more important. And so that plays to -- as Ron described earlier -- what we deliver, and we're making sure that the teams are laser-focused on every day, delivering that value and quality. And so I think we're drawing customers to what Costco has offered for many years, and it's never more relevant now based on what we're hearing from members and consumers.

史考特，也許我想補充一件事。我認為我們都讀了很多有關消費者垂直行業以及他們現在正在經歷的事情的文章。我認為我們看到的是價值和品質從未如此重要。因此，正如羅恩之前所描述的那樣，這符合我們所交付的內容，我們確保團隊每天都專注於交付價值和品質。因此，我認為我們正在吸引顧客使用 Costco 多年來提供的產品，根據我們從會員和消費者那裡聽到的信息，它現在從未如此重要。

Yeah, we definitely like our Costco here at the Mushkin residence. So thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

是的，我們絕對喜歡 Mushkin 住所的 Costco。謝謝，夥計們。欣賞它。

Edward Kelly, Wells Fargo.

愛德華凱利，富國銀行。

Hi, good afternoon, everyone. So I wanted to ask you about maybe membership fee increase but in a different way. And you just touched upon it a little bit about membership fee increase just gets reinvested to your members. But can you talk a little bit more about how you think about the areas of reinvestment?

嗨，大家下午好。所以我想問你會員費是否會增加，但以不同的方式。您剛剛提到了一點關於會員費增加會再投資給您的會員的問題。但您能多談談您對再投資領域的看法嗎？

I'm sure you probably have already done a lot of work around where you would like that to go. Is there anything that's unique about where reinvestment might come to this time around? Just thoughts around that.

我確信您可能已經圍繞您想要的方向做了很多工作。這次再投資可能有什麼獨特之處嗎？只是圍繞著這個想法。

It moves as time moves, and you see pricing in categories and where we have the greatest opportunity to be more competitive for our members. And it may be in an area that -- if fresh foods is seeing some price inflation, we may invest more in the fresh foods department for that period of time.

它隨著時間的推移而變化，你會看到不同類別的定價，以及我們最有機會為我們的會員提供更具競爭力的機會。如果生鮮食品價格出現一定程度的上漲，我們可能會在這段時間內對生鮮食品部門進行更多投資。

The nice part about our model with 3,600-3,700 SKUs is we're still quite nimble as big as we are. So we can shift. And based on the needs of our members and where we think the best investment in margin would take care of them, we're able to shift that thought process and move it around.

我們擁有 3,600-3,700 個 SKU 的模型的優點在於，儘管我們規模很大，但我們仍然非常靈活。所以我們可以轉移。根據我們會員的需求以及我們認為最好的保證金投資可以照顧到他們的情況，我們能夠改變思考過程並進行調整。

So I wouldn't say that there's any set -- Okay, if membership fee goes up, it's going to be spent in these areas. We work as a team, and we continue to monitor it throughout the year, and we act as needed.

所以我不會說有任何設定——好吧，如果會員費上漲，就會花在這些領域。我們作為一個團隊工作，全年持續監控，並根據需要採取行動。

Okay. And just a quick follow-up on club throughput. You know, it's remarkable how you drive up to a Costco club, and it's hard to find a place to park, but yet you guys can still comp the way that you do. How are you thinking about throughput, ways to improve that? And I don't know if buy online, pickup is part of that. How do you think about things like scan and go or maybe just club density? Just curious as to how you solve for that over time.

好的。以及對俱樂部吞吐量的快速跟進。你知道，你開車去 Costco 俱樂部是很了不起的，而且很難找到停車的地方，但你們仍然可以像你們一樣進行比較。您如何看待吞吐量以及提高吞吐量的方法？我不知道網路購買、取貨是否屬於其中一部分。您如何看待“掃描即走”或俱樂部密度等問題？只是好奇隨著時間的推移你如何解決這個問題。

A good part of those are things like our e-commerce business, and how we can move out some of those goods out of the warehouse and move that business online. And as Gary spoke to, now that we have control over Costco Logistics, we can bring great value to that experience as well.

其中很大一部分是我們的電子商務業務，以及我們如何將其中一些貨物從倉庫中移除並將業務轉移到線上。正如加里所說，既然我們已經控制了好市多物流，我們也可以為這種體驗帶來巨大的價值。

We continue to look at the technology. We're testing some front-door scanners that are going to start speeding up our registers significantly. When we get all the scanning and memberships are verified at the front door, it has shown a significant improvement in our register speed. And so, that, in turn, turns over parking spaces much quicker.

我們繼續關注這項技術。我們正在測試一些前門掃描儀，這些掃描儀將開始顯著加快我們的收銀速度。當我們在前門進行所有掃描和會員資格驗證時，我們的註冊速度有了顯著的提高。因此，反過來，停車位的周轉速度也會更快。

So those kind of things, along with strategic in-fills to help open up parking opportunities and gas expansions where those are needed as well. So there are several different levers that we'll continue to pull on how we can best serve the member in that building and where we need to make sure that we can look at throughput.

因此，這些事情，以及策略性的填充，以幫助開闢停車機會和天然氣擴張，這些也是需要的。因此，我們將繼續利用幾種不同的手段來為該大樓內的會員提供最好的服務，以及我們需要確保我們可以關注吞吐量的地方。

Oliver Chen, TD Cowen.

奧利佛·陳，TD·考恩。

Hi, Ron and Gary. You've done some really creative merchandising around UPTs and units per transaction with pickup items and innovation on that Treasure Hunt. What are your thoughts there?

嗨，羅恩和加里。您已經圍繞著 UPT 和每筆交易的單位進行了一些真正有創意的推銷，包括拾取物品和尋寶創新。你有什麼想法？

Also, a big ticket in electronics. Previously, it was a bit of a drag. Just would love your thoughts on what you're seeing there.

此外，電子產品也很重要。以前，這有點拖沓。只是很想聽聽你在那裡看到的東西的想法。

And third part is marketplace -- the marketplace model and the concession model and alternative inventory models. Just what are your views of opportunities there? Because they're really big ones, and your member is so loyal to you as well. Thank you.

第三部分是市場——市場模型、特許模型和替代庫存模型。您對那裡的機會有何看法？因為他們真的很大，而且你的會員也對你非常忠誠。謝謝。

On your UPT, you're asking about the transaction impact?

在您的 UPT 上，您詢問交易影響？

And thinking strategically about adding units to people's baskets going forward and merchandising in that way as well -- if it's something you see in terms of an opportunity.

並策略性地考慮將商品添加到人們的購物籃中，並以這種方式進行銷售——如果你認為這是一個機會的話。

Absolutely. That's one of the big -- we were just in a session with our grocery divisions and talking there. And we've seen a great success in international foods that have been brought in to the US and then of the like from the US into the other regions of the world where we do business.

絕對地。這是其中一件大事——我們剛剛與我們的雜貨部門開會並在那裡進行了交談。我們已經看到國際食品取得了巨大成功，這些食品被引入美國，然後從美國進入我們開展業務的世界其他地區。

But you want to take care of not only the consumables in the grocery side, but when we bring in an item that's a success in Taiwan or Korea or the UK, then it creates that excitement for the member. That's when we really have done a good job of triggering that impulsive purchase where members are trusting the buyers, and they will add that additional item to their cart. So that's been a big win for us.

但是，您不僅要照顧雜貨方面的消耗品，而且當我們引入在台灣、韓國或英國取得成功的商品時，就會為會員帶來興奮感。那時我們確實很好地觸發了會員信任買家的衝動購買，他們會將額外的商品加入購物車。所以這對我們來說是一個巨大的勝利。

And again, it goes a lot of times with that Treasure Hunt. I mean, you've heard the phrase -- people come in to spend $100 and walk out with $300. That's because our buyers and our operators do a great job in making the warehouses exciting and keeping those on the forefront of what they're -- when they come in there, they do their basic shopping. They pick up a few additional items that just compel them at the time.

再說一次，它與尋寶活動一起發生了很多次。我的意思是，你聽說過這樣一句話——人們進來花 100 美元，然後帶著 300 美元走出去。這是因為我們的買家和操作員在讓倉庫令人興奮並讓他們保持領先地位方面做得非常出色——當他們進入倉庫時，他們會進行基本的購物。他們會挑選一些當時迫使他們這麼做的額外物品。

I think maybe just to add on that, Ron, too, the nice thing about the opportunity there for us is with trips up by 5%, that's really why the average basket size has been more flat recently, and that's because we've been growing member engagement in consumables, as Ron mentioned, with food and fresh.

我想也許還要補充一點，羅恩，對我們來說，機會的好處是行程增加了 5%，這就是為什麼最近平均籃子大小變得更加平穩的原因，那是因為我們一直在正如羅恩提到的，會員對食品和新鮮消費品的參與度不斷提高。

And so it does present a great opportunity, and I think it also speaks to the team doing a good job of driving more frequency of member visits. So it creates a great opportunity for us to drive more of that basket size as well.

所以它確實提供了一個很好的機會，我認為這也說明了團隊在提高會員訪問頻率方面做得很好。因此，這為我們創造了一個絕佳的機會來推動更多的籃子規模。

Then your question on marketplace is a significant opportunity for us moving forward. We really do indeed see that. I think especially with our limited SKU count in the warehouse, how can we expand the offering to our members, bring value to their membership card beyond what's within our four walls or what's on costco.com?

那麼您關於市場的問題對於我們前進來說是一個重要的機會。我們確實確實看到了這一點。我認為，特別是在我們倉庫中的 SKU 數量有限的情況下，我們如何才能向我們的會員擴大產品範圍，為他們的會員卡帶來超出我們四牆內或 Costco.com 上的價值？

And we see this as a great growth driver for us in the future and a way to bring expanded value to the members as we look forward. So I'm quite bullish on Costco Next and what that can become in the future.

我們認為這是我們未來巨大的成長動力，也是我們未來為會員帶來更大價值的一種方式。所以我非常看好 Costco Next 及其未來的發展。

I think the difference for us on that would be, of course, as we are with Costco Next, it's just being very curated for the members. So, we're unlike a traditional marketplace that is about maybe just sheer volume. For us, it's about making sure the members are getting something that truly is unique and valuable and being consistent to who we are. But there's tremendous upside opportunity there in that regard.

當然，我認為我們在這方面的區別在於，就像我們與 Costco Next 一樣，它只是為會員精心策劃的。因此，我們與傳統市場不同，傳統市場可能只是單純的交易量。對我們來說，這是為了確保會員獲得真正獨特和有價值的東西，並與我們的身分保持一致。但在這方面存在著巨大的上昇機會。

Okay. And finally on that big-ticket question, would love any green shoots on electronics or TV. And the last question on Asia; you have same day in China, and you've done a lot of great things in the Asian region. Just would love any update there in terms of progress you made and the big opportunity for more in-fills as well. Thank you.

好的。最後，在這個大問題上，我會喜歡電子產品或電視上的任何新芽。最後一個問題是關於亞洲的；你們在中國度過了同一天，你們在亞洲地區做了很多偉大的事情。我只是希望能夠了解您所取得的進展以及更多填充的巨大機會。謝謝。

Yeah, I think just briefly on electronics, so we believe -- I think Ron referenced earlier, we look at a lot of the market data, and we believe that we're winning with the member there in terms of the value that we're delivering. And when we look at our trends versus the markets. So we feel good about our ability to continue to outpace the market there, and we're seeing a good opportunity within digital in particular to really drive more connection with the member and take some of those big-ticket items from the warehouse to online as well.

是的，我想簡單地談談電子產品，所以我們相信——我認為羅恩之前提到過，我們查看了很多市場數據，我們相信我們在價值方面贏得了那裡的會員。當我們比較我們的趨勢與市場。因此，我們對自己繼續領先市場的能力感到滿意，而且我們在數位領域看到了一個很好的機會，特別是能夠真正推動與會員的更多聯繫，並將一些大件商品從倉庫轉移到網上。出色地。

And in Asia, I think it would be consistent with what we've talked about with warehouses in the past that we think all of the markets offer us a great opportunity for growth. Some of those markets in Asia are more mature, but there's still significant opportunities to open new warehouses and fill in those markets. And then, obviously, we have markets like China, where we're really just sort of starting that journey, but there's tremendous growth opportunity as we identify the right path forward in that market.

在亞洲，我認為這與我們過去討論的倉庫一致，我們認為所有市場都為我們提供了巨大的成長機會。亞洲的一些市場更加成熟，但仍有很大的機會開設新倉庫並填補這些市場。然後，顯然，我們有像中國這樣的市場，我們實際上才剛開始這一旅程，但當我們確定該市場的正確前進道路時，就會有巨大的成長機會。

The grocery delivery in China, we're up and going in six buildings. We will just open our seventh warehouse this week, and that will start up this weekend.

中國的雜貨配送，我們在六棟大樓開展。我們將於本週開設第七個倉庫，並將於本週末啟動。

It's been a big win for our members. It's delivery within two hours is what is able to be done. And so we're seeing some good incremental stops initially out of that program, and we look forward to good things in the future on that.

這對我們的會員來說是一個巨大的勝利。兩個小時內交貨是可以做到的。因此，我們在該計劃中最初看到了一些良好的增量停止，我們期待未來能有好的事情。

Joe Feldman, Telsey Advisory Group.

喬·費爾德曼，特爾西諮詢小組。

Great. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the question. A lot have been asked, but I just want to ask, with Costco Logistics, what was driving that 28% increase which is very strong? Was it new relationships with some of the other retailers or partnerships? Or just anything you could share on that would be helpful.

偉大的。大家好。感謝您提出問題。大家問了很多，但我只想問一下，對於 Costco Logistics，是什麼推動了 28% 的強勁成長？是否與其他一些零售商或合作夥伴建立了新的關係？或者您可以分享的任何內容都會有幫助。

Yeah, that is only -- we only deliver Costco members' orders through Costco Logistics. There are no partnerships going through those numbers that you see. We do a trace amount of Sears numbers, but that's not in any of the numbers that we report the growth in. That is just part of the past relationship that's there as well.

是的，我們只透過 Costco 物流配送 Costco 會員的訂單。您看到的這些數字沒有任何合作夥伴關係。我們做了少量的西爾斯數據，但這並不在我們報告成長的任何數據中。

And it is -- appliances, furnishings, and outdoor were the three big drivers. Appliances, we're almost 30% growth for us in the period. And again, to Gary's point, it's that member value of the all-in, what you see is what you pay price for delivery, installation, haul away, everything you need done at one time; that has really resonated with our members and has been a great driver of sales for us.

確實如此——電器、家具和戶外是三大驅動因素。家電方面，我們在此期間實現了近 30% 的成長。再說一次，就加里的觀點而言，這就是全押的會員價值，您所看到的是您為交付、安裝、拖運以及您需要一次性完成的所有事情所支付的價格；這確實引起了我們會員的共鳴，並且極大地推動了我們的銷售。

Joe, I'll give you the practical example. As a new entrant to the Seattle market, I just had Costco Logistics deliver two mattresses, three TVs, and a couple of chairs as well for me. So that's the kind of stuff, I think, that we're seeing really resonate with members.

喬，我舉個實際的例子給你聽。作為西雅圖市場的新進者，我剛剛讓 Costco Logistics 為我運送了兩個床墊、三台電視和幾把椅子。我認為，這就是我們所看到的真正引起會員共鳴的東西。

Got it. That's great. Thanks, guys. Thanks, guys. And then, just one other question. I know it's still relatively small, I think, but the Costco Next, is that -- it seems like it's ramping nicely. I guess how will that continue to ramp in the future? Like where do you see that going and how important is that a driver? Like is that the basis for this marketplace that Oliver was just asking about?

知道了。那太棒了。多謝你們。多謝你們。然後還有一個問題。我知道它仍然相對較小，但 Costco Next 的發展似乎進展順利。我想未來它將如何繼續成長？就像你認為這會發生什麼以及驅動程式有多重要？這就是奧利佛剛才詢問的這個市場的基礎嗎？

As Gary mentioned earlier, Costco Next is a bit unique good; it is a fully curated marketplace. There's many other marketplaces out there that are just for somebody to go on and sell goods on this marketplace. These are relationships that our buyers have (technical difficulty) well.

正如 Gary 之前提到的，Costco Next 是一個有點獨特的好地方；這是一個完全策劃的市場。還有許多其他市場供人們繼續在該市場上銷售商品。這些都是我們的買家（技術難度）很好的關係。

This has not only been a new way to sell goods; we've also found that we can find some really neat items that are selling through Costco Next that we, in turn, then bring into our warehouse. So it is a great testing ground for newness, new items, a way to expand categories of accessories for certain categories that, -- you have swing sets that we sell online, but you have additional swings and slides and other activities that you sell that we normally wouldn't be able to fit into a warehouse.

這不僅是一種銷售商品的新方式，也是一種新的銷售方式。我們還發現，我們可以找到一些透過 Costco Next 銷售的非常精美的商品，然後我們將它們帶入我們的倉庫。因此，它是一個很好的試驗場，可以測試新事物、新產品，以及擴展某些類別配件類別的方法，例如，您有我們在線銷售的鞦韆套裝，但您還有額外的鞦韆和滑梯以及您銷售的其他活動。

So it really complements the core warehouse business but gives us an opportunity to expand member value to these other partners as well. So we see a lot of upside there.

因此，它確實補充了核心倉庫業務，但也為我們提供了向其他合作夥伴擴展會員價值的機會。所以我們看到了很多好處。

We have no further questions in our queue. And with that, this does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

我們的隊列中沒有其他問題了。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。