好市多 (COST) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and thank you for standing by. My name is Abby, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Costco Wholesale Corporation first quarter fiscal 2025 conference call.

下午好，感謝您的支持。我叫艾比，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 2025 財年第一季電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Thank you. And I would now like to turn the conference over to Gary Millerchip, Chief Financial Officer. You may begin.

謝謝。現在我想將會議交給財務長 Gary Millerchip。你可以開始了。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining Costco's first quarter 2025 earnings call. I'd like to start by reminding you 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.

大家下午好，感謝您參加 Costco 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。首先我想提醒您，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。不同。

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，除法律要求外，本公司不承諾更新這些陳述。

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. Before we dive into our financial results for the quarter, I'm delighted to say that Ron Vachris is joining us for today's call. I'll now hand over to Ron for some opening comments.

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。在我們深入了解本季度的財務表現之前，我很高興地宣布，羅恩·瓦克里斯 (Ron Vachris) 將參加今天的電話會議。現在我將請羅恩發表一些開場評論。

Thank you, Gary, and good afternoon, everyone. And thank you for joining us today. As we wrap up the first quarter of fiscal 2025, let me make a few brief comments on some of the highlights since we last spoke in September.

謝謝你，加里，大家下午好。感謝您今天加入我們。在我們結束 2025 財年第一季之際，讓我對自 9 月上次講話以來的一些亮點發表一些簡短的評論。

In the first quarter of fiscal '25, we opened seven new warehouses. This included one relocation and resulted in six net new buildings, of which four were outside of the US. Additionally, after the end of the quarter on the day before Thanksgiving, we opened our 897th warehouse in Pleasanton, California. That opening had the highest ever opening day sales for a US warehouse at $2.9 million that day. We continue to project 29 openings during fiscal year '25, of which three will be relocations, and so 26 net new buildings. 10 of those warehouses will be outside of the US.

在 25 財年第一季度，我們開設了 7 個新倉庫。其中包括一次搬遷，並導致淨增六棟新建築，其中四棟位於美國境外。此外，在感恩節前一天的季度結束後，我們在加州普萊森頓開設了第 897 個倉庫。此次開業創造了美國倉庫有史以來最高的開業日銷售額，達到 290 萬美元。我們繼續計劃在 25 財年開設 29 個空缺職位，其中 3 個將進行搬遷，因此淨新建 26 棟建築。其中 10 個倉庫將位於美國境外。

Gary will speak to a more detailed review of our results in a few moments, but I wanted to share some fun facts regarding our growth across the business. Our US bakery division has reached new records of 4.2 million pies being sold the three days prior to Thanksgiving. At our US food courts on Halloween day, we set a new record of 274,000 whole pizzas being sold, that was an increase of 21%.

加里稍後將對我們的業績進行更詳細的審查，但我想分享一些有關我們整個業務成長的有趣事實。我們的美國烘焙部門在感恩節前三天售出了 420 萬個餡餅，創下了新紀錄。萬聖節當天，我們在美國美食廣場創下了售出 274,000 個整塊披薩的新紀錄，增幅為 21%。

Our US pharmacy business has prescription growth exceeding 19% for the first quarter, setting new volume records for that business. And lastly, we continue to gain market share with our e-commerce, big and bulky fulfilled by Costco Logistics. Costco Logistics completed nearly 1 million deliveries in Q1 and over 196,000 deliveries last week alone, that was a new record as well. The majority of these deliveries were completed in four days from the members ordering their merchandise online.

我們的美國製藥業務第一季處方藥成長超過 19%，創下該業務的新銷售記錄。最後，我們繼續透過 Costco Logistics 實現的大型電子商務獲得市場份額。 Costco Logistics 在第一季完成了近 100 萬次配送，光是上週就完成了超過 196,000 次配送，也創下了新紀錄。會員在線上訂購商品後，大部分送貨在四天內完成。

All of these milestones reflect the continued strength of our business across the membership offering. These great results are a reflection of the outstanding work done by our over 330,000 employees around the world. Their commitment to our company and the Costco experience for our members is truly inspiring. I'd like to thank all of our people for their outstanding work this year and especially during our busiest time of the year.

所有這些里程碑都反映了我們在會員服務方面業務的持續實力。這些偉大的成果反映了我們全球 33 萬多名員工所做的出色工作。他們對我們公司的承諾以及為我們的會員提供的 Costco 體驗確實令人鼓舞。我要感謝我們所有的員工今年，特別是在我們一年中最繁忙的時期所做的出色工作。

As we approach our annual shareholders meeting in January, I also wanted to mention that our annual update to the Costco sustainability commitments was just made available online today. This report provides a comprehensive review of the progress we're making towards our sustainability objectives, and I would encourage all of you to take a look.

在我們一月份召開年度股東大會之際，我還想提一下，我們對 Costco 永續發展承諾的年度更新今天剛在網路上發布。這份報告全面回顧了我們在實現永續發展目標方面所取得的進展，我鼓勵大家都看一下。

With that, I'll turn it back over to Gary to discuss the results of the quarter and I'll jump back on during Q&A to field some questions. Thank you.

這樣，我將把它轉回給加里討論本季的結果，我將在問答期間繼續回答一些問題。謝謝。

Thanks, Ron. In today's press release, we reported operating results for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the 12 weeks ended November 24.

謝謝，羅恩。在今天的新聞稿中，我們報告了 2025 財年第一季（截至 11 月 24 日的 12 週）的營運表現。

We have once again published a slide deck on our investor site under events and presentations with supplemental information to support today's press release. You might find it helpful to have this presentation in front of you as I walk through our results.

我們再次在投資者網站上的活動和演示下發布了幻燈片，並提供了支持今天新聞稿的補充資訊。當我介紹我們的結果時，您可能會發現在您面前進行此演示很有幫助。

Net income for the first quarter came in at $1.798 billion or $4.04 per diluted share up from $1.589 billion or $3.58 per diluted share in the first quarter last year. This year's results included a tax benefit of $100 million or $0.22 per diluted share related to stock-based compensation. And last year's results included a tax benefit of $44 million or $0.10 per diluted share also related to stock based compensation. Excluding these discrete tax items, net income and earnings per diluted share grew 9.9% and 9.8% respectively.

第一季淨利潤為 17.98 億美元，即稀釋後每股收益 4.04 美元，高於去年第一季的 15.89 億美元，即稀釋後每股收益 3.58 美元。今年的業績包括 1 億美元的稅收優惠，或與股票薪酬相關的稀釋後每股 0.22 美元的稅收優惠。去年的業績包括 4,400 萬美元的稅收優惠，即稀釋後每股 0.10 美元，這也與股票薪酬相關。剔除這些離散稅項，淨利和稀釋每股盈餘分別成長 9.9% 和 9.8%。

Net sales for the first quarter was $60.99 billion, an increase of 7.5% from $56.72 billion in the first quarter last year. US comparable sales were up 5.2% or 7.2% excluding gas deflation. Canada comp sales were up 5.8% or 6.7% adjusted for gas deflation and FX. And other international comp sales were up 4.7% or 7.1% adjusted. This all led to total company comp sales of 5.2% or 7.1% adjusted for gas deflation and FX.

第一季淨銷售額為609.9億美元，比去年第一季的567.2億美元成長7.5%。美國可比銷售額成長 5.2%，不包括天然氣通貨緊縮則成長 7.2%。加拿大公司銷售額成長 5.8%，經天然氣通貨緊縮和外匯調整後成長 6.7%。其他國際公司銷售額成長 4.7%，調整後成長 7.1%。這一切導致公司總銷售額成長 5.2% 或 7.1%（根據天然氣通貨緊縮和外匯調整）。

Finally, e-commerce comp sales were up 13% or 13.2% adjusted for FX. In terms of Q1 comp sales metrics, foreign currencies relative to the US dollar negatively impacted sales by approximately 0.3% while gas price deflation negatively impacted sales by approximately 1.6%.

最後，電子商務銷售額成長了 13%，經匯率調整後成長了 13.2%。就第一季比較銷售指標而言，外幣相對於美元對銷售額產生了約 0.3% 的負面影響，而天然氣價格通貨緊縮對銷售額產生了約 1.6% 的負面影響。

Traffic or shopping frequency increased 5.1% worldwide and 4.9% in the US. Our average transaction or ticket was 0.1% worldwide and 0.3% in the US. This includes the headwinds from gas deflation and FX. Adjusted for those items, ticket would have been up 2% worldwide and up 2.3% in the US.

全球客流量或購物頻率增加了 5.1%，美國增加了 4.9%。我們的平均交易或門票在全球為 0.1%，在美國為 0.3%。這包括天然氣通貨緊縮和外匯的不利因素。在這些項目進行調整後，全球票價將上漲 2%，美國將上漲 2.3%。

Moving down the income statement to membership fee income. We reported membership fee income of $1.166 billion an increase of $84 million or 7.8% year over year. Membership fee income growth was also 7.8% excluding FX. Remember that the recent membership fee increase doesn't have much impact yet due to the effects of deferred accounting, and represented less than 1% of the fee growth in the quarter.

將損益表下移至會員費收入。我們的會員費收入為 11.66 億美元，年增 8,400 萬美元，增幅 7.8%。不包括外匯在內的會員費收入成長也為 7.8%。請記住，由於遞延會計的影響，最近的會員費上漲尚未產生太大影響，僅佔本季費用成​​長的不到 1%。

In terms of renewal rates, at Q1 end, our US and Canada renewal rate was 92.8% down 1/10 of a percent from Q4 end. The worldwide rate came in at 90.4% also down 1/10 of a percent primarily due to the US and Canada. As we mentioned on the last quarterly earnings call, our renewal rates are seeing some impact from higher growth in digital sign ups which renew at a slightly lower rate than our base as a whole.

在續約率方面，第一季末，我們的美國和加拿大續約率為 92.8%，比第四季末下降了 1/10 個百分點。全球比率為 90.4%，也下降了 1/10 個百分點，這主要是由於美國和加拿大的影響。正如我們在上一季財報電話會議上提到的那樣，我們的續訂率受到數位註冊成長較高的影響，數位註冊的續約率略低於我們的整體基數。

Underlying renewal rates and membership growth remain strong, but this mix shift is likely to have a continued effect on our published renewal rate for the remainder of 2025. We ended Q1 with 77.4 million paid household members up 7.6% versus last year and 138.8 million cardholders up 7.2% year over year.

基本續約率和會員成長仍然強勁，但這種組合轉變可能會對我們公佈的2025 年剩餘時間內的續訂率產生持續影響。去年成長7.6%，持卡人數量為1.388 億。

At Q1 end, we had 36.4 million paid executive memberships up 9.2% versus last year. And executive members now represent 46.8% of paid members and 73.1% of worldwide sales. Turning to gross margin, our reported rate in the first quarter was higher year over year by 24 basis points coming in at 11.28% compared to 11.04% last year, and up 7 basis points excluding gas deflation.

截至第一季末，我們擁有 3,640 萬付費高階主管會員，比去年成長 9.2%。目前，執行會員佔付費會員的 46.8%，佔全球銷售額的 73.1%。談到毛利率，我們報告的第一季毛利率同比增長了 24 個基點，達到 11.28%，而去年為 11.04%，不包括天然氣通貨緊縮則增長了 7 個基點。

Core margin was higher by 31 basis points and higher by 17 basis points without gas deflation. This was driven by mix and our credit card cobrand program. In terms of core margins on their own sales, core-on-core margins were higher by 3 basis points. Ancillary and other businesses gross margin was lower by 12 basis points and lower by 16 basis points ex gas deflation. This decrease year over year was largely due to gas partially offset by e-commerce.

核心利潤率提高了 31 個基點，在沒有天然氣通貨緊縮的情況下則提高了 17 個基點。這是由混合和我們的信用卡聯合品牌計劃推動的。就其自身銷售的核心利潤率而言，核心間利潤率高出 3 個基點。輔助及其他業務毛利率下降 12 個基點，扣除天然氣通貨緊縮後下降 16 個基點。這一同比下降主要是由於天然氣部分被電子商務所抵消。

2% reward was lower or better by 5 basis points or 6 basis points without the gas deflation. Employee wage was flat for the quarter. We had a [$90 million light for crediting Q1 this year compared to a $50 million] credit Q1 last year.

2% 的獎勵降低或提高了 5 個基點，或在沒有天然氣通貨緊縮的情況下降低或提高了 6 個基點。本季員工薪資持平。我們今年第一季的信貸額度為 9,000 萬美元，而去年第一季的信貸額度為 5,000 萬美元。

Our reported SG&A rate was higher year over year by 14 basis points, coming in at 9.59% compared to last years 9.45%. SG&A was flat adjusted to gas deflation. The operations compared to SG&A with higher or worse by 15 basis points and higher 4 basis points excluding gas deflation. Higher employee wages that went into effect in July drove the headwind for the quarter partially offset by sales leverage and productivity gains. As always, investing in our employees remains a key part of our strategy and we will continue to focus on driving top line sales and improving productivity to mitigate the incremental costs.

我們報告的 SG&A 比率年上升 14 個基點，達到 9.59%，而去年為 9.45%。 SG&A 依天然氣通貨緊縮進行調整。與 SG&A 相比，營運情況高出或差了 15 個基點，高出 4 個基點（不含天然氣通貨緊縮）。 7月生效的員工薪資上漲推動了本季的不利因素，但部分被銷售槓桿和生產力的提高所抵消。一如既往，對員工的投資仍然是我們策略的關鍵部分，我們將繼續專注於推動營收成長和提高生產力，以降低增量成本。

Central was higher or worse by 5 basis points and three basis points without gas deflation. Stock compensation was lower or better by 2 basis points and 3 basis points without gas deflation, and preopening costs were lower or better by 4 basis points both with and without gas deflation.

中央指數上漲或下跌 5 個基點，在沒有天然氣通貨緊縮的情況下上漲或下跌 3 個基點。在沒有天然氣通貨緊縮的情況下，股票補償降低或提高了 2 個基點和 3 個基點，無論有沒有天然氣通貨緊縮，開業前成本都降低或提高了 4 個基點。

Below the operating income line, interest expense was $37 million versus $38 million last year. And interest income was $96 million versus $154 million last year. As mentioned in our Q4 earnings, interest income faced headwinds in the quarter due to lower cash balances subsequent to our special dividend in January 2024 and lower interest rates. This will continue to negatively impact year-over-year compare in Q2.

營業收入線以下的利息支出為 3,700 萬美元，而去年為 3,800 萬美元。利息收入為 9,600 萬美元，去年為 1.54 億美元。正如我們在第四季度收益中所提到的，由於 2024 年 1 月特別股息後現金餘額減少以及利率下降，本季利息收入面臨阻力。這將繼續對第二季的年比產生負面影響。

FX and other was a $51 million gain Q1 this year versus a $6 million gain last year. This gain offset much of the headwind we saw in interest income in the quarter and was primarily due to FX. In terms of income taxes, our tax rate in Q1 was 22% compared to 24.5% in Q1 last year. As mentioned earlier, this year's rate benefited from a $100 million discrete item related to our annual RSU vesting. Adjusted for this benefit, the tax rate for the quarter would have been 26.5%.

外匯及其他業務今年第一季收益為 5,100 萬美元，而去年為 600 萬美元。這一收益抵消了我們在本季度看到的利息收入方面的大部分阻力，這主要是由於外匯。在所得稅方面，我們第一季的稅率為22%，而去年第一季的稅率為24.5%。如前所述，今年的利率受益於與我們年度 RSU 歸屬相關的 1 億美元離散項目。對此收益進行調整後，本季的稅率將為 26.5%。

Turning now to some key items of note for the quarter. Ron talked earlier about our continued momentum with new warehouse openings and capital expenditure in Q1 was approximately $1.26 billion. We estimate CapEx for the full year will be approximately $5 billion. Taking a deeper look into core merchandizing sales, fresh led the way in Q1 with comparable sales of high single digits. Meat was up double digits and demonstrated strength across the department.

現在轉向本季值得注意的一些關鍵項目。 Ron 早前談到了我們新倉庫開業的持續勢頭，第一季的資本支出約為 12.6 億美元。我們預計全年資本支出約為 50 億美元。更深入研究核心商品銷售，生鮮在第一季處於領先地位，可比銷售額達到高個位數。肉類價格上漲了兩位數，展現了整個部門的實力。

We have members who are continuing to purchase high ticket premium cut selections and others who are gravitating more towards lower cost per pound options. As always, our focus remains on delivering exceptional quality and value across every item we sell in fresh.

我們有的會員繼續購買高價優質切肉產品，而其他會員則更傾向於購買每磅成本較低的產品。一如既往，我們的重點仍然是為我們新鮮銷售的每件商品提供卓越的品質和價值。

Our non-foods category was also up high single digits despite some impact from the calendar shift as our buyers continue to bring in new and exciting items at great values. Gold and jewelry, gift cards, home furnishings, sporting goods, health and beauty aids, luggage, kiosk and hardware, were all up double digits.

儘管日曆變化帶來了一些影響，但我們的非食品類別也實現了高個位數成長，因為我們的買家繼續以超值的價格帶來新的、令人興奮的商品。黃金和珠寶、禮品卡、家居用品、體育用品、健康和美容用品、行李箱、售貨亭和五金都上漲了兩位數。

This quarter, we were able to add several new high-quality brands across a broad range of categories including Peloton, Wrangler, Springfree Trampolines, and Ruggable. Food and sundries had mid single digit comps with our cooler and frozen food departments leading the way. We continue to see strong momentum with new and exciting international food items such as [Sania] pork soup dumplings, sona Missouri rice, and hot pot beef sliced chuck rolls.

本季度，我們在廣泛的類別中添加了多個新的高品質品牌，包括 Peloton、Wrangler、Springfree Trampolines 和 Ruggable。食品和雜貨的銷售額為中個位數，其中我們的冷藏食品和冷凍食品部門領先。我們繼續看到令人興奮的新國際食品的強勁勢頭，例如[Sania]豬肉湯餃、索納密蘇裡米飯和火鍋牛肉片夾頭捲。

Kirkland's signature continues to grow at a faster pace than our business as a whole. Our goal is always to be the first to lower prices where we see the opportunities to do so. And just a few examples this quarter include Kirkland's Signature organic peanut butter reduced from $11.49 to $9.99. Kirkland's Signature chicken stock from $9.99 to $8.99, and Kirkland's signature Sauvignon Blanc from $7.49 to $6.99.

柯克蘭的簽名繼續以比我們整個業務更快的速度成長。我們的目標始終是在我們看到機會時率先降低價格。本季的幾個例子包括 Kirkland's Signature 有機花生醬從 11.49 美元降價至 9.99 美元。 Kirkland's 招牌雞湯售價為 9.99 美元至 8.99 美元，Kirkland 招牌長相思售價為 7.49 美元至 6.99 美元。

Our merchants are also driving innovation with Kirkland Signature. Most notably this quarter, we introduced new Kirkland Signature oxy powder and Kirkland's Signature food storage bags, both offering significant value to the national brand alternatives. Within ancillary businesses, pharmacy had the strongest sales growth. Our focus continues to be on keeping prescription and OTC prices low while also leveraging technology to make it easier for our members to use our pharmacy.

我們的商家也透過 Kirkland Signature 推動創新。最值得注意的是本季度，我們推出了新的 Kirkland Signature 氧粉和 Kirkland's Signature 食品儲存袋，兩者都為國家品牌替代品提供了巨大的價值。在輔助業務中，製藥業的銷售成長最為強勁。我們的重點仍然是保持處方藥和非處方藥的低廉價格，同時利用科技使我們的會員更容易使用我們的藥局。

Recent examples include the introduction of new prescription inventory management software to better stay in stock and enabling delivery of prescriptions via instacart. Our food court and optical departments also perform well in the quarter.

最近的例子包括引入新的處方庫存管理軟體，以更好地保持庫存並允許透過 instacart 交付處方。我們的美食廣場和光學部門在本季也表現良好。

Gas sales were negative low double digits due to the average price per gallon being down low double digits. Costco travel is another way we deliver unique membership value and these services continue to resonate well with our members. We offer a wide range of vacation packages, car rentals, cruises, hotels, flights, and other travel related services. And in addition to highly attractive rates, many of our offerings include a Costco shop card as extra value for booking with Costco.

由於每加侖平均價格下降了兩位數，天然氣銷售出現負低兩位數。 Costco 旅行是我們提供獨特會員價值的另一種方式，這些服務繼續與我們的會員產生良好的共鳴。我們提供廣泛的度假套餐、汽車租賃、遊輪、飯店、航班和其他旅遊相關服務。除了極具吸引力的價格外，我們的許多產品還包括 Costco 商店卡，作為透過 Costco 預訂的額外價值。

A couple of fun facts about our travel business. Last year, we sold enough rental cars to fill every US Costco parking spot 8.5 times. We also offer great value to members on cruises. And our largest cruise booking last year was a 150 day around the world cruise starting from Fort Lauderdale and making stops in places like the Galapagos and Easter Islands. The total price was $293,000 for two in the owner's suite cabin and added values on the booking included a shipboard credit of $13,000 and the Costco shop card worth $25,000.

關於我們旅遊業務的一些有趣的事實。去年，我們售出的租賃車足以將美國 Costco 的每個停車位填滿 8.5 倍。我們也為遊輪會員提供超值服務。去年我們最大的遊輪預訂是從勞德代爾堡出發，經停加拉巴哥群島和復活節群島等地的 150 天環球遊輪。船主套房兩人的總價為 293,000 美元，預訂時的增值包括 13,000 美元的船上積分和價值 25,000 美元的 Costco 商店卡。

Members who use Costco travel spend approximately twice as much as members that do not use these services. Inflation was once again, essentially flat in the quarter across all core merchandise. Food and sundries and fresh foods were slightly inflationary and this was offset by deflation in non-foods. In the supply chain, while egg supplies have been negatively impacted by avian influenza and the recent east coast port strikes led to a spike in paper and water product demand, overall product supply has generally been good.

使用 Costco 旅行的會員的花費大約是不使用這些服務的會員的兩倍。本季所有核心商品的通膨率再次基本持平。食品及雜貨和生鮮食品略有通膨，但被非食品的通貨緊縮所抵銷。在供應鏈方面，雖然雞蛋供應受到禽流感的負面影響，且近期東海岸港口罷工導致紙張和水產品需求激增，但整體產品供應總體良好。

The predictability of on-time shipping delivery remains below pre-COVID levels and items are generally spending more time on the water. Our merchants have adapted well to this change, and we are in a great position with inventory for the holidays.

準時運輸的可預測性仍低於新冠疫情之前的水平，而且物品通常在水上花費更多時間。我們的商家很好地適應了這一變化，我們在假期庫存方面處於有利地位。

As we head into Q2, we continue to monitor for potential port strikes in India, the east coast, and Canada and our merchants are adopting plans as necessary to ensure we remain stock for our members. Turning to digital and e-commerce, we continue to make progress with our technology, road map and enhancements made to the member experience like the ability to check warehouse inventory via the Costco app are resonating well.

當我們進入第二季度時，我們將繼續監測印度、東海岸和加拿大潛在的港口罷工，我們的商人正在採取必要的計劃，以確保我們為會員保留庫存。談到數位和電子商務，我們繼續在技術、路線圖和會員體驗方面取得進步，例如透過 Costco 應用程式檢查倉庫庫存的能力，引起了良好的反響。

Our US app was downloaded 2.9 million times in the quarter bringing total downloads to approximately 42 million. E-commerce traffic, conversion rates, and average order value were all up year over year helping to drive another strong quarter of comparable sales growth. While strength in [bullion] was a meaningful tailwind to e-commerce sales, hardware, sporting goods, gift cards, and home furnishings, all grew double digits year over year.

我們的美國應用程式在本季的下載量為 290 萬次，總下載量達到約 4,200 萬次。電子商務流量、轉換率和平均訂單價值均較去年同期成長，有助於推動可比銷售額的另一個強勁成長。雖然[金條]的強勢對電子商務銷售、硬體、體育用品、禮品卡和家居用品的銷售來說是一個有意義的推動力，但所有這些都同比增長了兩位數。

As Ron mentioned earlier, Costco Logistics also had another great quarter driving growth in big and bulky items. And Costco Next, a curated marketplace achieved record sales over the Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday sales period.

正如羅恩之前提到的，好市多物流公司也有另一個出色的季度推動大件商品的成長。 Costco Next 是一個精心策劃的市場，在感恩節、黑色星期五和網路星期一銷售期間取得了創紀錄的銷售額。

In closing, let me provide a brief update on retail media. To use a baseball analogy, we are very much in the early innings with retail media but we continue to believe this represents a significant growth opportunity in the future. This quarter, we completed our first targeted media campaign through third-party media channels with one of our largest CPG partners.

最後，讓我簡單介紹一下零售媒體的最新情況。用棒球來比喻，我們在零售媒體方面還處於早期階段，但我們仍然相信這代表著未來的重大成長機會。本季度，我們與最大的 CPG 合作夥伴之一透過第三方媒體管道完成了首次有針對性的媒體活動。

The campaign achieved 2 to 3 times the return on ads spent typically expected, highlighting the value we can create for our members and suppliers. Our retail media team is now working with over 25 suppliers who are eager to participate in our next wave of offsite campaigns. And finally, in terms of upcoming releases, we will announce our December sales results for the five weeks ending Sunday, January 5, on Wednesday, January 8, after market close.

活動的廣告支出回報率達到了通常預期的 2 到 3 倍，凸顯了我們可以為會員和供應商創造的價值。我們的零售媒體團隊目前正在與超過 25 家供應商合作，他們渴望參與我們的下一波場外活動。最後，就即將發布的產品而言，我們將在 1 月 5 日星期日結束的五週內於 1 月 8 日星期三收盤後公佈 12 月份的銷售結果。

That concludes our prepared remarks, and we will now open the line up for questions.

我們準備好的演講到此結束，現在我們將開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指令）Simeon Gutman，摩根士丹利。

Hi, everyone. I hope you can hear me. My one question with a couple parts. Actually diagnosing the health of the consumer, can you give us some sense of how you're clearing some of the seasonal inventory, maybe apparel bigger ticket? And then once in a while we talk about market share in some discretionary, categories, can you share your perspective on that? Thank you.

大家好。我希望你能聽到我的聲音。我的一個問題有幾個部分。實際上診斷消費者的健康狀況，您能否告訴我們您如何清理一些季節性庫存（也許是服裝更大的庫存）？然後，我們偶爾會討論一些可自由支配的類別的市場份額，您能分享一下您對此的看法嗎？謝謝。

Sure. Thanks, Simeon. We can hear you well and thanks for the question. Yes. So maybe taking that question in a, in a few parts. As we look at the consumer, I think we're seeing a lot of similar trends that we've talked about on the last few quarters. What we're seeing with our members is that now probably more than any time in recent history that combination of newness of items, quality and value are really important to the member. We're seeing the member being very choiceful about how they're spending the dollars. All that being said, I think we're finding that our merchants are doing a great job of finding that newness and quality at great value.

當然。謝謝，西蒙。我們可以清楚地聽到您的聲音，感謝您的提問。是的。所以也許可以分成幾個部分來回答這個問題。當我們觀察消費者時，我認為我們看到了過去幾季我們討論過的許多類似趨勢。我們在會員身上看到的是，現在可能比近代歷史上的任何時候都更重要的是，商品的新穎性、品質和價值的結合對會員來說確實很重要。我們看到會員對於花錢的方式非常有選擇。話雖這麼說，我認為我們發現我們的商家在尋找新穎和高品質的產品方面做得很好。

We've seen some great strength in our non-food categories and certainly, as you heard me say on the prepared comments, we're seeing really strong performance across many of the categories around things like gold and jewelry, gift cards, home furnishings, sporting goods, health and beauty, hardware, all up double digits during the quarter. So we're pleased with the momentum that we're seeing there. And I think it reflects the fact that our members are willing to spend as inflation comes down as long as those sort of three key ingredients that I mentioned are there for the member as well.

我們在非食品類別中看到了一些巨大的優勢，當然，正如您聽到我在準備好的評論中所說的那樣，我們在黃金和珠寶、禮品卡、家居用品等許多類別中看到了非常強勁的表現、體育用品、健康與美容、硬件，本季均達到兩位數成長。因此，我們對在那裡看到的勢頭感到滿意。我認為這反映了這樣一個事實，只要我提到的這三個關鍵要素也存在，我們的會員就願意在通膨下降時消費。

I think in terms of overall what we're seeing with the member on food and grocery, I would say that we are seeing what we think is a little bit of a shift from food away from home to food at home. And that's certainly reflected in strong meat and produce sales that we've seen in our own business. And we are seeing, I think a little bit even more of a trend that we've talked about in prior quarters of bifurcation with the member where we have high quality premium cuts, they're selling well. But we're also seeing a gravitation towards those lower price per pound items across categories like poultry, cuts of beef, and pork as well.

我認為，就我們在食品和雜貨方面所看到的會員的整體情況而言，我想說的是，我們正在看到我們認為從遠離家鄉的食物到在家中的食物的一點轉變。這當然反映在我們在自己的業務中看到的強勁的肉類和農產品銷售中。我們看到，我認為更多的是我們在前幾個季度討論過的與會員分叉的趨勢，我們擁有高品質的溢價削減，他們賣得很好。但我們也看到了家禽、牛肉和豬肉等類別中每磅價格較低的產品的吸引力。

So Ron, would you like add?

羅恩，你想補充嗎？

Yeah, I guess send me another part of your question, seasonal sell through appears to be very strong. You know, it's a unique retail calendar with a shorter period of time after Thanksgiving. But our buyers have been through this before and they've responded properly with that as well. So that feels good. Seems to be a very foundational Christmas though, as you see, furniture driving a lot of our e-commerce sales appliances, sporting goods, hardware. And so just people are very, very basic buying this year but good trends.

是的，我想請向我發送您問題的另一部分，季節性銷售似乎非常強勁。要知道，這是一個獨特的零售日曆，感恩節之後的時間較短。但我們的買家以前經歷過這種情況，他們也對此做出了適當的反應。所以感覺很好。不過，正如你所看到的，家具似乎是一個非常基礎的聖誕節，推動了我們許多電子商務銷售電器、體育用品、硬體的發展。因此，人們今年的購買量非常非常基本，但趨勢良好。

And I think Simeon, I guess I didn't mention specifically, we tend to focus on our member and how can we deliver that great value. The data that we do see would tend to suggest that we're growing our share across most of the categories that I mentioned.

我想西蒙，我想我沒有具體提到，我們傾向於關注我們的會員以及我們如何提供巨大的價值。我們看到的數據往往表明我們在我提到的大多數類別中的份額都在增加。

Oliver Chen, TD Cowen.

奧利佛·陳，TD·考恩。

Hi, Ron and Gary, Happy Holidays. Their traffic continues to impress a lot as we look forward. What are your thoughts and key drivers and mix opportunities as you think about ticket and UPT. Also, you highlighted retail media, which is a huge great opportunity, how does that intersect with your important multi-vendor mailer and also, as you think about incrementality of that of that opportunity? That would be great to hear. Thank you very much.

嗨，羅恩和加里，節日快樂。他們的流量繼續給我們留下深刻的印象。當您考慮門票和 UPT 時，您的想法和關鍵驅動因素以及混合機會是什麼。此外，您還強調了零售媒體，這是一個巨大的機會，它與您重要的多供應商郵件有何交叉，並且當您考慮該機會的增量時？很高興聽到這個消息。非常感謝。

Thanks, Oliver. I think the first part of your question you've probably heard in some of the comments that we made that we have been pleased with the traffic that we've seen and the continued frequency of shop from our members. What was nice to see at the end of last quarter, we did see when you adjust for foreign exchange and gasoline that we started to turn positive on the items per basket. And then this quarter, when you adjust for those items, we were up about 2% on the -- slightly over 2% I think on the US and 2% worldwide.

謝謝，奧利佛。我想您問題的第一部分您可能已經在我們發表的一些評論中聽過，我們對所看到的流量以及會員持續的購物頻率感到滿意。上季末令人高興的是，我們確實看到，當您對外匯和汽油進行調整時，我們開始對每個籃子的商品轉為積極。然後這個季度，當你對這些項目進行調整時，我們上漲了約 2%——我認為美國略高於 2%，全球上漲了 2%。

So we have seen some improved momentum on the items per basket. And I think that's a lot of great work being done by, again, our merchants, making sure that we've got great product offerings in the warehouse and then our operators really executing those campaigns exceptionally well when the members are in the warehouse as well.

因此，我們看到每個購物籃中的商品動能有所改善。我認為我們的商家再次做了很多偉大的工作，確保我們的倉庫中提供優質的產品，然後當會員也在倉庫中時，我們的運營商真正出色地執行了這些活動。

From a media perspective, I think we look at it very much as an incremental opportunity. Our goal is to continue to maximize the value we can put into everyday product quality and pricing. And where we're seeing a lot of the interest in retail media is really coming from the marketing agencies, which gives us a lot of confidence that this is an opportunity for us to tap into new marketing dollars where a lot of our national brand suppliers are going to those media agencies to invest those marketing dollars to really make sure they're getting a good return on that ad spend, so where we're seeing a lot of traction.

從媒體的角度來看，我認為我們將其視為一個增量機會。我們的目標是繼續最大限度地提高日常產品品質和定價的價值。我們看到對零售媒體的許多興趣實際上來自行銷機構，這給了我們很大的信心，這是我們利用新的行銷資金的機會，我們的許多國家品牌供應商都在其中我們將向這些媒體機構投資這些行銷資金，以真正確保他們從廣告支出中獲得良好的回報，因此我們看到了極大的吸引力。

And again, I would emphasize it's very early days with retail media for us is something that we're just really embarking on that offsite journey. But really where most of the interest is coming from is from retail media agencies, which we believe is the way for us to make sure that we're driving incrementality and growth in the model.

我想再次強調，對我們來說，零售媒體還處於早期階段，我們才真正開始了異地之旅。但實際上，大部分興趣來自零售媒體機構，我們相信這是我們確保推動模型增量和成長的方式。

Thank you very much, very helpful.

非常感謝，非常有幫助。

Christopher Horvers, JP Morgan.

克里斯多福‧霍弗斯，摩根大通。

Thanks, good evening, guys. So can you talk about what drove the core-on-core margin performance this quarter? You have the MFI now rolling through. How do you think about reinvestment of price either, in terms of expected price reductions that you see coming down the supply chain or maybe even going above and beyond that? And just as a side question, can you divine what's in the hardware category, is that consumer electronics? Thank you.

謝謝，晚上好，夥計們。那麼您能談談是什麼推動了本季核心間利潤率表現嗎？ MFI 現在正在滾動。您如何看待價格再投資，就您看到的供應鏈上的預期降價而言，甚至可能超出此範圍？順便問一下，你能猜出硬體類別中的是什麼嗎？謝謝。

Sure, thank. Thank you for the question. Yeah, in terms of the core-on-core margin, first of all, which I think was the first part of your question. If you break it down between the sort of three main categories that we see within the business that's foods, fresh, and non-foods. Foods would have been essentially flat. Non-foods would have been down slightly and fresh would have been up slightly. So those three kind of, obviously, overall, we were just up three basis points. So there really wasn't a tremendous amount of change overall, but they would have been the sort of key puts and takes in the overall number.

當然，謝謝。謝謝你的提問。是的，首先就核心間利潤率而言，我認為這是你問題的第一部分。如果你把它分解為我們在行業中看到的三個主要類別，那就是食品、生鮮和非食品。食物基本上是平淡的。非食品會略有下降，新鮮食品會略有上升。因此，顯然，這三種總體而言，我們只上升了三個基點。因此，總體而言確實沒有發生巨大的變化，但它們可能是總數中的關鍵投入和投入。

And then the description of the hardware category really is just that it's storage, plumbing, lighting, power tools, batteries, those type of the household goods that you would find that the typical hardware store.

然後，對硬體類別的描述實際上是儲存、管道、照明、電動工具、電池，以及典型五金店常見的那些類型的家庭用品。

And then on the price investment side, your thought process there?

那麼在價格投資方面，您的思考過程是什麼呢？

You know, that's something that we've done for the history of the company. We're going to continue to invest in price and some of it may come in holding certain prices as some commodities are starting to increase. But investing in items like Gary described, leading with Kirkland Signature. I mean, we feel that we're going to be asking our members and our vendors to contribute with lower prices. We've got set that example and start with Kirkland. So we're going to continue to look at those opportunities and invest where we can and keep driving sales.

你知道，這是我們為公司歷史所做的事。我們將繼續對價格進行投資，其中一些可能會隨著某些商品開始上漲而保持一定的價格。但投資像加里描述的那樣的項目，以柯克蘭簽名為主導。我的意思是，我們認為我們將要求我們的會員和供應商以更低的價格做出貢獻。我們已經樹立了榜樣，並從柯克蘭開始。因此，我們將繼續尋找這些機會，並盡可能進行投資，並繼續推動銷售。

Thank you, have a great holiday season.

謝謝，祝您假期愉快。

Thank you as well.

也謝謝你。

[Gia Ma] Bernstein.

[嘉瑪]伯恩斯坦.

Thank you for taking my question. I have a two part question. One, I think Gary, you mentioned the difference in renewal rates from online sign ups and then offline sign ups. Can you help us break it out and and understand the difference in online behaviors? And second part on the retail media side, how do you expect Costco Connect, the third-party marketplace to contribute to the growth of retail media going forward and will that impact the membership loyalty in any way or regard? Thank you.

謝謝你回答我的問題。我有一個由兩個部分組成的問題。一，我認為加里，您提到了線上註冊和離線註冊的續約率之間的差異。您能幫助我們解決這個問題並了解線上行為的差異嗎？第二部分是零售媒體方面，您預期第三方市場 Costco Connect 將如何為零售媒體的未來發展做出貢獻？謝謝。

Yeah, sure. Thanks for the question. So first of all, on the membership rate, I'd maybe take a step back and just say overall, we're feeling very good about the underlying membership metrics that we're seeing so renewal rates in general signup activity and then the membership growth remains very strong. As I mentioned in the prepared remarks, really what we're seeing is that over the last few years, we've seen some shift in more of the members that we're acquiring coming through digital channels. And that's helping with the comment that we made last quarter where we're also seeing a slightly a reduction in the average age of members because of that change in shift as well.

是的，當然。謝謝你的提問。首先，關於會員率，我可能會退一步說，總的來說，我們對我們所看到的基本會員指標感覺非常好，所以一般註冊活動的續訂率，然後是會員資格增長仍然非常強勁。正如我在準備好的發言中提到的那樣，我們真正看到的是，在過去幾年中，我們透過數位管道獲得的更多會員發生了一些轉變。這對我們上季度發表的評論有所幫助，我們也看到由於輪班的變化，會員的平均年齡略有下降。

But what it does mean is that often when we have new members being recruited through that digital channel, they're renewing at a slightly lower rate than the historical base that we have. And you may recall that when we talk about membership renewal rates, it's effectively an 18 month lag that we see -- that we report out on that renewal rate. And so as we look forward and see that trend continuing as we build more of that new digital member into the base, and it slightly affects the mix.

但這確實意味著，通常當我們透過該數位管道招募新會員時，他們的續約率略低於我們的歷史基礎。您可能還記得，當我們談論會員續約率時，我們看到的實際上是 18 個月的滯後 - 我們報告續約率。因此，當我們展望未來並看到隨著我們在基礎中建立更多新的數位成員時這種趨勢仍在繼續，並且它會稍微影響組合。

We expect it will have a slight impact on that over membership renewal rate that we report. So we wanted to make sure we gave you visibility into that. When we look at individual sort of cohorts of members, we feel good about the ability for us to be able to continue to drive improvement in renewal rate. But we are going to see that impact through as it becomes a flow through from the continued growth in digital members.

我們預計這將對我們報告的會員續約率產生輕微影響。所以我們希望確保讓您了解這一點。當我們觀察個別類型的會員群體時，我們對我們能夠繼續推動續訂率提高的能力感到滿意。但我們將會看到這種影響，因為它會隨著數位會員的持續成長而產生影響。

And then this is Ron, the question Costco Next. Costco Next is our marketplace. This is an exclusive Costco member only marketplace. It's fully curated by our buyers. So everything that's on that site has been reviewed by our buyers but is exclusive to Costco members. So we think it's just going to enhance the relationship we have our members and give more options for their shopping needs.

這是羅恩，Costco Next 的問題。 Costco Next 是我們的市場。這是 Costco 會員專屬的市集。它完全由我們的買家策劃。因此，該網站上的所有內容都經過了我們的買家審核，但僅限 Costco 會員使用。因此，我們認為這只會加強我們與會員的關係，並為他們的購物需求提供更多選擇。

Got it. Just to clarify, I was wondering if you were going to have more [three-p] marketplace vendors using the retail media service and whether that's there's any implications on the member side?

知道了。澄清一下，我想知道是否會有更多的 [三點] 市場供應商使用零售媒體服務，這對會員方面是否有任何影響？

That again is as mentioned earlier, we're in the very early stages and we're going to look at where we feel the benefits would be to our members. So that that is to be determined yet.

正如前面所提到的，我們正處於非常早期的階段，我們將研究我們認為會為我們的會員帶來哪些好處。所以這還有待確定。

Thank you.

謝謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Karen Short, Melius Research.

凱倫·肖特，Melius 研究公司。

Hey, thanks very much. I know this is maybe a little out of left field but just curious, there's kind of been a trend in retail for some -- for stock splits generally. And I'm wondering what your philosophy is on that because I know you want your employees to have an opportunity to buy stock below the store manager level. And the second question that's kind of unrelated is just tariffs and any thoughts on that and thoughts on what that could do to inflation?

嘿，非常感謝。我知道這可能有點不合時宜，但只是好奇，對某些人來說，零售業有一種趨勢——一般來說，股票分割。我想知道您的理念是什麼，因為我知道您希望您的員工有機會購買低於商店經理級別的股票。第二個問題與關稅無關，以及對此有何想法以及對通膨有何影響？

Thanks, Karen. Yeah, on the stock split, you're probably aware that Costco has done stock splits in the past. And it's something that we'll continue to evaluate and discuss with our board, but there isn't a plan at this time for a stock split. I think for us, the way we think about it is the economic arguments that were true in the past are a little bit less clear, because retail investors and employees both have the ability now to buy fractional shares. But we do also recognize that there's a benefit of the stock feeling more affordable for our retail investors and employees who are very important constituents for us. So we'll continue to evaluate over time.

謝謝，凱倫。是的，關於股票分割，你可能知道 Costco 過去曾進行過股票分割。我們將繼續評估並與董事會討論這個問題，但目前還沒有股票分割的計畫。我認為對我們來說，我們思考這個問題的方式是，過去正確的經濟論點有點不太明確，因為散戶和員工現在都有能力購買零碎股票。但我們也確實意識到，對於我們的散戶和員工來說，股票感覺更便宜是有好處的，他們對我們來說是非常重要的組成部分。因此，我們將隨著時間的推移繼續評估。

And then I think the second part of the question was on tariffs. Yeah, I think from a tariff point of view, what I would say is that, first of all, there's a lot of uncertainty around the timing and scope of changes. So it makes it difficult for anyone to predict what the impact will be with confidence. And in general, of course, tariffs raise cost, that's not something that we see as a, as a positive in general.

然後我認為問題的第二部分是關於關稅。是的，我認為從關稅的角度來看，我想說的是，首先，變化的時間和範圍存在著許多不確定性。因此，任何人都很難自信地預測其影響。當然，總的來說，關稅會提高成本，這並不是我們所認為的正面因素。

With that being said, I'll quote my predecessor, Richard, he'd say when it rains, it rains on everybody. And I think for us, we've faced tariffs in the past and we believe that our merchants and buyers are equipped as anybody is to sort of work through and navigate and manage that situation. We have a plan over time where we have done that in the past and typically we'll look where we can to pull forward inventory buying, which actually we've done already because of some of the less predictability around shipping and how much time product spends on the water. And also because of the risk of strikes that we've seen in the past as well.

話雖這麼說，我要引用我的前任理查德的話，他會說，當下雨時，每個人都會下雨。我認為對我們來說，我們過去曾面臨過關稅，我們相信我們的商人和買家有能力像任何人一樣解決、應對和管理這種情況。我們有一個長期計劃，我們過去已經這樣做過，通常我們會尋找可以提前購買庫存的地方，實際上我們已經這樣做了，因為運輸和產品時間的可預測性較差。也因為我們過去也見過罷工的風險。

We'll, of course, try and work with our vendors to make sure we're looking for ways where we can to mitigate the cost. And we also consider alternative sourcing locations where that's practical as well. I guess the final sort of string in our bow would be is if we didn't see the value in an individual skew, then we could always pivot to a different skew item for the member, if we felt the value just wasn't there and it was more effective for us to move to a different item in the warehouse.

當然，我們會嘗試與供應商合作，以確保我們正在尋找降低成本的方法。我們也考慮了可行的替代採購地點。我想我們弓中的最後一種字串是，如果我們沒有看到單個傾斜中的值，那麼如果我們覺得該值不存在，那麼我們總是可以為該成員轉向不同的傾斜項目對我們來說，轉移到倉庫中的不同物品會更有效。

I guess in context for us that the sort of the amount of business that's affected, we're about a quarter of our business is nonfoods and then a subset of that is imported. So remember, it is a minority of our overall business and then it's a smaller part of that as well we actually import just for context.

我想，就我們受影響的業務量而言，我們大約有四分之一的業務是非食品業務，然後其中一部分是進口業務。所以請記住，它只是我們整體業務的一小部分，而且我們實際上只是為了上下文而導入它的一小部分。

Great. Thank you very much. Have a great holiday.

偉大的。非常感謝。祝你假期愉快。

You too, thanks.

你也是，謝謝。

Edward Kelly, Wells Fargo.

愛德華凱利，富國銀行。

Yeah, hi, good morning, everyone. I wanted to ask you about CapEx. CapEx is kind of been inching up over the last couple of years. But taking a step back and thinking about the evolution of your business, your goals growing the most. How are you thinking about the outlook for CapEx? Any meaningful changes ahead and as part of this, anything different sort of in the pipeline from a project or priority standpoint?

是的，嗨，大家早安。我想問你關於資本支出的問題。過去幾年資本支出一直在緩慢上升。但退一步想想你的業務的發展，你的目標成長最快。您如何看待資本支出的前景？未來是否有任何有意義的變化，作為其中的一部分，從專案或優先順序的角度來看，管道中是否有任何不同的變化？

Yeah, thanks, Ed. I wouldn't say there's really any major change. As you mentioned, we have been gradually increasing capital expenditure more a reflection of the continued growth of the business as we've opened new warehouses, seen some inflation in those costs over the last few years. And we have of course, been investing a little bit more in technology as well as we sort of modernize the platforms there and look to build the right capabilities to support growth in the future.

是的，謝謝，艾德。我不會說真的有任何重大變化。正如您所提到的，我們一直在逐漸增加資本支出，更反映了業務的持續成長，因為我們開設了新倉庫，過去幾年這些成本出現了一些通貨膨脹。當然，我們在技術上進行了更多投資，並對那裡的平台進行了現代化改造，並尋求建立適當的能力來支持未來的成長。

But I think philosophically, we focus on -- number one, of course, is to focus on the warehouses and invest in continuing to maintain the quality of athletes and invest in new growth warehouses in that 25 to 30 range, updating our supply chain and depots to support the capabilities there and both digitally. And then also, as I mentioned, sort of technology investments. But I wouldn't indicate at this point that there's any major change in trajectory, it's more just continuation of the growth strategy that we've had in executing on that strategy.

但我認為從哲學上講，我們關注的第一點當然是關注倉庫並投資於繼續保持運動員的品質並投資於 25 至 30 個範圍內的新增長倉庫，更新我們的供應鍊和倉庫以支持那裡的功能以及數位化的功能。正如我所提到的，還有一些技術投資。但我目前不會表明軌跡有任何重大變化，這更多的是我們在執行該策略時所採用的成長策略的延續。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

John Heinbockel, Guggenheim.

約翰·海因博克爾，古根漢。

Hey, guys, two quick things. Philosophically, price investments get a lot of publicity. But when you think about reinvesting the MFI increase price, product quality, right, IT labor, there's a lot of things to invest in. Where do those other things rank relative to price? And then what does the international club pipeline look like? I'm thinking in particular where you control sites, even though they may be years away. Is that -- I don't I it's over 100, but how big is that pipeline today?

嘿，夥計們，有兩件事要快點。從哲學上講，價格投資得到了廣泛的宣傳。但是，當你考慮對 MFI 漲價、產品品質、IT 勞動力進行再投資時，有很多東西可以投資。那麼國際俱樂部的管道是什麼樣的呢？我特別在想你控制網站的地方，即使它們可能還需要幾年的時間。是不是——我不知道它已經超過 100 個了，但今天的管道有多大？

Yeah, thanks, John. I'll jump in first and Ron may want to add some color as well. I think overall we look at the reinvestment of the membership fee holistically. So it's partly where is it that we can lower prices, of course, part of its where can we mitigate the impact of inflation to maintain the value for the member even if costs are increasing. It's how can we improve the membership experience including investing in our employees wages as we've done recently as well.

是的，謝謝，約翰。我先插話，羅恩可能也想添加一些顏色。我認為總的來說，我們會從整體上看待會員費的再投資。因此，部分是我們可以降低價格，當然，部分是我們可以減輕通貨膨脹的影響，以維持會員的價值，即使成本增加。這就是我們如何改善會員體驗，包括像我們最近所做的那樣投資於我們的員工薪資。

And of course, innovation with new new products through Kirkland Signature. So I think we tend to look at it holistically and say, how do we make sure that when we think about what our members are paying for the membership fee each year that we're delivering more value and showing them that they're getting greater value than they're paying by a meaningful margin for the value of being a member. Ron, anything you want to add on that.

當然，還有透過 Kirkland Signature 推出的新產品創新。因此，我認為我們傾向於從整體上看待它，並說，當我​​們考慮我們的會員每年支付的會員費時，我們如何確保我們正在提供更多價值並向他們展示他們正在變得更大比他們為成為會員的價值所付出的有意義的利潤。羅恩，你還有什麼想補充的嗎？

I think that's accurate and an expansion around the world. I think you'll continue to see an equal amount of 3,030 warehouses opening up over the next few years for sure. A good portion of those being out of the US, we see some great opportunities in Canada and Mexico have been strong countries for us. We continue to see growth opportunities both in Europe and Asia as well. So some of these projects take a lot longer than other ones will, so they'll come on at different times. But I think the outline of 30year seems very realistic and a good portion of those not quite half to be outside of the US.

我認為這是準確的，並且是在世界範圍內的擴展。我認為未來幾年肯定會繼續看到同等數量的 3,030 個倉庫開業。其中很大一部分來自美國，我們看到加拿大和墨西哥的一些巨大機會對我們來說是強大的國家。我們繼續在歐洲和亞洲看到成長機會。因此，其中一些項目比其他項目花費的時間要長得多，因此它們會在不同的時間進行。但我認為 30 年的輪廓似乎非常現實，其中很大一部分不到一半是在美國之外。

Thank you. You're welcome.

謝謝。不客氣。

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer.

魯佩什·帕里克，奧本海默。

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. So I just wanted to Gary to go back to your comment that core margins ex gas were up 17 basis points, and you called out Mix and credit card co brand program. Is there any more color you can provide in terms of what's driving that?

午安.感謝您提出我的問題。因此，我只想讓加里回到您的評論，即除天然氣外的核心利潤率上升了 17 個基點，並且您還提到了 Mix 和信用卡聯合品牌計劃。就驅動因素而言，您還能提供更多顏色嗎？

Sure. Yeah, thanks, Rupesh. Overall, as you mentioned that we were pleased with where reported gross margin rate came in. We tend to look at it ex gas deflation as you know, and that was up seven basis points and then core on core was up three. So I think the overall message is that things were stable when we look at the gross margin rate.

當然。是的，謝謝，魯佩什。總的來說，正如您所提到的，我們對報告的毛利率的情況感到滿意。然後核心核心上升了三個基點。因此，我認為總體訊息是，當我們考慮毛利率時，情況是穩定的。

There were a number of puts and takes in that that largely offset each other within the overall results. The main headwind as we signaled potentially could be the case was around gas which was impacted by the fact that we had a major event obviously 12 months ago or so in the Middle East that created volatility and often that can create some strange margin performance. And we were cycling that. So that was the large headwind. I wouldn't say overall that we've seen in the long term gas margins be unpredictable. It just tends to be more unpredictable on an individual quarter when you have that.

有許多投入和投入在整體結果中很大程度上相互抵消。正如我們所暗示的，主要的阻力可能是圍繞天然氣，這是由於 12 個月前左右在中東發生的重大事件造成的波動，通常會造成一些奇怪的利潤表現，從而影響了天然氣。我們正在騎腳踏車。這就是巨大的逆風。總的來說，我不會說我們所看到的長期天然氣利潤率是不可預測的。當你擁有這種情況時，單一季度的情況往往會更加難以預測。

So that was the sort of biggest headwind. And then offsetting that in the quarter, we had some benefit again this quarter from ecommerce as margins improved there. And the rate of improvement in ecommerce would have been largely similar to what we saw last quarter. So we were pleased with the progress we continue to see there.

所以這是最大的阻力。然後在本季度抵消了這一影響，本季度我們再次從電子商務中受益，因為電子商務的利潤率有所提高。電子商務的改善速度與我們上季看到的情況基本相似。因此，我們對在那裡繼續看到的進展感到高興。

And then, as you mentioned in the core, we had a couple of offsets, we saw some benefit from mix as we look at the business. And then secondly, we saw some benefit from the Cobrand Credit Card program. As you mentioned, essentially the way the credit card cobrand works is that we fund a portion of the rewards that are paid to members and then we receive various incentives and payments from our issuing bank and all that flows into gross margin.

然後，正如您在核心中提到的，我們有一些補償，當我們審視業務時，我們看到了混合帶來的一些好處。其次，我們看到了聯合品牌信用卡計畫的一些好處。正如您所提到的，信用卡聯合品牌的運作方式本質上是我們資助支付給會員的一部分獎勵，然後我們從發卡銀行獲得各種獎勵和付款，所有這些都流入毛利率。

And essentially, the net effect of that was favorable for the quarter which offset along with mix and the e-commerce benefits the gas headwind. So as I mentioned, overall, I think there were no major takeaways from the puts and takes. But we were pleased that gross margin was up slightly even though we continued to invest in lower prices and deliver more value for the member.

從本質上講，其淨效應對本季有利，抵消了混合和電子商務帶來的天然氣逆風。正如我所提到的，總的來說，我認為看跌期權和賣出期權沒有帶來什麼重大收穫。但我們很高興的是，儘管我們繼續投資於更低的價格並為會員提供更多價值，但毛利率略有上升。

Great. Thank you for all the call. Happy holidays.

偉大的。感謝大家的來電。節日快樂。

You too.

你也是。

Peter Benedict, Baird.

彼得·本尼迪克特，貝爾德。

Hey guys, Thanks for taking the question. I wonder maybe Ron for you on the runway for growth in the US. You said, 30 new clubs per year, next handful of years here, most of those are going to be in the US. You guys are just over 600 right now. I think if you include the other two players are talking about 1,400 plus clubs in the US, they're growing as well. How do you think about maybe the capacity for the club industry in the US and maybe for Costco in particular? What are you seeing that gives you confidence in your ability to keep going at this pace in the US?

嘿夥計們，感謝您提出問題。我想知道羅恩也許會為你走上美國發展的跑道。你說過，未來幾年每年都會有 30 個新俱樂部，其中大部分將在美國。你們現在才600多歲。我認為，如果你把另外兩位球員也算上，那麼美國的 1,400 多傢俱樂部也在不斷成長。您如何看待美國俱樂部產業（尤其是 Costco）的產能？您看到了什麼讓您對自己在美國繼續以這種速度前進的能力充滿信心？

I think the one thing I see is the continued success of operations like I spoke of pleasanton, California, that we opened the day before Thanksgiving. Right in between three high volume Bay Area locations in the East Bay and we opened this, this warehouse up not long ago and even finding incremental business, significant incremental business from our members. As we relieve the pressure off of those high volume warehouses, we see the existing member base coming more frequently. And the build back is quite nice for us.

我認為我看到的一件事是我們在感恩節前一天開業的加州普萊頓的業務持續取得成功。就在東灣的三個高容量灣區地點之間，我們不久前開設了這個倉庫，甚至從我們的會員那裡找到了增量業務，顯著的增量業務。當我們減輕這些大容量倉庫的壓力時，我們看到現有的會員群來得更加頻繁。重建對我們來說非常好。

So we see incrementality of the new warehouse and then we see very, very quick build back on those as well. So not only do we still see some opportunities, Scarborough Maine, we opened over a year ago, building has had a tremendous first year in a smaller market like that, that we see. So we see some runway for a few years ahead of us yet where we have a combination of new markets. But we really are focusing on how do we continue to improve that member experience by relieving pressure off of some of these super high-volume warehouses and we're finding it to be incremental to the business.

因此，我們看到了新倉庫的增量，然後我們也看到了非常非常快的重建。因此，我們不僅仍然看到一些機會，緬因州斯卡伯勒，我們在一年多前開業，在我們看到的這樣一個較小的市場中，建築第一年取得了巨大的成功。因此，我們看到未來幾年還有一些新的市場組合。但我們真正關注的是如何透過減輕一些超大容量倉庫的壓力來繼續改善會員體驗，我們發現它對業務有增量作用。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Greg Melich, evercore. ISI.

格雷格·梅利奇，永遠的核心。情報情報局。

Hey, thanks. I wanted to circle back on e-commerce, the growth there 13%. Could you update us on what the penetration is now? And also how if you add on Instacart and I guess the Uber Eats start where we're getting up to on that?

嘿，謝謝。我想回到電子商務，那裡的成長率為 13%。可以為我們介紹一下現在的滲透率嗎？另外，如果你加上 Instacart，我想 Uber Eats 就是我們正在做的事情的起點？

Yeah, thanks Greg for the question. Yeah, we were pleased with the growth that we saw in digital. I think it's important to remember as well as we shared in the November sales release that there was some impact of timing of calendar as well. So the 13% -- if you think about, I think we shared, the team shared that we were like a 15% headwind in our November sales results. And so crudely, if you take about a third of that, you wouldn't be a million miles out with the impact that it would have had on our sales in the quarter as well.

是的，謝謝格雷格提出的問題。是的，我們對數位領域的成長感到高興。我認為重要的是要記住，就像我們在 11 月銷售發布中分享的那樣，日曆的時間安排也有一些影響。所以 13%——如果你想一想，我想我們團隊也認為我們在 11 月的銷售業績中遇到了 15% 的逆風。粗略地說，如果你考慮其中的三分之一，那麼它對我們本季銷售的影響不會超過一百萬英里。

So we were pleased overall with the underlying trend and the metrics that we saw around up downloads and traffic and average order were all up as well, which was encouraging. If you think about the mix of the business, it would be in the sort of -- from the numbers that we disclose publicly as being part of our digital business in the sort of 7% to 8% range of our total sales. So as you know, it continues to outpace our overall growth and we expect that trend to continue.

因此，我們總體上對基本趨勢感到滿意，我們看到的有關下載量、流量和平均訂單的指標也全部上升，這是令人鼓舞的。如果你考慮一下業務的組合，從我們公開揭露的數字來看，它是我們數位業務的一部分，占我們總銷售額的 7% 到 8%。如您所知，它繼續超過我們的整體成長，我們預計這種趨勢將持續下去。

You're exactly right that when you recognize how we define it compared to how other, define it, we wouldn't include some of those third-party sites that are delivering. And there's a few other business parts of our business that we don't include in there as well that would fit in under other businesses. When we add those in there and when you sort of strip out gas, which I think most companies do, when they compare, we'd be north of 10% in terms of total penetration of e-commerce sales.

你是完全正確的，當你認識到我們如何定義它與其他人的定義方式相比時，我們不會包括一些正在提供的第三方網站。我們的業務中還有一些其他業務部分我們沒有包含在其中，但這些部分適合其他業務。當我們將這些添加到其中並剔除汽油時（我認為大多數公司都會這樣做），當他們進行比較時，就電子商務銷售的總滲透率而言，我們將超過 10％。

Got it. Thanks. And then maybe circling back on private label, could you just update us now on the penetration, especially given some of those great new items you've come out with that you highlighted earlier in the call and what that could eventually be?

知道了。謝謝。然後也許回到自有品牌，您現在能否向我們介紹一下滲透率的最新情況，特別是考慮到您在電話會議之前強調的一些出色的新產品以及最終可能是什麼？

Yeah, I think it's up about 30 -- almost 33% this point at in the US is where we've now. And that's primarily the food and sundry side of things where we see the majority of our private label, but we're just bumping up against 33%. And it's growing a little faster than the rest of the business.

是的，我認為美國現在的增幅約為 30%——幾乎為 33%。這主要是我們大部分自有品牌的食品和雜貨方面的情況，但我們只增加了 33%。而且它的成長速度比其他業務快一些。

That's great guys. Have a great holiday.

那真是太棒了，夥計們。祝你假期愉快。

You as well.

你也一樣。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Scott Mushkin, R5 Capital.

斯科特·穆甚金，R5 Capital。

Thanks. Hey guys, thanks for taking my questions. So I just wanted to kind of maybe ask a higher level question around your business. The traffic growth, which is the lifeblood of a retailer has been very strong, given the size of the company you talked about the Pleasanton in opening.

謝謝。嘿夥計們，謝謝你回答我的問題。所以我只是想問一個關於您的業務的更高層次的問題。考慮到您談到的普萊森頓開業的公司的規模，作為零售商命脈的客流量增長非常強勁。

So I was wondering if you kind of give us an idea of what you think is driving this, is it the club format generally resonating consumer mind (technical difficulty) initiatives and how do we think it's (technical difficulty)

所以我想知道你是否能讓我們了解你認為是什麼推動了這一點，俱樂部的形式是否普遍引起了消費者的共鳴（技術難度）舉措以及我們如何看待它（技術難度）

We've lost you halfway through the questions. I'm sorry.

問題問到一半時我們就失去了你的注意力。對不起。

(technical difficulty) this type of traffic growth is your initiatives, the industry set and what your thoughts are about keeping this type of going for years?

（技術難度）這種類型的流量成長是您的舉措、行業背景以及您對保持這種類型多年的想法是什麼？

Okay. And I think we got most of most of your questions and it really regards around traffic growth and what we see that happening if we feel that that can continue on and that's what I'll, that's what I'll try to answer. And hopefully that was what you're talking about.

好的。我想我們已經收到了你們提出的大部分問題，這確實與流量增長有關，以及如果我們認為這種情況可以繼續下去的話我們會看到什麼，這就是我將要回答的問題。希望這就是你所說的。

I think from some of the comments you made, I think it's all of the above. And some of the fun facts I gave out there was, was just really to point to the growth success we're seeing in several parts of our company. Be it, the pharmacy, the food court, our Fresh foods area, we have got to contribute a big part of that to our buyers and operators and the work that they're doing and keeping relevance to the member needs and being reflective of what (inaudible)

我認為從您發表的一些評論來看，我認為就是以上所有內容。我在那裡提供的一些有趣的事實只是為了表明我們在公司的幾個部門所看到的成長成功。無論是藥房、美食廣場還是我們的生鮮食品區，我們都必須為我們的買家和經營者以及他們正在做的工作做出很大一部分貢獻，並保持與會員需求的相關性並反映什麼（聽不清楚）

We were focusing on some of the lower cost proteins for some of our members. And while we're focusing on the wag for the members that would like that those goods as well. So I think our people are doing a tremendous job knowing our customer, but it really is all parts of the business are contributing. Their tire business is very strong, our non-food business continues to strengthen, e-commerce is doing their part. And it just goes back to execution from the teams.

我們專注於為我們的一些會員提供一些成本較低的蛋白質。雖然我們專注於吸引那些也喜歡這些商品的會員。因此，我認為我們的員工在了解客戶方面做得非常出色，但實際上業務的所有部分都在做出貢獻。他們的輪胎業務非常強勁，我們的非食品業務不斷加強，電子商務正在盡自己的一份力量。這又回到了團隊的執行。

Robbie Ohmes, Bank of America.

羅比·歐姆斯，美國銀行。

Thank you. Thanks for taking my question. It's on the competitive impact. So it may end up sounding like more than one question. But I are there any competitive impacts you guys are seeing, worth calling out, benefits or headwinds? So maybe remind us when a regional player you compete with, raises their membership fee. Does that help you guys at all retain or retention rates, things like that? And also I know you've been asked this but any pressures you're seeing on the fact that you guys don't do scan and go and Sam's seems to be doing really well with it and any other competitive impacts you can call out? Thanks.

謝謝。感謝您提出我的問題。這是對競爭的影響。因此，這聽起來可能不只一個問題。但你們看到了哪些值得指出的競爭影響、好處或阻力？因此，當與您競爭的地區玩家提高會員費時，請提醒我們。這對你們的保留率或保留率等有幫助嗎？我也知道有人問過你這個問題，但是你看到的壓力是因為你們不進行掃描然後走，而山姆似乎在這方面做得很好，以及你可以指出的任何其他競爭影響嗎？謝謝。

Yeah, thanks for the question, Robbie. I think we're generally our own biggest competitor honestly, that that's, generally how we approach the business. The maybe the couple of trends that add some color on that that I would call out would be we haven't talked for some time about cannibalizing our own business with opening new warehouses. And as Ron mentioned, generally, we're seeing significant incrementality, but as we have opened more warehouses, we certainly create some of that. We don't split out in our numbers. We just flow through our results, but it does impact the number because we are moving some traffic from existing warehouses when we open a new one.

是的，謝謝你的提問，羅比。老實說，我認為我們通常是我們自己最大的競爭對手，這就是我們處理業務的一般方式。我要指出的可能會增加一些色彩的幾個趨勢是，我們已經有一段時間沒有談論通過開設新倉庫來蠶食我們自己的業務了。正如羅恩所提到的，一般來說，我們看到了顯著的增量，但隨著我們開設了更多倉庫，我們當然會創造一些增量。我們的人數不會分裂。我們只是瀏覽我們的結果，但這確實會影響數字，因為當我們開設新倉庫時，我們會從現有倉庫中轉移一些流量。

I think from a competitive point of view, I guess the biggest tailwind I would call out and Ron mentioned it briefly in prepared comments around our business is that obviously we're seeing quite a lot of disruption in the retail pharmacy business right now. And I think with the work our teams are doing to deliver great value for the member and continuing to improve the experience and make it easier to engage with our pharmacies. As I mentioned in my prepared comments, we're seeing significant growth in that in that business today. I think that's partly the work that we're doing and partly I think there is some disruption in the industry currently as well.

我認為從競爭的角度來看，我想我要指出的最大的推動因素羅恩在有關我們業務的準備評論中簡短地提到了這一點，顯然我們現在看到零售藥品業務受到了相當大的干擾。我認為，透過我們的團隊所做的工作，我們可以為會員帶來巨大的價值，並繼續改善體驗，讓他們更容易與我們的藥局互動。正如我在準備好的評論中提到的，我們今天看到該業務的顯著增長。我認為這部分是我們正在做的工作，部分是我認為目前該行業也存在一些混亂。

And just any comments on scan and go, and maybe remind us why that might not be on your agenda?

還有關於“掃描即走”的任何評論，也許可以提醒我們為什麼這可能不在您的議程上？

I mean, I think we've got -- our job is as Gary said to take care of the members and make sure they move through. Do we hear about scan and go? Yes, we do. Self checkout has been a great option for our members and we focus on that. Our job really is that we will continue to keep an eye on technology and how we can improve that front end experience. That is the one pinch point. That was the focus of our door scanners is we took a lot of pressure off of the cashiers and moving lines through and saw some nice productivity enhancements when we did that.

我的意思是，我認為我們的工作就像加里所說的那樣，照顧成員並確保他們順利通過。我們聽過「掃描即走」嗎？是的，我們願意。自助結帳對我們的會員來說是一個不錯的選擇，我們非常重視這一點。我們的工作實際上是繼續專注於技術以及如何改善前端體驗。這是一個關鍵點。這是我們門掃描器的重點，我們減輕了收銀員和移動生產線的大量壓力，當我們這樣做時，我們看到了一些不錯的生產力提高。

But at this point, it's not something we're hearing quite often. We do hear it randomly. But we're going to keep an eye out there on technology and make sure that we're doing our part to keep the experience as strong as we can for our members.

但目前，這並不是我們常聽到的。我們確實隨機聽到它。但我們將密切關注技術，並確保盡我們所能，為我們的會員提供盡可能強大的體驗。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

You're very welcome.

非常不客氣。

Michael Lasser, UBS.

麥可拉瑟，瑞銀集團。

Good evening, thank you so much for taking my question. I'm given the recent sales contribution from categories like precious metals and gift cards, have you a, expanded the aperture of what Costco is now willing to sell or what the member is willing to buy from Costco? And b, have you changed your philosophy on the margin where you are expecting more profitability from traditional product vendors to offset the negative margin impact from selling these items that don't drive a lot of profit? Thank you very much.

晚上好，非常感謝您回答我的問題。鑑於最近貴金屬和禮品卡等類別的銷售貢獻，您是否擴大了 Costco 現在願意出售的商品或會員願意從 Costco 購買的商品的範圍？ b，您是否改變了您的利潤理念，即您期望傳統產品供應商獲得更多利潤，以抵消銷售這些不會帶來大量利潤的產品所帶來的負面利潤影響？非常感謝。

I think as far as new categories, you go back to caskets that we've we started many years ago that we would have never thought would have been a business for us. And we were able to find a way to deliver great member value and great quality. And that was such as the addition to gasoline we had many years ago in the company as well, is that can we find something that meets the needs of our members? Make sure we can deliver the right quality and the great price.

我認為就新類別而言，你可以回到我們多年前開始的棺材，我們從未想過這會成為我們的業務。我們能夠找到一種方法來提供巨大的會員價值和卓越的品質。就例如我們公司很多年前也有添加汽油，那我們能找到滿足會員需求的東西嗎？確保我們能夠提供合適的品質和優惠的價格。

So I think the tickets and precious metals was again great work by our buying teams and finding new is that we can deliver great quality and great value to our members. And I see them working hard on the next categories that are going to be coming for us. But that's part of the treasure hunt of Costco, is that always keeping nimble and continue to change those categories that we can find new areas to improve the lives of our members.

因此，我認為門票和貴金屬再次是我們購買團隊的出色工作，新的發現是我們可以為我們的會員提供卓越的品質和巨大的價值。我看到他們正在為我們即將推出的下一個類別而努力。但這是好市多尋寶的一部分，始終保持靈活性並不斷改變這些類別，我們可以找到新的領域來改善會員的生活。

Yeah, maybe Ron just to add on that Michael to your question of, I think we give a bit more credit in addition to Ron's point about its great work by our merchants creating new and exciting items. We give a bit more credit, I think to the impact they have on the business. Not necessarily because we see significant margin as you mentioned from them, but they're driving significant traffic to our website, and we do get a high proportion of cross selling when members are buying things like precious metal. So it's driving our ability to grow our digital business overall.

是的，也許羅恩只是想補充邁克爾對你的問題的看法，我認為除了羅恩關於我們的商人創造新的和令人興奮的物品的偉大工作的觀點之外，我們還給予更多的信任。我認為我們更加重視他們對業務的影響。不一定是因為我們看到了您提到的巨大利潤，但他們為我們的網站帶來了大量流量，而且當會員購買貴金屬等物品時，我們確實獲得了很高比例的交叉銷售。因此，它推動了我們整體數位業務發展的能力。

And I think we see it as something that also just creates a lot of awareness about our e-commerce business as well. So as you know, we don't advertise, but it's identifying these exciting items that help drive traffic and awareness of what Costco offers. So -- and I think some of that is a factor in what helps with the continued growth in e-commerce, not just from a top line perspective, but also the margin improvement that we talked about on the call. So I think we would look at it a little bit more broadly for sure.

我認為我們認為這也能提高人們對我們電子商務業務的認識。如您所知，我們不做廣告，但我們會識別這些令人興奮的商品，以幫助增加流量並提高人們對 Costco 所提供產品的認識。因此，我認為其中一些因素有助於電子商務持續成長，不僅從營收角度來看，而且從我們在電話會議上談到的利潤率改善來看。所以我認為我們肯定會更廣泛地看待它。

But just to clarify that second point, are you having to offset the margin impact from selling these traffic driving items that don't carry a lot of margin by requiring even better margins on the rest of the assortment?

但為了澄清第二點，您是否必須透過要求其他品種獲得更好的利潤來抵消銷售這些利潤率不高的流量驅動產品所帶來的利潤影響？

Now, what we're seeing is we're driving a mix improvement overall because of the traffic, it's driving and the engagement with the website. And, and remember, of course, as well that there's very low SG&A cost associated with that product. So it also helps create leverage in the e-commerce model as well.

現在，我們看到的是，由於流量、流量的推動以及網站的參與度，我們正在整體推動組合改善。當然，也要記住，該產品的銷售、一般行政費用 (SG&A) 成本非常低。因此，它也有助於在電子商務模式中創造槓桿作用。

So yeah, so the answer is really no, we're not making more margin on those other items that offset that. We're just driving down our SG&A. So we don't require more margin.

所以是的，所以答案確實是否定的，我們不會在其他項目上賺取更多利潤來抵消這一點。我們只是降低了SG&A。所以我們不需要更多的保證金。

Thank you very much and have a good holiday.

非常感謝，祝您假期愉快。

You as well. Thank you.

你也一樣。謝謝。

Chuck Grom, Gordon Haskett.

查克·格羅姆，戈登·哈斯克特。

Hey, thanks very much. Ron, can you talk about Costco's right to earn more wallet share with your more affluent higher income shopper, particularly on the discretionary side of the business? And then Gary, just on on the margin bridge. Can you just explain why the 2% rebate was favorable five basis points? Historically, it's almost always negative or neutral. Thank you.

嘿，非常感謝。羅恩，您能談談好市多（Costco）與更富裕的高收入購物者賺取更多錢包份額的權利，特別是在業務的可自由支配方面嗎？然後是加里，就在邊緣橋上。您能否解釋一下為什麼 2% 的折扣優惠了 5 個基點？從歷史上看，它幾乎總是負面或中性的。謝謝。

Sure thing. Chuck your, your question was why are we gaining more market share with our affluent customer? Is that what your question was?

當然可以。查克，你的問題是為什麼我們在富裕客戶中獲得了更多的市場份額？這就是你的問題嗎？

Now, my question is, do you think you've earned the right to earn more wallet share with that higher income shopper?

現在，我的問題是，您認為您有權從高收入購物者那裡賺取更多錢包份額嗎？

Absolutely. I think we do. I think, as we continue to find the brands and deliver also with great quality Kirkland Signature, we will continue to see that growth and that customer, we resonate that that is our member and that's who we cater our mixes to. And I think that we see great runway for us in the future.

絕對地。我想我們做到了。我認為，隨著我們繼續尋找品牌並提供優質的 Kirkland Signature，我們將繼續看到這種成長和客戶，我們產生共鳴，那就是我們的會員，這就是我們為我們提供混合服務的人。我認為我們在未來看到了美好的跑道。

And then chuck on the second part of your question. So with the 2% rewards, think of it as that throughout the year, we're accruing what we believe is the right amount of redemption for the 2% rewards. And generally speaking, we're going to be conservative around that because we want to make sure we're fully accrued. And then when we get into the first quarter each year where we're sort of trueing up if you like what the actual spend was. So I'd almost think of the adjustment this quarter, sort of offsetting the increases that we saw in the back half of last year. And so you have to net those out to say underlying there is a gradual increase in the 2% spend, but it kind of nets off between quarter by quarter.

然後回答你問題的第二部分。因此，對於 2% 的獎勵，可以將其視為全年，我們都在累積我們認為 2% 獎勵的正確兌換金額。一般來說，我們會對此持保守態度，因為我們想確保我們得到充分的累積。然後，當我們進入每年第一季時，如果您喜歡實際支出，我們就會進行調整。因此，我幾乎會想到本季的調整，以抵消去年下半年的成長。因此，你必須將這些扣除，才能說 2% 的支出逐漸增加，但在逐季之間會被抵消。

Okay. So it was essentially a true up then.

好的。所以這本質上是一個真實的上漲。

Right.

正確的。

Okay, great. Awesome. Thank you.

好的，太好了。驚人的。謝謝。

Kelly Bania, BMO capital markets.

Kelly Bania，BMO 資本市場。

Hi, thanks for taking our questions, Ron and Gary. I was wondering if you could just talk a little bit about your partnerships with Instacart and Uber, now that you've had Uber for quite some time? What you've learned, what is the pace of growth and, and how that's adding to comps? And just general awareness among your membership base of the service there, particularly as you add new services like you mentioned, the pharmacy, I guess, coming in and what something like that could do to the growth there?

嗨，謝謝羅恩和加里提出我們的問題。我想知道您是否可以簡單談談您與 Instacart 和 Uber 的合作關係，既然您已經使用 Uber 有一段時間了？您學到了什麼，成長速度如何，以及如何增加競爭？您的會員基礎對那裡的服務有普遍的認識，特別是當您添加像您提到的那樣的新服務時，我猜藥房會進來，類似的事情會對那裡的增長產生什麼影響？

Yeah, I guess I will start with that very strong partnerships with both organizations. We've closely looked at what the behaviors of the members were and found great incrementality to our members, shop frequency goes way up. And it changes the shopping habits. I think they'll use us more for a fill in between their big Costco brick and mortar shop to go into an Instacart or an Uber, and shop those directions. So I think that we're finding that it's the most cost effective way to do some small non-food item deliveries as well, where we would have otherwise shipped those via UPS or carrier from a distribution center.

是的，我想我將從與這兩個組織建立非常強大的夥伴關係開始。我們仔細觀察了會員的行為，發現會員的增量很大，商店頻率也隨之上升。它改變了購物習慣。我認為他們會更多地使用我們來填補他們的大型 Costco 實體店之間的空缺，然後進入 Instacart 或 Uber，並根據指示進行購物。因此，我認為我們發現，這也是進行一些小型非食品物品交付的最具成本效益的方式，否則我們將透過 UPS 或承運人從配送中心運送這些物品。

We can now have those to a member within a few hours. So if you're looking for a blender that will fit in the back of a Prius, we can get that to you in a couple of hours at a very low cost. So it's improving our e-commerce delivery speed and time to the member and convenience is there as well. So we're very happy with the partnership. Our head merchant works very closely with both of those organizations and we think it's a great service for our members.

現在我們可以在幾個小時內將這些資訊發送給會員。因此，如果您正在尋找適合普銳斯後部的攪拌機，我們可以在幾個小時內以非常低的成本為您提供。因此，它提高了我們向會員提供電子商務的交付速度和時間，也帶來了便利。所以我們對這次合作非常滿意。我們的首席商人與這兩個組織密切合作，我們認為這對我們的會員來說是一項很棒的服務。

I guess the only thing to add, Kelly, is the first part of your question. It continues to grow very strongly. So at least in line with the pace that we see in our digital business overall.

凱利，我想唯一要補充的是你問題的第一部分。它繼續強勁增長。因此，至少與我們在數位業務整體上看到的步伐一致。

Slightly higher than our e-commerce business growth.

略高於我們的電子商務業務成長。

Chuck Cerankosky, Northcoast Research Study.

Chuck Cerankosky，北海岸研究。

Good afternoon, everyone. Could you talk a little bit about labor relations and the current negotiations with the teamsters, please?

大家下午好。您能談談勞資關係以及目前與卡車司機的談判嗎？

You know, I guess what I will say about that is that the Costco, we will always take care of our employees as we always have done. That means that we're going to focus on a fair and a timely process for getting to an agreement with the Teamsters. We have a 40 year track record of dealing fairly with the Teamsters Union and really nothing has changed about that. So these are Costco employees, they're of great importance to us, and we're going to do everything as we can to take care of those employees as we do all of our employees.

你知道，我想我要說的是，Costco，我們將一如既往地照顧我們的員工。這意味著我們將專注於公平、及時的流程，以便與卡車司機達成協議。我們擁有 40 年公平對待卡車司機工會的記錄，這實際上沒有任何改變。這些都是 Costco 的員工，他們對我們非常重要，我們將盡一切努力照顧這些員工，就像照顧所有員工一樣。

Corey Tarlowe, Jeffrey.

科里·塔洛，傑弗裡。

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the international performance that you saw comps decelerated on a multi-year stack versus Q4. So just curious by region, if there's anything to call out that that changed versus the prior quarters? Thank you.

嗨，下午好。感謝您提出我的問題。我想知道您是否可以談談國際表現，您看到與第四季度相比，多年堆疊中的比較有所減速。所以只是好奇按地區來看，與前幾季相比是否有什麼變化？謝謝。

Yeah, thanks for the question, Cory. I don't think there's anything we'd be particularly calling out. I mean, there's certainly some nuances sometimes between some of the international markets of when certain holidays fall and they would have had -- I'll give you an example which I wasn't familiar with, before joining the company and having recent conversations that in Taiwan, there's a big impact from the holiday season in the same way there is here around Black Friday.

是的，謝謝你的提問，科里。我認為我們沒有什麼特別值得強調的。我的意思是，有時在某些國際市場之間確實存在一些細微差別，即某些假期何時到來以及他們本來會有的- 我會給你舉一個我不熟悉的例子，在加入公司之前並進行最近的對話在台灣，假期季節的影響很大，就像黑色星期五前後一樣。

And so there are nuances like that that we see in individual markets that sometimes can affect calendar. But overall, we've been pleased with the momentum that we've seen in the international businesses. And we continue to see a strong growth relative to both our own internal expectations. And then also as we look at the growth in those markets, how we continue to grow our market share. So nothing I would call out as being unusual there.

因此，我們在個別市場中看到的細微差別有時會影響日曆。但總的來說，我們對國際業務的勢頭感到滿意。相對於我們自己的內部預期，我們繼續看到強勁的成長。然後，當我們關注這些市場的成長時，我們將如何繼續擴大我們的市場份額。所以我不會說那裡有什麼不尋常的地方。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Laura Champine, Loop Capital.

勞拉·尚平 (Laura Champine)，Loop Capital。

Thanks for taking my question. It's a follow up on your digital business which obviously is growing well. But how would senior management diagnose or grade your online presence from a look, feel, and function perspective relative to your competition? And related to that this growth in members who are are joining online, is that something you're driving or is that just an an output of the attractiveness of your online offer?

感謝您提出我的問題。這是您的數位業務的後續行動，您的數位業務顯然成長良好。但是，與競爭對手相比，高階管理層如何從外觀、感覺和功能的角度來診斷或評級您的線上形象？與在線加入的會員數量的增長相關，這是您正在推動的事情，還是只是您在線服務吸引力的結果？

Yeah. Thanks for the question. And I think again, I'll say we're probably our own toughest critic. I think when we look at our business overall and we look at the growth over the last 10 years. We've actually grown at a faster pace than the e-commerce. Sort of business in the US has grown in general. So in one respect, we're very pleased with the momentum and the growth that we've seen and continuing to see that higher engagement.

是的。謝謝你的提問。我再想一想，我會說我們可能是我們自己最嚴厲的批評者。我認為，當我們審視我們的整體業務以及過去 10 年的成長時。事實上，我們的成長速度比電子商務更快。美國的各類業務整體上有所成長。因此，從一方面來說，我們對所看到的勢頭和成長感到非常滿意，並繼續看到更高的參與度。

But we're never satisfied. We believe there's more work we can do to keep improving the member experience. We made recent changes with things like search functionality and making inventory available through the mobile app. And those changes are certainly -- members are seeing the benefit of that and commenting positively on the changes that we're seeing.

但我們永遠不會滿足。我們相信我們可以做更多的工作來不斷改善會員體驗。我們最近對搜尋功能和透過行動應用程式提供庫存等進行了更改。這些變化肯定是——成員們看到了其中的好處，並對我們所看到的變化做出了積極的評論。

But we know that we, we're on a technology journey. We've sort of been building the foundations of that journey over the last few years and the goal is to keep getting better and to keep enhancing the member experience. So I'd say, we still believe there's more work to do and we believe by doing that work, we can continue growing our digital business even more effectively.

但我們知道，我們正在踏上科技之旅。在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在為這趟旅程奠定基礎，目標是不斷變得更好並不斷增強會員體驗。所以我想說，我們仍然相信還有更多的工作要做，我們相信透過完成這些工作，我們可以繼續更有效地發展我們的數位業務。

And I would add to that, we realize that we do have some opportunity. We definitely see that we can continue to improve. Gary is exactly right. We're doing the back of the house work at this point on. Speed stability, making sure that all the foundational work is done so we can build on that. And then I think in short order, people will start seeing the front side of things that will come in. But I think Costco Logistics is a great example of the progress we've made.

我想補充一點，我們意識到我們確實有一些機會。我們確實看到我們可以繼續改進。加里是完全正確的。我們現在正在做後台工作。速度穩定性，確保完成所有基礎工作，以便我們可以在此基礎上繼續發展。然後我認為很快人們就會開始看到即將到來的事物的正面。

We are now able to predeploy things around the US and have deliveries made in four days which a couple of years ago would have taken us two weeks. So we're seeing the distribution centers coming online. We're starting to see the app usage go way up functionality is being added to that as well. So it's a journey. We're going to start seeing some more forward facing improvements in the next 12 months. That as we sort of start putting our logistics sides behind us and we get those things taken care of.

我們現在能夠在美國各地預先部署物品，並在四天內完成交付，而幾年前我們需要兩週的時間。所以我們看到配送中心正在上線。我們開始看到應用程式使用率大幅上升，功能也被添加到其中。所以這是一趟旅程。在接下來的 12 個月內，我們將開始看到一些更具前瞻性的改進。當我們開始把物流方面拋在腦後時，我們就會處理好這些事情。

And as far as the e-commerce engage with membership sign ups, probably the biggest difference is that we have less executive members sign up online, which do renew at a higher basis. And I think that that big part -- a big part of that is that they don't have an employee to talk to when they're making that transaction and they don't understand all the benefits of the executive membership. So we're able to capture those later on the path. And but that's the first thing we see there. At least we start engaging with the member as a member and then we will work on showing them the benefits of the executive membership down the road.

就電子商務與會員註冊的互動而言，最大的區別可能是我們在線上註冊的執行會員較少，但續訂的基礎較高。我認為，其中很大一部分是，他們在進行交易時沒有可以與之交談的員工，而且他們不了解高階主管會員的所有好處。因此我們能夠稍後在路徑上捕獲這些內容。但這是我們在那裡看到的第一件事。至少我們開始以會員資格與會員互動，然後我們將努力向他們展示執行會員資格的好處。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call, and we thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束，我們感謝你們的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。