達樂 (DG) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Robert, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to Dollar General's First Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. Today is Thursday, May 26, 2022. (Operator Instructions)

早上好。我的名字是羅伯特，今天我將成為您的會議接線員。在這個時候，我想歡迎大家參加 Dollar General 的 2022 年第一季度財報電話會議。今天是 2022 年 5 月 26 日，星期四。（操作員說明）

This call is being recorded. Instructions for listening to the replay of this call are available in the company's earnings press release issued this morning.

正在錄製此通話。今天上午發布的公司收益新聞稿中提供了收聽此電話重播的說明。

Now I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Donny Lau, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy. Mr. Lau, you may begin the conference.

現在我想將會議轉交給投資者關係和企業戰略副總裁 Donny Lau 先生。劉先生，您可以開始會議了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. On the call with me today are Todd Vasos, our CEO; Jeff Owen, our COO; and John Garratt, our CFO. Our earnings release issued today can be found on our website at investor.dollargeneral.com under News & Events.

謝謝大家，大家早上好。今天與我通話的是我們的首席執行官 Todd Vasos；傑夫歐文，我們的首席運營官；和我們的首席財務官 John Garratt。我們今天發布的收益報告可以在我們的網站investor.dollargeneral.com 的新聞和事件下找到。

Let me caution you that today's comments include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements about our financial guidance, strategy, initiatives, plans, goals, priorities, opportunities, investments, expectations or beliefs about future matters and other statements that are not limited to historical fact. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These factors include, but are not limited to, those identified in our earnings release issued this morning under Risk Factors in our 2021 Form 10-K filed on March 18, 2022, and any later filed periodic report and in the comments that are made on this call. You should not unduly rely on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. Dollar General disclaims any obligation to update or revise any information discussed in this call, unless required by law.

讓我提醒您，今天的評論包括 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中定義的前瞻性陳述，例如關於我們的財務指導、戰略、舉措、計劃、目標、優先事項、機會、投資、期望或信念的陳述未來事項和其他不限於歷史事實的陳述。這些陳述受到風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與我們的預期和預測存在重大差異。這些因素包括但不限於我們今天上午發布的收益報告中確定的因素，這些因素在我們於 2022 年 3 月 18 日提交的 2021 年 10-K 表格中的風險因素下，以及任何後來提交的定期報告中以及在這個電話。您不應過度依賴前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅在今天發表。除非法律要求，否則 Dollar General 不承擔更新或修改本次電話會議中討論的任何信息的義務。

At the end of our prepared remarks, we will open the call up for your questions. (Operator Instructions)

在我們準備好的評論結束時，我們將打開電話詢問您的問題。 （操作員說明）

Now it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Todd.

現在我很高興將電話轉給托德。

Thank you, Donny, and welcome to everyone joining our call. We are pleased with our strong start to 2022, and I want to thank our associates for their unwavering commitment to serving our customers, communities and each other.

謝謝你，唐尼，歡迎大家加入我們的電話。我們對 2022 年的強勁開端感到高興，我要感謝我們的員工堅定不移地致力於為我們的客戶、社區和彼此服務。

Our Q1 performance was led by stronger-than-expected sales results in our consumable category, where we delivered comp sales growth of 4.6%. This increase was offset by a decline of 15.1% in our combined nonconsumable categories, which we believe reflects the challenging lap of the stimulus benefit in Q1 of 2021.

我們的第一季度業績是由我們的消耗品類別的強於預期的銷售結果引領的，我們實現了 4.6% 的複合銷售增長。這一增長被我們綜合非消耗品類別 15.1% 的下降所抵消，我們認為這反映了 2021 年第一季度刺激收益的挑戰。

In addition, we continue to experience headwinds from ongoing global supply chain pressures and rising cost inflation. Despite these challenges, we remain focused on controlling what we can control, and the team's disciplined execution was the key to delivering solid financial results that exceeded our Q1 expectations for both sales and EPS while also advancing our key operating priorities and strategic initiatives.

此外，我們繼續面臨來自全球供應鏈持續壓力和成本通脹上升的不利因素。儘管存在這些挑戰，我們仍然專注於控制我們可以控制的東西，團隊紀律嚴明的執行是實現超出我們第一季度銷售額和每股收益預期的穩健財務業績的關鍵，同時也推進了我們的關鍵運營重點和戰略計劃。

I'm also pleased to report that we have continued to make improvements in our overall in-stock position, which we believe positions us well to drive strong top line performance through the remainder of the year.

我也很高興地報告，我們繼續改善我們的整體庫存狀況，我們相信這使我們能夠在今年剩餘時間內推動強勁的收入表現。

In addition, while we continue to see ongoing product cost inflation, we feel good about our price position as our price indexes relative to competitors and other classes of trade remain in line with our targeted and historical ranges. And with more than 18,000 stores located within 5 miles of about 75% of the U.S. population, we believe we are well positioned to continue supporting our customers through our unique combination of value and convenience, especially in a more challenging economic environment.

此外，雖然我們繼續看到持續的產品成本上漲，但我們對我們的價格狀況感覺良好，因為我們相對於競爭對手和其他貿易類別的價格指數仍符合我們的目標和歷史範圍。超過 18,000 家商店位於美國約 75% 人口的 5 英里範圍內，我們相信我們有能力通過我們獨特的價值和便利組合繼續為客戶提供支持，尤其是在更具挑戰性的經濟環境中。

Looking ahead, we remain focused on advancing our operating priorities and strategic initiatives as we continue to strengthen our competitive position while further differentiating Dollar General from the rest of the retail landscape.

展望未來，我們將繼續專注於推進我們的運營重點和戰略計劃，因為我們將繼續加強我們的競爭地位，同時進一步將 Dollar General 與其他零售領域區分開來。

Now let me recap some of the additional financial results for the first quarter. Despite lapping a difficult quarterly sales comparison from prior year, net sales increased 4.2% to $8.8 billion, and comp sales were essentially flat with a slight decrease of 0.1%. From a monthly cadence perspective, comp sales were positive in February before turning negative in mid-March as we began to lap the stimulus benefit from prior year. As we move past the most challenging portion of the sales lap from 2021, comp sales turned positive in April, and we are pleased with our strong start to Q2, which has exceeded our initial expectations.

現在讓我回顧一下第一季度的一些額外財務結果。儘管與去年同期相比，季度銷售額比較困難，但淨銷售額增長 4.2% 至 88 億美元，複合銷售額基本持平，略有下降 0.1%。從月度節奏的角度來看，2 月份的複合銷售額為正，然後在 3 月中旬轉為負值，因為我們開始利用上一年的刺激收益。隨著我們從 2021 年開始度過最具挑戰性的銷售環節，4 月份的複合銷售額轉為正數，我們對第二季度的強勁開局感到滿意，這超出了我們最初的預期。

As a result of our Q1 outperformance and strong start to Q2, as well as our expectations for the remainder of the year, we are increasing our sales outlook for fiscal 2022, which John will discuss in more detail shortly.

由於我們第一季度的出色表現和第二季度的強勁開局，以及我們對今年剩餘時間的預期，我們正在提高我們對 2022 財年的銷售前景，約翰將很快對此進行更詳細的討論。

Our first quarter sales results included a decline in customer traffic, which was mostly offset by growth in average basket size driven largely by inflation. Importantly, we are pleased with our market share gains in highly consumable product category sales for the quarter. These results were highlighted by gains in our frozen and refrigerated product categories, where we have placed a good deal of emphasis over the past few years in an effort to provide customers with an even wider variety of options.

我們第一季度的銷售業績包括客戶流量的下降，這主要被通貨膨脹推動的平均購物籃規模的增長所抵消。重要的是，我們對本季度在高消耗品類別銷售中的市場份額增長感到滿意。我們冷凍和冷藏產品類別的增長突顯了這些結果，在過去幾年中，我們非常重視這些產品類別，努力為客戶提供更廣泛的選擇。

I'm also excited to note that we recently published our fourth annual Serving Other Report (sic) [Serving Others Report], which provides several important updates on our ongoing ESG efforts, as well as new and updated performance metrics and targets. We are proud of the team's efforts to serve our employees, customers, communities and the environment, and we look forward to continued progress on our journey as we move ahead.

我還很高興地註意到，我們最近發布了第四份年度服務他人報告（原文如此）[服務他人報告]，其中提供了我們正在進行的 ESG 工作的幾個重要更新，以及新的和更新的績效指標和目標。我們為團隊為我們的員工、客戶、社區和環境服務而付出的努力感到自豪，我們期待在前進的過程中繼續取得進步。

Overall, we are proud of our Q1 results. Our mission and culture remain unchanged, and we believe our strategic actions which have transformed this company in recent years positions us well for continued success while supporting long-term shareholder value creation. We continue to operate in one of the most attractive sectors in retail, and our unique value and convenience offering continues to resonate with both new and existing customers. I have never felt better about the underlying business model, and I'm excited about the opportunities ahead of us in 2022 and beyond.

總體而言，我們為第一季度的業績感到自豪。我們的使命和文化保持不變，我們相信近年來改變這家公司的戰略行動使我們能夠在支持長期股東價值創造的同時繼續取得成功。我們繼續在零售業最具吸引力的行業之一開展業務，我們獨特的價值和便利服務繼續引起新老客戶的共鳴。我對潛在的商業模式感覺從未如此好過，我對 2022 年及以後我們面前的機遇感到興奮。

With that, I will now turn the call over to John.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給約翰。

Thank you, Todd, and good morning, everyone. Now that Todd has taken you through a few highlights of the quarter, let me take you through some of its important financial details. Unless we specifically note otherwise, all comparisons are year-over-year, all references to EPS refer to diluted earnings per share, and all periods noted refer to the corresponding fiscal period.

謝謝你，托德，大家早上好。既然托德已經帶您了解了本季度的一些亮點，讓我帶您了解一些重要的財務細節。除非我們另有特別說明，否則所有比較均為同比，所有對每股收益的引用均指稀釋後的每股收益，所有期間均指相應的財政期間。

As Todd already discussed sales, I will start with gross profit. As a reminder, we expanded our gross margin rate by 208 basis points in Q1 2021, which was positively impacted by a significant increase in sales, including net sales growth of 16% in our combined nonconsumable categories. For Q1 2022, gross profit as a percentage of sales was 31.3%, a decrease of 151 basis points. The decrease compared to Q1 2021 was primarily attributable to a greater proportion of sales coming from our consumables category, a higher LIFO provision, increases in transportation costs, markdowns as a percentage of sales and distribution costs and higher inventory damages.

正如托德已經討論過銷售，我將從毛利潤開始。提醒一下，我們在 2021 年第一季度將毛利率提高了 208 個基點，這受到銷售額顯著增長的積極影響，包括我們的非消耗品類別的淨銷售額增長 16%。 2022 年第一季度，毛利潤佔銷售額的百分比為 31.3%，下降了 151 個基點。與 2021 年第一季度相比，這一下降主要是由於我們的消耗品類別的銷售額比例增加、後進先出法準備金增加、運輸成本增加、佔銷售和分銷成本百分比的降價以及更高的庫存損失。

Of note, while we have seen some moderation from Q4, our Q1 supply chain expenses were significantly higher compared to Q1 2021, resulting in a headwind to gross margin of approximately $85 million. In addition, product cost inflation was greater than expected, resulting in a LIFO provision of approximately $61 million during the quarter. These factors were partially offset by higher inventory markups.

值得注意的是，雖然我們看到第四季度有所放緩，但與 2021 年第一季度相比，我們第一季度的供應鏈費用顯著增加，導致毛利率約為 8500 萬美元。此外，產品成本膨脹高於預期，導致本季度後進先出準備金約為 6100 萬美元。這些因素被較高的庫存加價部分抵消。

SG&A as a percentage of sales was 22.8%, an increase of 78 basis points. This increase was driven by expenses that were greater as a percentage of sales, the most significant of which were retail labor, store occupancy costs, depreciation and amortization and utilities. These increases were partially offset by reductions in incentive compensation and winter storm-related disaster expenses.

SG&A 佔銷售額的百分比為 22.8%，增加了 78 個基點。這一增長是由佔銷售額百分比更高的費用推動的，其中最重要的是零售勞動力、商店入住成本、折舊和攤銷以及公用事業。這些增長被獎勵性補償和冬季風暴相關災害費用的減少部分抵消。

Moving down the income statement, operating profit for the first quarter decreased 17.9% to $746 million. As a percentage of sales, operating profit was 8.5%, a decrease of 229 basis points. Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 21.8% and compares to 22% in the first quarter last year. Finally, EPS for the first quarter decreased 14.5% to $2.41.

在損益表中，第一季度的營業利潤下降了 17.9% 至 7.46 億美元。營業利潤佔銷售額的比重為 8.5%，下降 229 個基點。我們本季度的有效稅率為 21.8%，而去年第一季度為 22%。最後，第一季度每股收益下降 14.5% 至 2.41 美元。

Turning now to our balance sheet and cash flow which remain strong and provide us the financial flexibility to continue investing for the long term while delivering significant returns to shareholders. Merchandise inventories were $6.1 billion at the end of the first quarter, an increase of 19.4% overall and 13.3% on a per-store basis. This increase primarily reflects the impact of product cost inflation as well as a greater mix of higher-value products. Importantly, we continue to believe the quality of our inventory is in good shape and that we are well positioned with the right mix and balance of products.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表和現金流，它們仍然強勁，為我們提供了財務靈活性，可以繼續長期投資，同時為股東帶來可觀的回報。第一季度末商品庫存為 61 億美元，整體增長 19.4%，單店增長 13.3%。這一增長主要反映了產品成本膨脹的影響以及更高價值產品的更大組合。重要的是，我們仍然相信我們的庫存質量狀況良好，並且我們在產品的正確組合和平衡方面處於有利地位。

Going forward, as Todd mentioned, we expect continued improvement in our overall in-stock levels as we move through 2022, underscoring our optimism that we are well positioned to serve our customers. The business generated cash flow from operations during the quarter totaling $450 million, a decrease of 36%. Total capital expenditures for the quarter were $282 million and included our planned investments in new stores, remodels and relocations, distribution and transportation projects and spending related to the strategic initiatives.

展望未來，正如托德所說，我們預計到 2022 年我們的整體庫存水平將繼續提高，這突顯了我們對我們有能力為客戶服務的樂觀態度。該業務在本季度產生了總計 4.5 億美元的運營現金流，下降了 36%。本季度的總資本支出為 2.82 億美元，包括我們對新店、改造和搬遷、分銷和運輸項目的計劃投資以及與戰略計劃相關的支出。

During the quarter, we repurchased 3.4 million shares of our common stock for $747 million and paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.55 per common share outstanding for a total payout of $125 million. At the end of Q1, the remaining share repurchase authorization was $1.4 billion. Our capital allocation priorities continue to serve us well and remain unchanged. Our first priority is investing in high-return growth opportunities, including new store expansion and our strategic initiatives. We also remain committed to returning significant cash to shareholders through anticipated share repurchases and quarterly cash dividends, all while maintaining our current investment-grade credit rating and managing to a leverage ratio of approximately 3x adjusted debt to EBITDAR.

在本季度，我們以 7.47 億美元的價格回購了 340 萬股普通股，並支付了每股 0.55 美元的季度現金股息，總支出為 1.25 億美元。第一季度末，剩餘股份回購授權為14億美元。我們的資本配置優先事項繼續為我們服務，並保持不變。我們的首要任務是投資於高回報的增長機會，包括新店擴張和我們的戰略舉措。我們還繼續致力於通過預期的股票回購和季度現金股息向股東返還大量現金，同時保持我們目前的投資級信用評級，並管理調整後債務與 EBITDAR 的槓桿比率約為 3 倍。

Moving to an update on our financial outlook for fiscal 2022. Despite the ongoing uncertainties arising from cost inflation and continued pressure in the supply chain, we are confident in the business. As a result, and as Todd noted, we are increasing our sales outlook for 2022 as we now expect the following: net sales growth of approximately 10% to 10.5%, including an estimated benefit of approximately 2 percentage points from the 53rd week; and same-store sales growth of approximately 3% to 3.5%. Additionally, we are reiterating the remainder of our financial guidance for 2022, which includes EPS growth of approximately 12% to 14%, including an estimated benefit of approximately 4 percentage points from the 53rd week; share repurchases of approximately $2.75 billion; and capital spending in the range of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. Our updated outlook reflects our strong year-to-date top line performance and current sales expectations for the remainder of the year as well as updated margin and expense expectations.

繼續更新我們 2022 財年的財務展望。儘管成本通脹和供應鏈持續面臨壓力帶來持續的不確定性，但我們對業務充滿信心。因此，正如托德指出的那樣，我們正在提高 2022 年的銷售前景，因為我們現在預計如下：淨銷售額增長約 10% 至 10.5%，包括從第 53 週起估計約 2 個百分點的收益；同店銷售額增長約3%至3.5%。此外，我們重申了我們對 2022 年財務指導的其餘部分，其中包括每股收益增長約 12% 至 14%，其中包括從第 53 週起預計約 4 個百分點的收益；約 27.5 億美元的股票回購；資本支出在 14 億至 15 億美元之間。我們更新後的展望反映了我們年初至今強勁的營收表現和今年剩餘時間的當前銷售預期，以及更新後的利潤率和費用預期。

Let me now provide some additional context as it relates to our outlook. In terms of the quarterly cadence, we continue to anticipate both comp sales and EPS growth to be stronger in the second half of the year than the first half. We also expect our share repurchases to be lower in Q2 and Q3 compared to the Q1 amount before increasing in Q4, partially as a result of the extra week in our fiscal year.

現在讓我提供一些與我們的前景相關的額外背景。就季度節奏而言，我們繼續預計下半年的複合銷售額和每股收益增長都將強於上半年。我們還預計第二季度和第三季度的股票回購量將低於第一季度的數量，然後在第四季度增加，部分原因是我們的財政年度增加了一周。

Turning now to gross margin for 2022. We expect to continue realizing benefits from our initiatives, including DG Fresh and NCI throughout the year. In addition, we are optimistic that distribution and transportation efficiencies, including significant expansion of our private fleet, can drive additional benefits despite anticipated continued cost pressures in the near term. Offsetting some of these benefits is an expected increase in sales mix pressure as our sales outperformance has been predominantly driven by growth in our consumables category which generally has a lower gross profit rate than other product categories.

現在轉向 2022 年的毛利率。我們預計全年將繼續從我們的舉措中受益，包括 DG Fresh 和 NCI。此外，我們樂觀地認為，儘管預計短期內成本壓力將持續存在，但分銷和運輸效率（包括我們私人車隊的顯著擴張）可以帶來額外的收益。抵消其中一些好處的是銷售組合壓力的預期增加，因為我們的銷售業績主要是由我們的消耗品類別的增長推動的，該類別的毛利率通常低於其他產品類別。

In addition, we expect ongoing supply chain pressures, including higher fuel costs, increased product cost inflation and expect to return to pre-pandemic rates of seasonal markdowns and increased inventory damages, all of which are expected to be headwinds in 2022.

此外，我們預計供應鏈壓力將持續，包括燃料成本上升、產品成本通脹增加，並預計將恢復到大流行前的季節性降價率和增加的庫存損失，所有這些都將在 2022 年成為不利因素。

With regards to SG&A, we expect continued investment in our strategic initiatives as we further the rollouts. However, in aggregate, we continue to expect they will positively contribute to operating profit margin in 2022 as we expect the benefits to gross margin from our initiatives will more than offset the associated SG&A expense. We also continue to pursue efficiencies and savings through our Save to Serve program, including Fast Track, and we believe these savings in 2022 will offset a portion of expected wage inflation.

關於 SG&A，我們預計隨著我們進一步推出，我們將繼續投資於我們的戰略計劃。然而，總的來說，我們繼續預計它們將在 2022 年對營業利潤率做出積極貢獻，因為我們預計我們的舉措對毛利率的好處將超過相關的 SG&A 費用。我們還繼續通過我們的 Save to Serve 計劃（包括 Fast Track）來追求效率和節約，我們相信 2022 年的這些節約將抵消部分預期的工資通脹。

Finally, our updated outlook includes plans to build on our sales momentum with targeted investments to further enhance the customer experience, including incremental labor hours, to drive an even greater improvement in overall in-stock levels and customer service.

最後，我們更新的展望包括計劃通過有針對性的投資來建立我們的銷售勢頭，以進一步提升客戶體驗，包括增加工時，以推動整體庫存水平和客戶服務的更大改善。

In summary, we are proud of our team's resilience and commitment to execution which resulted in our strong first quarter results. As always, we continue to be disciplined in how we manage expenses and capital with the goal of delivering consistent, strong financial performance while strategically investing for the long term. We remain confident in our business model and our ongoing financial priorities to drive profitable same-store sales growth, healthy new store returns, strong free cash flow and long-term shareholder value.

總之，我們為我們團隊的韌性和對執行的承諾感到自豪，這導致了我們第一季度的強勁業績。與往常一樣，我們在如何管理費用和資本方面繼續保持自律，目標是在長期戰略投資的同時提供一致、強勁的財務業績。我們對我們的商業模式和持續的財務優先事項充滿信心，以推動盈利的同店銷售增長、健康的新店回報、強勁的自由現金流和長期股東價值。

With that, I will turn the call over to Jeff.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給傑夫。

Thanks, John. Let me take the next few minutes to update you on our operating priorities and strategic initiatives. Our first operating priority is driving profitable sales growth. We are off to a great start to the year as we continue to make good progress across our portfolio of growth initiatives. Let me take you through some of the recent highlights.

謝謝，約翰。讓我在接下來的幾分鐘內向您介紹我們的運營重點和戰略計劃。我們的首要經營任務是推動可盈利的銷售增長。隨著我們繼續在我們的增長計劃組合中取得良好進展，我們今年有了一個良好的開端。讓我帶你看看最近的一些亮點。

Starting with our nonconsumables initiative, or NCI, which was available in more than 13,000 stores at the end of the first quarter. We continue to be very pleased with the strong sales and margin performance we are seeing across our NCI store base, including continued incremental 2.5% total comp sales increase, on average, in NCI stores in their first year post implementation, along with a meaningful improvement in gross margin rate. We expect to realize ongoing sales and margin benefits from NCI in 2022 and are on track to complete the rollout across nearly the entire chain by the end of the year.

從我們的非消耗品計劃 (NCI) 開始，該計劃於第一季度末在 13,000 多家商店推出。我們繼續對我們在 NCI 商店基礎上看到的強勁銷售和利潤率表現感到非常滿意，包括在實施後的第一年 NCI 商店的平均總銷售額持續增長 2.5%，以及有意義的改進在毛利率方面。我們預計將在 2022 年實現 NCI 的持續銷售和利潤收益，並有望在年底前完成幾乎整個產業鏈的推廣。

Moving to our pOpshelf store concept which further builds on our success and learnings with NCI. As a reminder, pOpshelf aims to engage customers by offering a fun, affordable and differentiated treasure hunt experience delivered through continually refreshed merchandise, a differentiated in-store experience and exceptional value with the vast majority of our items priced at $5 or less. During the quarter, we opened 11 new pOpshelf locations, bringing the total number of stores to 66.

轉向我們的 pOpshelf 商店概念，這進一步建立在我們與 NCI 的成功和學習的基礎上。提醒一下，pOpshelf 旨在通過提供有趣、實惠和差異化的尋寶體驗來吸引客戶，這些體驗通過不斷更新的商品、差異化的店內體驗和卓越的價值來提供，我們的絕大多數商品的價格都在 5 美元或以下。在本季度，我們開設了 11 家新的 pOpshelf 門店，使門店總數達到 66 家。

Additionally, at the end of Q1, we had a total of 25 store-within-a-store concepts, which incorporates a smaller footprint pOpshelf store into one of our larger-format Dollar General market stores as we continue to be pleased with the results. We are on track to nearly triple the pOpshelf store count this year, as well as open up to 25 store-within-store concepts, which would bring us to a total of more than 150 stand-alone pOpshelf locations and a total of approximately 50 store-within-a-store concepts by year-end.

此外，在第一季度末，我們共有 25 家店中店概念，將佔地面積更小的 pOpshelf 商店合併到我們較大格式的 Dollar General 市場商店之一，因為我們繼續對結果感到滿意.我們有望在今年將 pOpshelf 門店數量增加近三倍，並開設多達 25 個店中店概念，這將使我們總共擁有 150 多個獨立的 pOpshelf 門店和大約 50 個到年底的店中店概念。

We continue to anticipate year 1 annualized sales volumes for pOpshelf locations to be between $1.7 million and $2 million per store and expect the initial average gross margin rate for these stores to exceed 40%. Overall, we are very pleased with the results from this unique and differentiated concept, and we are excited about our goal of approximately 1,000 pOpshelf locations by end of 2025.

我們繼續預計 pOpshelf 門店的第一年年銷售額將在每家商店 170 萬美元至 200 萬美元之間，並預計這些商店的初始平均毛利率將超過 40%。總體而言，我們對這一獨特和差異化概念的結果感到非常滿意，我們對到 2025 年底實現約 1,000 個 pOpshelf 位置的目標感到興奮。

Turning now to DG Fresh, which is a strategic multiphase shift to self-distribution of frozen and refrigerated goods, along with a focus on driving continued sales growth in these areas. As a reminder, we completed the initial rollout of DG Fresh across the entire chain in 2021 and are now delivering to more than 18,000 stores from 12 facilities. The initial objective of DG Fresh was to reduce product cost on our frozen and refrigerated items, and we continue to be very pleased with the savings we are seeing.

現在轉向 DG Fresh，這是向冷凍和冷藏商品自我分銷的戰略性多階段轉變，同時專注於推動這些領域的持續銷售增長。提醒一下，我們於 2021 年在整個連鎖店完成了 DG Fresh 的首次推出，現在從 12 個設施向 18,000 多家商店提供服務。 DG Fresh 的最初目標是降低我們冷凍和冷藏產品的產品成本，我們繼續對所看到的節省感到非常滿意。

Another important goal of DG Fresh is to increase sales in our frozen and refrigerated categories. We are pleased with the performance on this front, including enhanced product offerings in stores and strong performance from our perishables department. Looking ahead, we expect to realize additional benefits from DG Fresh as we continue to optimize our network, further leverage our scale, deliver even wider product selection and build on our multiyear track record of growth in cooler doors and associated sales.

DG Fresh 的另一個重要目標是增加我們冷凍和冷藏品類的銷售額。我們對這方面的表現感到滿意，包括增強的商店產品供應和我們易腐品部門的強勁表現。展望未來，隨著我們繼續優化我們的網絡、進一步利用我們的規模、提供更廣泛的產品選擇以及建立我們在冷藏門和相關銷售方面的多年增長記錄，我們預計將從 DG Fresh 獲得更多收益。

And while produce is not included in our initial rollout, we continue to believe that DG Fresh provides a potential path forward to expanding our produce offering to more than 10,000 stores over time. To that end, we offered produce in more than 2,300 stores at the end of the first quarter with plans to expand this offering to a total of more than 3,000 stores by the end of 2022.

雖然我們最初推出的產品不包括農產品，但我們仍然相信 DG Fresh 提供了一條潛在的途徑，可以隨著時間的推移將我們的農產品供應擴展到 10,000 多家商店。為此，我們在第一季度末在 2,300 多家商店提供農產品，併計劃到 2022 年底將這種產品擴展到總共 3,000 多家商店。

Notably, DG Fresh has also extended the reach of our cooler expansion program. In fact, during Q1, we added more than 17,000 cooler doors across our store base, and we are on track to install more than 65,000 cooler doors in 2022.

值得注意的是，DG Fresh 還擴大了我們的冷卻器擴展計劃的範圍。事實上，在第一季度，我們在門店基礎上增加了 17,000 多扇冷櫃門，我們有望在 2022 年安裝超過 65,000 扇冷櫃門。

Importantly, despite the meaningful improvements we have made to date as a result of DG Fresh, we believe we still have significant incremental opportunity to drive additional returns with this initiative in the years ahead.

重要的是，儘管迄今為止我們因 DG Fresh 取得了有意義的改進，但我們相信，在未來幾年，我們仍有大量增量機會通過這一舉措推動額外回報。

Turning now to an update on our expanded health offering, which consists of up to 30% more feet of selling space and up to 400 additional items as compared to our standard offering. This offering was available in nearly 1,800 stores at the end of Q1, and we are on track to expand to a total of more than 4,000 stores by the end of 2022. Looking ahead, our plans include further expansion of our health offering with the goal of increasing access to basic health care products and ultimately services over time, particularly in rural America.

現在轉向我們擴展的健康產品的更新，與我們的標準產品相比，它包括多達 30% 的銷售空間和多達 400 種額外的物品。該產品在第一季度末已在近 1,800 家門店推出，我們有望在 2022 年底前將門店總數擴大到 4,000 多家。展望未來，我們的計劃包括進一步擴展我們的健康產品，目標是隨著時間的推移增加基本醫療保健產品和最終服務的可及性，特別是在美國農村地區。

In addition to the gross margin benefits associated with the initiatives I just discussed, we continue to pursue other opportunities to enhance gross margin, including improvements in private brand sales, global sourcing, supply chain efficiencies and shrink reduction.

除了與我剛才討論的舉措相關的毛利率收益外，我們還將繼續尋求其他機會來提高毛利率，包括改善自有品牌銷售、全球採購、供應鏈效率和減少收縮。

Our second priority is capturing growth opportunities. Our proven, high-return, low-risk real estate model has served us well for many years and continues to be a core strength of our business. In the first quarter, we completed more than 800 real estate projects, including 239 new stores, 532 remodels and 32 relocations. For 2022, our plans remain to execute 2,980 real estate projects in total, including 1,110 new stores, 1,750 remodels and 120 store relocations.

我們的第二要務是抓住增長機會。我們久經考驗、高回報、低風險的房地產模式多年來一直為我們服務，並繼續成為我們業務的核心優勢。一季度，我們完成了800多個房地產項目，其中新店239家，改造532家，搬遷32家。 2022年，我們計劃共執行2,980個房地產項目，其中包括1,110家新店、1,750家改造和120家門店搬遷。

As a reminder, we expect approximately 800 of our new stores in 2022 to be in our larger 8,500 square foot store format as we respond to our customers' desire for even wider product selection. With about 1,200 square feet of additional selling space compared to a traditional store, these larger formats allow for expanded high-capacity cooler counts; an extended queue line; and a broader product assortment, including NCI, our larger health and beauty offering; and produce in many stores.

提醒一下，我們預計 2022 年約有 800 家新店將採用我們更大的 8,500 平方英尺店面形式，因為我們響應了客戶對更廣泛產品選擇的渴望。與傳統商店相比，增加了約 1,200 平方英尺的銷售空間，這些更大的格式允許擴大大容量冷卻器的數量；延長的排隊隊伍；以及更廣泛的產品組合，包括 NCI，我們更大的健康和美容產品；並在許多商店生產。

Importantly, we continue to be very pleased with the unit economics of this larger format. While the initial cost to open these larger stores is about $300,000, including fixed assets and working capital, we are seeing increased sales productivity and continue to generate returns in the range of 20% to 22%.

重要的是，我們繼續對這種更大格式的單位經濟性感到非常滿意。雖然開設這些大型商店的初始成本約為 300,000 美元，包括固定資產和營運資金，但我們看到銷售效率有所提高，並繼續產生 20% 至 22% 的回報。

In addition to our planned Dollar General and pOpshelf growth in 2022 and included in our total new store goal, we are also very excited about our plans to expand internationally: the goal of opening up to 10 stores in Mexico by the end of 2022. Overall, our real estate pipeline remains robust. With more U.S. brick-and-mortar stores than any retailer, we are excited about our ability to capture significant growth opportunities in the years ahead.

除了我們計劃在 2022 年實現 Dollar General 和 pOpshelf 增長並納入我們的新店總目標之外，我們還對我們的國際擴張計劃感到非常興奮：到 2022 年底在墨西哥開設 10 家門店的目標。總體而言，我們的房地產管道仍然強勁。美國的實體店比任何零售商都多，我們對在未來幾年抓住重大增長機會的能力感到興奮。

Next, our digital initiative, which is an important complement to our physical footprint as we continue to deploy and leverage technology to further enhance convenience and access for customers. Our efforts remain centered around building engagement across our digital properties, including our mobile app. We ended Q1 with more than 4 million monthly active users on the app and expect this number to grow as we look to further enhance our digital offerings.

接下來，我們的數字計劃是對我們實體足蹟的重要補充，因為我們將繼續部署和利用技術來進一步提高客戶的便利性和訪問權限。我們的努力仍然集中在建立我們的數字資產的參與度，包括我們的移動應用程序。在第一季度結束時，我們的應用程序每月活躍用戶超過 400 萬，隨著我們尋求進一步增強我們的數字產品，這個數字預計會增長。

Our partnership with DoorDash continues to yield strong results as we look to extend the value offering of Dollar General, combined with the convenience of same-day delivery in an hour or less. This offering was available in about 11,000 stores at the end of Q1, and we continue to be pleased with the early results, including better-than-expected customer trial, strong repurchase rates, high levels of sales incrementality and a broadening of our customer base.

我們與 DoorDash 的合作夥伴關係繼續產生強勁的成果，因為我們希望擴大 Dollar General 的價值提供，並結合一小時或更短時間當日送達的便利性。該產品在第一季度末已在約 11,000 家門店推出，我們繼續對早期結果感到滿意，包括好於預期的客戶試用、強勁的回購率、高水平的銷售增量和擴大我們的客戶群.

In addition, we are excited about the continued growth of our Dollar General Media Network, which is becoming increasingly more relevant in connecting our participating brand partners with over 90% of our unique customer base. After establishing the foundation over the last few years, we are poised to meaningfully grow this business in 2022 and beyond as we expand the program and further enhance the value proposition for customers and brand partners while increasing the overall net financial benefit for the business.

此外，我們對 Dollar General 媒體網絡的持續增長感到興奮，該網絡在將我們參與的品牌合作夥伴與我們 90% 以上的獨特客戶群聯繫起來方面變得越來越重要。在過去幾年奠定了基礎之後，我們準備在 2022 年及以後有意義地發展這項業務，因為我們擴大了計劃並進一步增強了對客戶和品牌合作夥伴的價值主張，同時增加了業務的整體淨財務收益。

Most recently, we launched a suite of financial offerings as we look to further leverage our unique footprint to provide our customers with additional services they want and need. These services include a spendwell-branded bank account and debit card offering; a buy now, pay later pilot in select number of stores; and a test of a rewards redemption program. These offerings aim to provide greater financial empowerment for customers while driving incremental traffic and profitability within our stores.

最近，我們推出了一套金融產品，希望進一步利用我們獨特的足跡為我們的客戶提供他們想要和需要的額外服務。這些服務包括一個spendwell品牌的銀行賬戶和借記卡產品；在特定數量的商店中進行先買後付試點；以及獎勵兌換計劃的測試。這些產品旨在為客戶提供更大的財務授權，同時增加我們商店的客流量和盈利能力。

Overall, our strategy consists of building a digital ecosystem specifically tailored to provide our customers with an even more convenient, frictionless and personalized shopping experience, and we are pleased with the growing engagement we are seeing across our digital properties.

總體而言，我們的戰略包括建立一個專門定制的數字生態系統，為我們的客戶提供更方便、無摩擦和個性化的購物體驗，我們對我們在數字資產中看到的日益增長的參與感到高興。

Our third operating priority is to leverage and reinforce our position as a low-cost operator. We have a clear and defined process to control spending which continues to govern our disciplined approach to spending decisions. This zero-based budgeting approach, internally branded as Save to Serve, keeps the customer at the center of all we do while reinforcing our cost control mindset.

我們的第三個運營重點是利用和鞏固我們作為低成本運營商的地位。我們有一個明確而明確的流程來控制支出，這將繼續指導我們嚴格的支出決策方法。這種以零為基礎的預算方法，內部品牌為“節約服務”，將客戶置於我們所做的一切工作的中心，同時加強我們的成本控制思維。

Our Fast Track initiative is a great example of this approach, where our goals include increasing labor productivity in our stores, enhancing customer convenience and further improving on-shelf availability. The first phase of Fast Track consisted of both rolltainer and case pack optimization, which has led to the more efficient stocking of our stores. The second component of Fast Track is self-checkout, which provides customers with another flexible and convenient checkout solution while also driving greater efficiencies for our store associates.

我們的 Fast Track 計劃就是這種方法的一個很好的例子，我們的目標包括提高我們商店的勞動生產率、提高客戶便利性和進一步提高貨架上的可用性。 Fast Track 的第一階段包括行李箱和箱包優化，這使得我們商店的庫存更加高效。 Fast Track 的第二個組成部分是自助結賬，它為客戶提供了另一種靈活方便的結賬解決方案，同時也為我們的店員提高了效率。

Self-checkout was available in more than 8,000 stores at the end of Q1, and we continue to be pleased with our results, including strong customer adoption rates. As a result of the success of self-checkout and popularity with customers, we have recently launched a pilot of stores that are entirely self-checkout. While our associates will remain available to assist customers, if needed, in these stores, we believe this 100% self-checkout option could further enhance the convenience proposition while enabling our associates to dedicate even more time to serving customers. We plan to ultimately test this layout in about 200 stores throughout 2022.

第一季度末，超過 8,000 家商店提供自助結賬服務，我們繼續對我們的結果感到滿意，包括強勁的客戶採用率。由於自助結賬的成功和受到客戶的歡迎，我們最近推出了完全自助結賬的商店試點。雖然如果需要，我們的員工將在這些商店中隨時為客戶提供幫助，但我們相信這種 100% 自助結賬選項可以進一步提升便利性，同時讓我們的員工能夠將更多時間用於服務客戶。我們計劃最終在 2022 年在大約 200 家門店中測試這種佈局。

Looking ahead, we are on track to expand our self-checkout offering to a total of up to 11,000 stores by the end of the year as we look to further extend our position as an innovative leader in small-box discount retail.

展望未來，我們有望在年底前將自助結賬服務擴展到多達 11,000 家商店，因為我們希望進一步擴大我們作為小盒折扣零售創新領導者的地位。

Moving forward, the next phase of Fast Track consists of increasing our utilization of emerging technology and data strategies which includes putting new digital tools in the hands of our field leaders. When combined with our data-driven inventory management, we believe these efforts will reduce store workload and drive greater efficiencies for our retail associates and leaders.

展望未來，Fast Track 的下一階段包括增加我們對新興技術和數據戰略的利用，其中包括將新的數字工具交到我們的領域領導者手中。當與我們的數據驅動的庫存管理相結合時，我們相信這些努力將減少商店的工作量，並為我們的零售員工和領導者提高效率。

I also want to highlight our growing private fleet, which consisted of more than 950 tractors at the end of Q1 as compared to over 700 tractors at the end of 2021. As a reminder, we are focused on significantly expanding our private fleet in 2022 as we plan to more than double the number of tractors from 2021, which we expect will account for approximately 40% of our outbound transportation fleet by the end of the year. As a result of this planned growth, we believe our private fleet will become an increasingly significant competitive advantage as it gives us greater operational control within our own supply chain while further optimizing our cost structure. Our underlying principles are to keep the business simple but move quickly to capture growth opportunities while controlling expenses and always seeking to be a low-cost operator.

我還想強調我們不斷增長的私人車隊，第一季度末有超過 950 輛拖拉機，而 2021 年底有超過 700 輛拖拉機。提醒一下，我們的重點是在 2022 年顯著擴大我們的私人車隊，因為我們計劃從 2021 年起將拖拉機的數量增加一倍以上，我們預計到今年年底，拖拉機將占我們出境運輸車隊的 40% 左右。由於這一計劃增長，我們相信我們的私人車隊將成為越來越重要的競爭優勢，因為它使我們能夠在我們自己的供應鏈中獲得更大的運營控制權，同時進一步優化我們的成本結構。我們的基本原則是保持業務簡單但迅速採取行動以抓住增長機會，同時控制費用並始終尋求成為低成本運營商。

Our fourth operating priority is investing in our diverse teams through development, empowerment and inclusion. As a growing retailer, we continue to create new jobs and opportunities for personal and professional development and ultimately career advancement. To that end, we recently began offering access to 100% employer-paid college degree programs for all full-time employees.

我們的第四個運營重點是通過發展、授權和包容對我們多元化的團隊進行投資。作為一家成長中的零售商，我們繼續為個人和職業發展以及最終的職業發展創造新的工作和機會。為此，我們最近開始為所有全職員工提供 100% 由雇主支付的大學學位課程。

In addition, all Dollar General employees and their immediate family members now have access to online, on-demand, self-paced learning platform that provides college-level general education courses at no cost to them, which is intended to help initiate or further their education journey and development. These programs are in addition to several other existing development programs, including our fully paid private fleet driver training program, as well as the ability to earn undergraduate credits through the American Council on Education upon completion of our store manager training program. We continue to innovate on additional development opportunities for our teams to provide ongoing opportunities for career advancement, and in turn, meaningful wage growth.

此外，所有 Dollar General 員工及其直系親屬現在都可以訪問在線、按需、自定進度的學習平台，該平台免費為他們提供大學水平的通識教育課程，旨在幫助他們啟動或推進他們的教育旅程和發展。這些計劃是對其他幾個現有發展計劃的補充，包括我們全額支付的私人車隊駕駛員培訓計劃，以及在完成我們的商店經理培訓計劃後通過美國教育委員會獲得本科學分的能力。我們不斷創新，為我們的團隊提供更多發展機會，為職業發展提供持續的機會，進而實現有意義的工資增長。

Our internal promotion pipeline remains robust as evidenced by internal placement rates of more than 75% at or above the lead sales associate position. Additionally, approximately 15% of our private fleet team began their careers with us in either a store or distribution center.

我們的內部晉升渠道仍然強勁，內部招聘率超過 75% 或高於首席銷售助理職位就是明證。此外，大約 15% 的私人車隊團隊在商店或配送中心與我們一起開始了他們的職業生涯。

We continue to monitor our competitive position in the market closely, and we are pleased with our turnover rates, staffing levels and applicant flow, further validating our belief that we are taking the right actions to attract and retain talent. We believe the opportunity to start and develop a career with a growing and purpose-driven company is a unique competitive advantage and remains our greatest currency in attracting and retaining talent.

我們將繼續密切關注我們在市場中的競爭地位，我們對我們的離職率、人員配備水平和申請人流量感到滿意，這進一步證實了我們的信念，即我們正在採取正確的行動來吸引和留住人才。我們相信，有機會在一家成長中且以目標為導向的公司開始和發展職業生涯是一種獨特的競爭優勢，並且仍然是我們吸引和留住人才的最大貨幣。

Overall, we continue to make great progress against our operating priorities and strategic initiatives, and we are confident in our plans to drive long-term sustainable growth while creating meaningful value for our shareholders.

總體而言，我們在運營重點和戰略計劃方面繼續取得巨大進展，我們對推動長期可持續增長同時為股東創造有意義價值的計劃充滿信心。

In closing, I am proud of the team's strong performance, and we are pleased with our great start to the year. I want to thank our more than 164,000 employees for their hard work as we all focus on fulfilling our mission of serving others every day, and I am excited about our plans for the year ahead.

最後，我為球隊的強勁表現感到自豪，我們對今年的良好開端感到高興。我要感謝我們 164,000 多名員工的辛勤工作，因為我們都專注於履行每天為他人服務的使命，我對我們未來一年的計劃感到興奮。

With that, operator, we would now like to open the lines for questions.

有了這個，操作員，我們現在想打開問題線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Karen Short with Barclays.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Barclays 的 Karen Short。

Congratulations on a good quarter. So I wanted to just ask, so obviously, your format is very resilient in a weaker macro and should outperform, in general, in a weaker macro. But I think investors have been very concerned regarding discretionary risk as it relates to the comp and also to gross margin. So I was wondering if you could provide a little more color on how your -- with respect to your guidance on how you're thinking about comps with respect specifically to discretionary versus non and then general gross margin outlook as it relates to both categories because, I mean, my personal view is that you're obviously a lot more resilient than people realize -- or investors realize in terms of both those segments, comps and gross margins. So any color on that would be helpful.

祝賀一個好季度。所以我想問一下，很明顯，你的格式在較弱的宏中非常有彈性，通常應該在較弱的宏中表現出色。但我認為投資者一直非常關注可自由支配的風險，因為它與補償和毛利率有關。所以我想知道你是否可以提供更多的顏色來說明你的 - 關於你如何考慮補償的指導，特別是關於可自由支配的與非的，然後是與這兩個類別相關的一般毛利率前景，因為，我的意思是，我個人的觀點是，你顯然比人們意識到的更有彈性——或者投資者在這些細分市場、收入和毛利率方面都意識到。所以上面的任何顏色都會有幫助。

Sure. I'll take that question, Karen. With respect to sales -- and with both of these, that's obviously factored in. With respect to sales, feel very good about the raised guidance that we've provided there. We have taken into account that the overperformance was really driven by consumables, so that's been factored into the margin as well. So we continue to feel great about both sides of the business but have reflected the fact that it is more driven by the consumables. And the team has done a fantastic job of proactively adjusting the orders accordingly to minimize markdown risk.

當然。我會回答這個問題，凱倫。關於銷售——顯然這兩個因素都考慮在內。關於銷售，對我們在那裡提供的上調指導感覺非常好。我們已經考慮到超額表現實際上是由消耗品驅動的，因此這也被計入了利潤率。因此，我們繼續對業務的雙方都感覺良好，但也反映了它更多地受消耗品驅動的事實。該團隊在主動調整訂單以最大程度地降低降價風險方面做得非常出色。

The other thing I'll note, just to give a little more color on the shape of the year with regard to sales, the way we see this is as we get past the -- now past the stimulus lap that has a significant impact on last year, both with sales, but also, it's the most difficult -- it's the most difficult, rather, mix lap of the year because they had a disproportionate effect on nonconsumables. Now that we're past that, we see a market improvement in our sales throughout the year, relatively even throughout the year and strongly positive. And then, obviously, you don't have as much -- while we expect a continued mix towards consumables, the lap isn't as significant now that you're past Q1. And again, that's all been reflected.

我要指出的另一件事，只是為了在銷售方面給今年的形狀增添一點色彩，我們看到這一點的方式是，我們已經過了——現在已經過了對去年，無論是銷售，還是最困難的——這是最困難的，而是一年中最困難的，因為它們對非消耗品產生了不成比例的影響。現在我們已經過去了，我們看到全年銷售的市場改善，全年相對平穩並且非常積極。然後，很明顯，你沒有那麼多——雖然我們預計消耗品會繼續混合，但現在你已經過了第一季度，單圈就不那麼重要了。再一次，這一切都得到了體現。

Okay. And then just to clarify, in terms of April meant 2Q off to a strong start. Any more granularity you could provide on that?

好的。然後澄清一下，就 4 月而言，意味著 2Q 開局良好。你可以提供更多的粒度嗎？

Yes, Karen. We're happy with what -- how we ended Q1. And as I indicated in my opening remarks, pretty upbeat on what we have seen in the first few weeks of Q2. And I would tell you, from a consumer perspective, the consumer is behaving intentional in their purchases, I have to say. But in saying that, she still is shopping both sides of the fence, both consumables and nonconsumables, and I think that really goes to the value that we have in both consumables and nonconsumables side of the business. We've done so much work around that discretionary side with NCI and all the other work that we've done that it's a compelling offering. Even when times are tough for the consumer, she always wants a little bit of an indulgence, and we offer that ability at a real low price. So yes, we feel good about the equation as we move forward, as John indicated.

是的，凱倫。我們對我們如何結束第一季度感到滿意。正如我在開場白中指出的那樣，對我們在第二季度前幾週看到的情況非常樂觀。我會告訴你，從消費者的角度來看，我不得不說，消費者在購買時是有意識的。但話雖如此，她仍然在兩面購物，包括消耗品和非消耗品，我認為這真的符合我們在消耗品和非消耗品方面的業務價值。我們已經在 NCI 的自由裁量權方面做了很多工作，以及我們所做的所有其他工作，這是一個引人注目的產品。即使在消費者面臨艱難時期的時候，她也總是想要一點點放縱，而我們以真正低廉的價格提供這種能力。所以，是的，正如約翰所說，我們在前進的過程中對等式感覺良好。

Our next question comes from Michael Lasser with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Michael Lasser。

How much did trade down contribute -- or customers trading down, those who may be facing some incremental economic stress, contribute to 1Q? How much have you assumed that will contribute to the rest of the year? And in that vein, how much did like-for-like price increases contribute in the quarter? And how much do you expect it to contribute to the rest of the year?

降價對第一季度的貢獻有多大——或者說客戶降價，那些可能面臨一些增量經濟壓力的人？您認為這將對今年餘下的時間做出多少貢獻？在這種情況下，本季度同類價格上漲貢獻了多少？您預計它將為今年剩餘時間做出多少貢獻？

Yes. Thanks for the question, Michael. I'll take that. And I'll tell you that the consumer, overall, has been fairly resilient through this hyperinflation that we've seen, not only in the products that she has to buy, but the fuel she has to put in her car and other means. So I would tell you that the consumer is holding up well, and it really goes toward what I've talked about all along. And that is as long as she's gainfully employed, that makes the biggest difference in how she shops and gives her that confidence to spend.

是的。謝謝你的問題，邁克爾。我會接受的。我會告訴你，總體而言，消費者在我們所看到的這種惡性通貨膨脹中具有相當的彈性，不僅在她必須購買的產品中，而且在她必須放入汽車的燃料和其他方式中。所以我會告訴你，消費者的表現很好，這確實朝著我一直在談論的方向發展。只要她有收入，這對她的購物方式產生最大的影響，並讓她有信心消費。

The great thing at Dollar General is that we offer that value that I just mentioned earlier, and we're already starting to see that our core customers start to shop more intentionally, and we're starting to see that next tier of customers start to shop with us a little bit more as well.

Dollar General 的偉大之處在於，我們提供了我剛才提到的價值，我們已經開始看到我們的核心客戶開始更加有意識地購物，並且我們開始看到下一層客戶開始和我們一起購物也多一點。

Matter of fact, when you look at the COVID customer, I would call it, the one that we attracted and now have retained since COVID, it is still running at or slightly above where we thought we would be right now, and that's a little higher-end consumer. So that tells you that, that trade down and trade in is alive and well and is starting to probably pick up steam as we move through Q2 and into the back part of the year as things continue to tighten up.

事實上，當您查看 COVID 客戶時，我會稱其為自 COVID 以來我們吸引並保留的客戶，它仍在運行或略高於我們現在認為的水平，這有點高端消費者。所以這告訴你，隨著事情繼續收緊，隨著我們進入第二季度並進入今年下半年，這種降價和交易仍然存在並且可能開始加速。

Lastly I'll mention is the gas prices. What would normally also occur and we're starting to see is she starts to shop closer to home, not only our core consumer, but that next cohort up, so that trade in that you mentioned, because let's admit it, right, the gas price is at $4.40, $4.50 a gallon now, on average, is keeping her closer to home. So those shopping patterns are definitely changing, and we're seeing it happen right before our eyes.

最後我要提到的是汽油價格。通常也會發生的情況，我們開始看到的是，她開始在離家更近的地方購物，不僅是我們的核心消費者，還有下一個群體，所以你提到的交易，因為讓我們承認，對，汽油價格是 4.40 美元，現在平均每加侖 4.50 美元，讓她離家更近。因此，這些購物模式肯定在發生變化，我們親眼目睹了它的發生。

And at the risk of being a little bit of a downer, and I apologize for that, one of your big competitors this morning announced they're going to be making some investments to narrow the price gap. Do you think you'll need to take down your prices further and maintain that price gap to continue to enjoy the success that Dollar General has achieved?

冒著有點沮喪的風險，我為此道歉，你的一個大競爭對手今天早上宣布他們將進行一些投資以縮小價格差距。您是否認為您需要進一步降低價格並保持價格差距才能繼續享受 Dollar General 所取得的成功？

Yes. Michael, I would tell you we look at all competitors when we look at our price, and there's some much bigger competitors out there than the one that you are referring to that we watch really closely. The great thing is, is that our prices are right in our historical ranges, and we feel great about price. We've got plenty of ammunition to do whatever we need to do. But I would tell you that we've never felt better about our price position as we continue to move through Q2 and into the back half of the year.

是的。邁克爾，我會告訴您，當我們查看價格時，我們會查看所有競爭對手，並且有一些比您所指的更大的競爭對手，我們非常密切關注。最棒的是，我們的價格在我們的歷史範圍內是正確的，而且我們對價格感覺很好。我們有足夠的彈藥來做我們需要做的任何事情。但我會告訴你，隨著我們繼續進入第二季度並進入今年下半年，我們對價格狀況的感覺從未像現在這樣好過。

We've taken the opportunity, and I've mentioned this before, over the many, many months of -- through COVID to sharpen our prices even more, and I believe that what we're seeing right now against all classes of trade would tell you that Dollar General is in a great spot and has all of the levers that is disposable to continue to keep that positioning. We don't see anything on the horizon that gives us any concern there at all.

我們抓住了這個機會，我之前已經提到過這一點，在過去的許多個月裡——通過 COVID 進一步提高了我們的價格，我相信我們現在看到的所有類別的貿易將告訴您，Dollar General 處於一個很好的位置，並且擁有所有一次性的槓桿來繼續保持該定位。我們在地平線上看不到任何讓我們擔心的事情。

Our next question comes from Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Matthew Boss。

Congrats on another nice quarter.

恭喜又一個不錯的季度。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

So Todd, on value and convenience, it seems like this is really the key driver that you're citing as one of the main pieces to the continued momentum in the business. I guess how much do you attribute all of this to company-specific top line drivers? What initiatives do you think that you're the most excited about that still have legs? And then more so, as we think about the back half of the year, help us to think about the in-stock opportunity or other key drivers of the business on a year-over-year basis.

所以托德，就價值和便利性而言，這似乎真的是你引用的關鍵驅動因素，它是推動業務持續發展的主要因素之一。我猜您將這一切歸因於公司特定的頂級驅動因素有多少？您認為哪些舉措最讓您興奮，並且仍然有腿？更重要的是，當我們考慮下半年時，幫助我們逐年考慮庫存機會或業務的其他關鍵驅動因素。

Yes. Matt, thanks for the question. I would tell you that our initiatives continue to push forward and also drive that top line. So if you think of DG Fresh, that continues to be our top driver. But one area that we have started to talk about recently and we'll continue to hear more and more about is our digital initiative, and I would tell you that, that digital initiative will continue to help propel that top line as well. It's driving not only our current customer but a different cohort of customer into Dollar General, and that is that cohort that is a little bit more digitally savvy.

是的。馬特，謝謝你的問題。我會告訴你，我們的舉措繼續向前推進，也推動了這一頂線。因此，如果您想到 DG Fresh，那仍然是我們的主要驅動力。但是我們最近開始談論的一個領域，我們將繼續聽到越來越多的消息，那就是我們的數字倡議，我會告訴你，該數字倡議也將繼續幫助推動這一頂線。它不僅推動了我們當前的客戶，而且還推動了另一群客戶進入 Dollar General，這就是那些更精通數字化的群體。

We have spent some nice capital over the many years building the platform for this. And really, in earnest, in the last 6 to 8 months, have really turned the dial up on moving that digital piece. So while others are worried about fixing fundamentals, we're really moving the needle forward on a lot of those big initiatives. So you think of DG Fresh, self-distribution of produce coming up in our supply chain as well. You think about digital. And then, of course, we're so excited still about NCI and pOpshelf. POpshelf is performing very well, even in a climate that one would consider the nonconsumable discretionary side of the business may be challenged. But pOpshelf continues to do well. That's what gives us a lot of confidence as we move forward into the upcoming months and years ahead.

多年來，我們為此花費了一些不錯的資金來構建平台。真的，認真地，在過去的 6 到 8 個月裡，真的把撥號盤調到了移動那個數字部件上。因此，當其他人擔心修復基本面時，我們確實在推動許多重大舉措。因此，您會想到 DG Fresh，我們的供應鏈中也出現了農產品的自我分銷。你想想數字。然後，當然，我們仍然對 NCI 和 pOpshelf 感到非常興奮。 POpshelf 的表現非常好，即使在人們認為業務的非消耗性可自由支配方面可能會受到挑戰的情況下也是如此。但 pOpshelf 繼續表現良好。這就是我們在未來幾個月和幾年前進時充滿信心的原因。

So we've got a tremendous amount of drivers, a lot more than value and convenience. But when they come into the store through all these other means that we're driving traffic into the store, they are definitely gravitating to value and convenience because everybody loves a deal.

所以我們有大量的司機，遠遠超過價值和便利。但是當他們通過所有這些其他方式進入商店時，我們正在為商店帶來流量，他們肯定會被價值和便利所吸引，因為每個人都喜歡交易。

Great. And then, John, maybe on the gross margin. How best to think about the build for the second quarter and the back half of the year relative to the first quarter? And just with that, if we think larger picture and maybe similar to my top line question, what inning would you say the company-specific benefits that you've seen from DG Fresh, NCI, maybe the private fleet, what inning are these in today as we think about margin benefits?

偉大的。然後，約翰，也許是毛利率。相對於第一季度，如何最好地考慮第二季度和下半年的建設？僅此而已，如果我們考慮更大的圖景並且可能類似於我的首要問題，您會說您從 DG Fresh、NCI 或私人車隊中看到的公司特有的好處，這些在哪一局今天，當我們考慮保證金收益的時候？

Sure. No, great questions, Matt. I'll start with the first part of the question, just around how we're looking at gross margin. I'll start by saying we're very pleased with what we've been able to do to hang on to that gross margin goodness. While we were down about 1.5 points this quarter, we were lapping over 2 points of expansion last year. And if you go back to pre-pandemic levels, we're still 1 point above where we were. I think it really speaks to the impact of the initiatives.

當然。不，很好的問題，馬特。我將從問題的第一部分開始，圍繞我們如何看待毛利率。我首先要說的是，我們對能夠保持毛利率優勢所做的事情感到非常滿意。雖然本季度我們下跌了約 1.5 個百分點，但我們去年的擴張幅度超過了 2 個百分點。如果你回到大流行前的水平，我們仍然比原來的水平高出 1 個百分點。我認為這確實說明了這些舉措的影響。

Now certainly, there are some near-term pressures that we called out. We talked about on the call the pressure from supply chain costs, which were an $85 million year-over-year headwind. Now that was down from Q4, which was $100 million. The other thing that we talked about was the LIFO provision of $61 million that we booked based on the anticipated inflation for the full year. And of course, we had the mix challenge. But again, as I mentioned before, much more pronounced in Q1 as we lap the significant impact of stimulus.

現在可以肯定的是，我們提出了一些近期的壓力。我們在電話會議上談到了來自供應鏈成本的壓力，與去年同期相比，這是一個 8500 萬美元的逆風。現在，這比第四季度的 1 億美元有所下降。我們談到的另一件事是我們根據全年的預期通貨膨脹預訂的 6100 萬美元的 LIFO 準備金。當然，我們遇到了混合挑戰。但是，正如我之前提到的，在第一季度更加明顯，因為我們了解了刺激措施的重大影響。

So as we look forward, I mentioned we expect continued pressure on a year-over-year basis, not as much as we saw in Q1 as we get away from stimulus. We also expect continued pressure from supply chain, fuel costs, as well as product cost inflation. However, we expect it to improve as we move through the year. The lapse ease, particularly in the second half of the year, as we lap the very heavy inflation from last year. And we anticipate some moderation. We're seeing some moderation in the cost pressures due, in part, to the benefits of the initiatives and the cost reduction actions we've put in place.

因此，在我們展望未來時，我提到我們預計將繼續承受壓力，而不是像我們在第一季度看到的那樣，因為我們擺脫了刺激。我們還預計來自供應鏈、燃料成本以及產品成本通脹的持續壓力。但是，我們預計隨著我們這一年的發展，情況會有所改善。隨著我們從去年開始經歷非常嚴重的通貨膨脹，這種失效得到緩解，特別是在下半年。我們預計會有所節制。我們看到成本壓力有所緩和，部分原因是這些舉措的好處和我們實施的成本降低行動。

We mentioned the private fleet. We're going to double that in size this year as we convert tractors and trailers in-house that drives 20% savings. And we've done other actions to lock in more third-party capacity to manage our inventory very well, adjust to the changing demand of the customers. So we feel we're very well positioned.

我們提到了私人艦隊。今年，我們將在內部改裝拖拉機和拖車，從而節省 20% 的費用，因此我們的規模將增加一倍。我們還採取了其他措施來鎖定更多第三方能力，以很好地管理我們的庫存，適應客戶不斷變化的需求。所以我們覺得我們處於非常有利的位置。

And as we look ahead, we're not giving specific guidance on gross margin, but we expect EPS to improve sequentially as we go from quarter-to-quarter throughout the year for the reasons I mentioned and really see ourselves as you look at, again, the scaling impact of the initiatives you mentioned, we're in early innings there. They vary. But I would say in macro, we're probably, on average, third, fourth inning in most of these, on average, both in terms of the sales benefit as well as the gross margin benefit.

展望未來，我們沒有就毛利率給出具體指導，但我們預計每股收益將隨著我們全年逐個季度的增長而連續改善，原因是我提到的，並且真的如你所見，再次，您提到的舉措的規模影響，我們處於早期階段。它們各不相同。但我會說，在宏觀上，我們可能在大多數情況下平均處於第三、第四局，平均而言，無論是在銷售收益還是毛利率收益方面。

So as these scale and as we work the other levers we've talked about, as we leverage our scale and as Todd mentioned, is we're in a very good place in price. We see ourselves in a very nice position to, over time, continue enhancing our gross margins.

因此，隨著這些規模以及我們使用我們討論過的其他槓桿，當我們利用我們的規模以及正如托德所提到的那樣，我們在價格上處於一個非常好的位置。我們認為自己處於非常有利的位置，可以隨著時間的推移繼續提高我們的毛利率。

Our next question is from Simeon Gutman with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的西蒙·古特曼。

John, I have a follow-up to that question. It's on overall margin or incremental margins. I think you spoke to gross. So this was embedded in the guidance, even when you issued it in the fourth quarter, that you have the step-up in incremental margin sequentially throughout the year. Sales get better. But if you look at the incremental against the sales, it's still an above average rate for what this business has done historically. So I heard some of the commentary that you just said within the gross and why that gets better, but it seems like cost pressures that were present 3 months ago may be getting worse, not better. And then how do you reconcile that versus accelerating incremental throughout the year?

約翰，我對這個問題有後續跟進。它是在整體利潤或增量利潤上。我想你和毛說話了。因此，即使您在第四季度發布了指南，這也包含在指南中，即您全年的增量利潤率都會增加。銷量越來越好。但如果你看一下銷售額的增量，這仍然高於該業務歷史上的平均水平。所以我聽到了你剛剛在總收入中所說的一些評論，以及為什麼會變得更好，但似乎 3 個月前存在的成本壓力可能會變得更糟，而不是更好。然後你如何協調這一點與全年加速增長？

No. I wouldn't say we see cost pressures getting worse. We mentioned the cadence around the inflation. I would say the moderation is going to be more gradual than originally thought, but we still are seeing moderation. We still expect moderation, and that's why we see that sequential improvement in EPS and overall margins as we move through the year.

不，我不會說我們看到成本壓力越來越大。我們提到了圍繞通貨膨脹的節奏。我會說節制將比最初想像的更加漸進，但我們仍然看到節制。我們仍然預計會有所放緩，這就是為什麼我們在這一年中看到每股收益和整體利潤率連續改善的原因。

In terms of SG&A, we don't see any increased cost pressure there in terms of wage inflation. We've talked about that. We expect that growth in wage inflation to be well less than prior year, a little more than pre-pandemic levels but still manageable, and it's tracking where we expected there.

在 SG&A 方面，我們認為工資通脹方面的成本壓力不會增加。我們已經談過了。我們預計工資通脹的增長將遠低於去年，略高於大流行前的水平，但仍處於可控範圍內，並且正在追踪我們的預期。

We also mentioned making some targeted investments and specifically labor hours. It's really from a position of strength to continue driving the sales momentum to make sure we're good for the customer in terms of in-stock levels and customer experience but not a material step up there.

我們還提到了進行一些有針對性的投資，特別是工時。繼續推動銷售勢頭，以確保我們在庫存水平和客戶體驗方面對客戶有利，但不是實質性的進步，這確實是從實力的立場出發。

So we feel very good about the guidance we've provided, maintaining the full year EPS guidance despite enhanced, as everyone has called out, inflationary pressures. I think the team has done a great job mitigating those and improving the in-stocks in the right categories to be ready to drive the top line and the bottom line.

因此，我們對我們提供的指導感到非常滿意，儘管通脹壓力有所增強，但仍保持全年每股收益指導。我認為團隊在減輕這些問題並改善了正確類別的庫存方面做得很好，為推動收入和利潤做好了準備。

And Todd mentioned that there's some tightening that's happening, that the maybe trade down is starting to pick up steam. Are you willing to share was that built into your plan? Are you seeing it happen quicker than the way your plan was built?

托德提到，正在發生一些收緊，可能交易下跌開始升溫。您願意分享您的計劃中包含的內容嗎？您是否看到它發生的速度比您制定計劃的方式更快？

Yes. I would tell you that some of it was built in. We knew that the consumer was going to get tighter in 2022, just because of the lack of stimulus compared to last year. But I would tell you that because of other pressures, more inflation coming through on her everyday needs, as well as that fuel that I talked about, has quickened the pace a little bit. So we believe that she'll flee even further to value as she moves into the back half of the year. Especially as she gets to that holiday time frame, I believe that you'll see that. So we're very prepared for that.

是的。我會告訴你，其中一些是內置的。我們知道消費者在 2022 年會變得更加緊張，只是因為與去年相比缺乏刺激。但我會告訴你，由於其他壓力，她的日常需求出現了更多的通貨膨脹，以及我談到的那種燃料，加快了步伐。所以我們相信，隨著她進入下半年，她會進一步逃離價值。尤其是當她到達那個假期時，我相信你會看到的。所以我們為此做好了充分的準備。

The last thing I'll also mention that shows us that she is starting to move that way a little quicker is, one is she's coming more often in those basket, unit sizes are a little bit smaller. That's the true sign. And also the $1 price point that we are really pushing and getting behind has really accelerated as well, and we're seeing that. So that would tell you that she's trying to make ends meet, and we'll be there for her because that's what we do best.

我還要提到的最後一件事向我們展示了她開始以更快的速度移動是，一個是她在那些籃子裡來得更頻繁，單位尺寸更小一些。這才是真正的跡象。而且我們真正推動和落後的 1 美元價格點也確實加速了，我們看到了這一點。所以這會告訴你她正在努力維持生計，我們會在她身邊，因為這是我們最擅長的。

Our next question is from John Heinbockel with Guggenheim Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自古根海姆合夥人的約翰·海因博克爾。

Todd, maybe to start with, right, the business is in a far better place than it was in '08 and '09, right? We did extremely well. How does the recession playbook look differently than back then in terms of -- and how quickly do you play that? What do you have to see to want to lean into that playbook?

托德，也許首先，對，業務比 08 年和 09 年要好得多，對吧？我們做得非常好。經濟衰退的劇本看起來與當時有什麼不同——你玩得有多快？你必須看到什麼才能融入那本劇本？

Yes. John, it's a good question, and thanks for that. I would tell you that we're in a much different spot, not only economically, meaning the consumer is in a little different spot here. And I think the biggest piece is that her employment is still very healthy across all cohorts of customers that we serve. So I think that's one of the big differences here than '08, '09. Now could that roll over? We're watching that, very well could, which would then just quicken the pace, that flight to value. But we haven't seen that yet but because of the other inflationary pieces we have seen.

是的。約翰，這是一個很好的問題，謝謝。我會告訴你，我們在一個非常不同的地方，不僅在經濟上，這意味著消費者在這個地方有點不同。我認為最重要的一點是，在我們服務的所有客戶群中，她的就業仍然非常健康。所以我認為這是與 08 和 09 年的最大區別之一。現在可以翻身嗎？我們正在關注這一點，很有可能，這將加快步伐，向價值飛行。但我們還沒有看到這一點，而是因為我們看到了其他通脹因素。

So there really isn't a lean-in in the playbook as much as it is knowing what that customer is going to do from historical times and then servicing I mentioned. And the reason we're leaning into that $1 price point is because we know how important that is during those times. Private brand, we've seen an acceleration in our private brand business as well in recent weeks. That's a true sign that she's starting to feel that pressure. So how do we respond? Well, you'll see more endcaps, more off-shelf displays of both $1 and private brand as we move through Q2 and then to the back half of the year. So we're really good and nimble, as you know, and to be able to move very quickly, so you'll see more and more of that.

因此，在劇本中實際上並沒有像我提到的那樣知道客戶從歷史時期將要做什麼然後為我提供服務的傾向。我們傾向於 1 美元的價格點的原因是因為我們知道在那個時候這是多麼重要。自有品牌，最近幾週我們的自有品牌業務也在加速發展。這是她開始感受到壓力的真實跡象。那麼我們該如何應對呢？好吧，隨著我們進入第二季度，然後進入今年下半年，您會看到更多的端蓋、更多的 1 美元和自有品牌的現成展示。所以我們真的很好而且很靈活，正如你所知，並且能夠非常快速地移動，所以你會看到越來越多的東西。

I think the important thing here is we're so different as a company than we were in '08, '09. I would hate to be fixing fundamentals right now because the opportunity to gain share is going to be tremendous as we, I believe, move through this year. And we're so far beyond that with all of the initiatives that we've put in place over the last 6, 7 years. It's nice to see that we're going to be in a position to take an oversized amount of share, we believe, as we move through the back half of the year.

我認為這裡重要的是我們作為一家公司與 08 年和 09 年的情況截然不同。我不想現在就修復基本面，因為我相信，隨著我們今年的發展，獲得份額的機會將是巨大的。我們在過去 6、7 年中實施的所有舉措都遠遠超出了這一點。很高興看到我們將能夠獲得大量份額，我們相信，隨著我們度過下半年。

And then maybe secondly, right, on your -- the health and beauty assortment, maybe it's too early to tell. But when you look at those items in the basket or the people who are buying them, what are you seeing, right, in terms of frequency of shop, basket size, co-purchases? And that's typically a very loyal customer. Do you think that will drive more frequency? Is that the primary benefit you think you'll see?

然後也許第二，對，關於你的 - 健康和美麗的分類，也許現在說還為時過早。但是，當您查看購物籃中的那些物品或購買它們的人時，您會看到什麼，對，就購物頻率、購物籃大小、共同購買而言？這通常是一個非常忠誠的客戶。你認為這會驅動更多的頻率嗎？這是你認為你會看到的主要好處嗎？

John, this is Jeff, and thank you for that question. As we think about health, we've been saying this for quite some time, the largest share donor we're seeing in our business certainly is from the drug channel. And so that's one of the reasons, as you've heard us say before, why we're leaning in here. And so certainly, with 30% more selling space and 400 additional items, we're really pleased to be in 1,800 stores and be in 4,000 by the end of the year. And what we're seeing in the customer's response is very good, and we're excited about what we're seeing, not only in her take rates, but also when you break down the basket.

約翰，我是傑夫，謝謝你的問題。當我們考慮健康時，我們已經說了很長一段時間了，我們在業務中看到的最大份額捐贈者肯定來自藥物渠道。這就是原因之一，正如你之前聽到我們所說的，我們為什麼要靠在這裡。當然，隨著銷售空間增加 30% 和 400 種額外商品，我們真的很高興在 1,800 家商店中，到今年年底達到 4,000 家。我們在客戶的反應中看到的非常好，我們對我們所看到的感到興奮，不僅是她的接受率，還有當你分解籃子時。

So when you think about Dollar General, I think the best way to think about this is this way. When you look at our mainstays, like home cleaning and paper where we have closer to a 10% share and when you think about this particular area where we're closer to a 4%, it really paints the opportunity for us to continue to grow share in this particular area. And as we've said before, we do classify this as consumable, but it has margins that are akin more to nonconsumable. And when you step back and you think about the larger footprint that we talk about, where 80% of our stores in 2022 will be in that larger 8,500 square foot footprint, it gives us the full theater to put this in place.

所以當你想到 Dollar General 時，我認為最好的方法就是這樣。當您查看我們的支柱產品時，例如家庭清潔和造紙，我們擁有接近 10% 的份額，而當您想到這個我們接近 4% 的特定領域時，它確實為我們提供了繼續增長的機會分享這個特定的領域。正如我們之前所說，我們確實將其歸類為消耗品，但它的利潤更類似於非消耗品。當你退後一步，想想我們所說的更大的佔地面積，到 2022 年，我們 80% 的商店將在更大的 8,500 平方英尺的佔地面積內，它為我們提供了充分的空間來實現這一目標。

So I think you see from -- why we're so excited, but also, I think you see the intentional nature of how we layer this into our strategic view of the business and how we look forward and around the corner. So I think you'll see more to come there. We're really excited about what we see.

因此，我認為您可以從中看到-為什麼我們如此興奮，而且，我認為您看到了我們如何將其分層到我們的業務戰略視圖中以及我們如何展望未來和即將到來的意圖的本質。所以我想你會看到更多來那裡。我們對我們所看到的感到非常興奮。

Our next question is from Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer.

我們的下一個問題來自奧本海默的 Rupesh Parikh。

So I have 2 questions on the inflation front. So first, what are you seeing right now from a product cost inflation perspective? And then second, are you -- are there any challenges you're seeing right now in passing through some of the higher prices?

所以我有兩個關於通脹方面的問題。首先，從產品成本通脹的角度來看，您現在看到了什麼？其次，您是否 - 在通過一些更高的價格時，您現在看到任何挑戰嗎？

Rupesh, it's Todd. Real quickly, obviously, we've seen what others have seen on that. We're in a little different spot, though, and our product mix is much different than the broader retail spectrum. So I would tell you that we're seeing, on average, a lot less cost pressure than what you would find in retail in general. That's number one.

魯佩什，是托德。很快，很明顯，我們已經看到了其他人對此的看法。不過，我們所處的位置略有不同，我們的產品組合與更廣泛的零售範圍大不相同。所以我會告訴你，平均而言，我們看到的成本壓力比一般零售業要小得多。那是第一名。

The second piece is we have the ability here to trade off items and to trade down sizes, which we've been very active over the last 6, 8 months on when we saw inflation starting to move in a little different direction. So we've got the ability to do that. That's what we do best on our merch side, and so we've done a lot of that to also push off some of those costs to the consumer.

第二部分是我們有能力在這裡權衡物品並降低尺寸，在過去 6 到 8 個月中，當我們看到通貨膨脹開始向稍微不同的方向移動時，我們一直非常活躍。所以我們有能力做到這一點。這就是我們在商品方面最擅長的事情，因此我們做了很多這樣的工作，也將其中一些成本推給了消費者。

But as it relates to when we do have to put costs out there -- I'm sorry, additional retail to cover some of that CPG cost, we've been able to do that because we do it the Dollar General way, right? And we make sure that we can layer it in where the consumer still knows and sees the value of what we offer.

但因為它涉及到我們什麼時候必須把成本放在那裡——對不起，額外的零售來支付部分 CPG 成本，我們之所以能夠做到這一點，是因為我們採用美元通用的方式，對嗎？我們確保我們可以在消費者仍然知道並看到我們提供的價值的地方進行分層。

And again, as I mentioned in my earlier comment, we haven't felt better about where we are. We're right in historical levels of our pricing index as compared to all classes of trade, so I believe we've got the ability to pass on where we need to, but more importantly, to help defray some of that pass-on to the consumer through our category management efforts, which, again, we're probably one of the best in the industry on.

同樣，正如我在之前的評論中提到的，我們對自己所處的位置感覺並沒有好轉。與所有貿易類別相比，我們的價格指數處於歷史水平，所以我相信我們有能力在需要的地方傳遞，但更重要的是，幫助支付部分傳遞給通過我們的品類管理努力為消費者提供服務，同樣，我們可能是業內最好的之一。

Great. And then maybe just one follow-up question. Just on your discretionary categories, just given many of the concerns out there, did anything differ versus your expectations during the quarter? I know weather did have an impact potentially on some of the categories but just curious if you've seen any changes in consumer behavior within those discretionary categories.

偉大的。然後也許只是一個後續問題。就您的可自由支配類別而言，考慮到許多擔憂，與您在本季度的預期有什麼不同嗎？我知道天氣確實對某些類別產生了潛在影響，但只是好奇您是否看到這些可自由支配類別中的消費者行為發生任何變化。

Yes. As I mentioned also a little earlier, the consumer is becoming more and more intentional in her purchases. We've seen that, and what that means is taking care of her family a little bit more on the consumable side of the business, where she needs to make sure she buys; and then on that discretionary side, obviously, tightening the belt a little bit. So yes, we saw that. We knew that was going to occur, just because of the stimulus lap. But as I also mentioned, we saw it probably accelerate a little faster than where we thought it would as well.

是的。正如我之前提到的，消費者在購買時變得越來越有意識。我們已經看到了這一點，這意味著在業務的消費品方面更多地照顧她的家人，她需要確保自己購買；然後在自由裁量權方面，顯然，稍微收緊腰帶。所以是的，我們看到了。我們知道這會發生，只是因為刺激圈。但正如我也提到的，我們看到它的加速速度可能比我們想像的要快一些。

But the great thing is the buying team has been all over this. So what we're already doing is as we see the -- with the third and fourth quarter and be able to still yet adjust, we're able to go in and adjust the products that we're selling on that discretionary side as well as making sure that the prices are right on that discretionary side, especially as we get to the important fourth quarter selling season.

但最棒的是採購團隊一直在關注這一切。因此，正如我們所看到的那樣，我們已經在做的就是第三季度和第四季度仍然能夠調整，我們也能夠進入並調整我們在可自由支配方面銷售的產品以確保價格在可自由支配的方面是正確的，尤其是當我們進入重要的第四季度銷售季節時。

So we feel like we've seen where that consumer is probably going to land on a mix basis, discretionary versus non, but we also believe we've made the right trade-offs, and as John indicated, feel real good about our inventory levels there and not concerned at all at this point on any markdown risk that may be there.

所以我們覺得我們已經看到了消費者可能會在混合的基礎上登陸的地方，可自由支配與非自由支配，但我們也相信我們已經做出了正確的權衡，正如約翰所說，對我們的庫存感覺非常好那裡的水平，此時根本不關心可能存在的任何降價風險。

Our next question is from Kate McShane with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Kate McShane。

Our first question was just around the SNAP benefit, just how the SNAP composition has changed at DG over the last couple of quarters and what your projection is for the rest of the year.

我們的第一個問題是關於 SNAP 的好處，過去幾個季度 DG 的 SNAP 構成發生了怎樣的變化，以及您對今年剩餘時間的預測。

Yes. It continues to be elevated over pre-pandemic levels. The Thrifty Food Plan is still a benefit there. And while you have some states pulling out of the emergency waivers, it's been very gradual. And so it's still mixing quite a bit higher than norm, just not at the same peak level it was in the middle of last year, but doing very well there, continue to gain share with that customer and serve them very well.

是的。它繼續高於大流行前的水平。節儉食品計劃仍然是一個好處。雖然有些州退出了緊急豁免，但這是非常漸進的。所以它仍然比正常水平高很多，只是沒有達到去年年中的峰值水平，但在那裡做得很好，繼續與該客戶獲得份額並為他們提供很好的服務。

Question is just about traffic. Is there an expectation of when you think that can inflect positively?

問題只是關於交通。有沒有期望什麼時候你認為這可以產生積極影響？

Yes. I would tell you that we actually closed out Q1 with a positive traffic number, which was really good to see. And as I indicated in my opening comments, like what we see on our start to Q2, and I think you can actually take from that, that our traffic number is looking much better than it was. So we feel as we get further and further away from that stimulus lap that John referred to, we believe we've got the right products, initiatives, price points, especially in this environment to drive that traffic long term.

是的。我會告訴你，我們實際上以一個正的流量數字結束了第一季度，這真的很高興。正如我在開場評論中指出的那樣，就像我們在第二季度開始時看到的那樣，我認為您實際上可以從中看出，我們的流量數字看起來比以前好多了。所以我們覺得，隨著我們離約翰所說的刺激圈越來越遠，我們相信我們已經有了正確的產品、舉措和價格點，特別是在這種環境下可以長期推動這種交通。

Our final question comes from Corey Tarlowe with Jefferies.

我們的最後一個問題來自傑富瑞的 Corey Tarlowe。

Firstly, on international as it relates to Mexico, can you provide an update as to where you are on progress for expansion into that region?

首先，關於與墨西哥有關的國際問題，您能否提供有關您在該地區擴張的最新進展？

Thanks, Corey. This is Jeff. So in Mexico, I'm really pleased with what the team has been able to accomplish in a relatively short period of time. I would tell you, we have assembled a fantastic team of retailers, and folks are really excited about joining the opportunity.

謝謝，科里。這是傑夫。所以在墨西哥，我對團隊能夠在相對較短的時間內完成的工作感到非常滿意。我會告訴你，我們已經組建了一支出色的零售商團隊，人們對加入這個機會感到非常興奮。

So first and foremost, the team is incredibly impressive with decades of experience. That's the first point. The second point is, is that we continue to make great progress around learning how to serve this customer. And as we've mentioned before, we have a lot of analogs that gave us great confidence to even expand internationally from a lot of the performance and customers we serve along the border, which we've done historically incredibly well here at Dollar General.

因此，首先，團隊擁有數十年的經驗，令人印象深刻。這是第一點。第二點是，我們在學習如何為這個客戶服務方面繼續取得很大進展。正如我們之前提到的，我們有很多類似的產品，這讓我們充滿信心，甚至可以從我們在邊境服務的許多業績和客戶中進行國際擴張，我們在 Dollar General 歷史上做得非常好。

So as we learn more and more about that consumer, we're really excited about what we are able to offer her and tailor it to her needs and also really rely a lot on what we've been able to do so well here in the United States. So feel great about the assortment and the build that we're doing there, feel real good about the supply chain progress and then also on the real estate. In fact, we've been down there a couple of weeks ago and headed down there here shortly to continue to look at the sites and been very pleased with what we're seeing in terms of our ability to be convenient and be that community-serving retailer that we are here in the U.S. and excited about what we're going to be able to do in Mexico. And we still feel real good about our initial expectation of up to 10 stores by the end of the year.

因此，隨著我們越來越多地了解該消費者，我們對能夠為她提供並根據她的需求量身定制的產品感到非常興奮，並且非常依賴我們在美國。所以對我們在那裡所做的分類和構建感覺很好，對供應鏈的進展感覺很好，然後對房地產也感覺很好。事實上，我們幾週前就去過那裡，不久就到這裡繼續查看這些網站，並對我們所看到的便利和成為社區的能力感到非常滿意-我們在美國為零售商提供服務，並對我們將能夠在墨西哥做的事情感到興奮。我們仍然對我們最初預計到今年年底將開設多達 10 家門店感到非常滿意。

That's great. And then just a follow-up question for John. As it relates to capital allocation, how are you thinking about the balance sheet and cash levels, balancing the dividend, close to $3 billion in share repurchases and then $1.5 billion in CapEx?

那太棒了。然後是約翰的後續問題。就資本配置而言，您如何看待資產負債表和現金水平、平衡股息、近 30 億美元的股票回購以及 15 億美元的資本支出？

Yes. We're still thinking about the same way in terms of the priorities. Our first priority remains investing in the business. When you can get these kind of returns on new stores and the kind of returns we're getting on our strategic initiative that positions us so well, that's where we're going to continue to invest first. Then it's paying a competitive dividend, which we increased 31% year-over-year on a quarterly basis. And then the business generates a tremendous amount of cash, which allows us to buy back shares. And as you mentioned, we're going to target $2.75 billion this year, so really meaningfully investing in the business, meaningfully returning cash to shareholders in these forms.

是的。在優先事項方面，我們仍在考慮相同的方式。我們的首要任務仍然是投資業務。當您可以在新店中獲得此類回報以及我們在戰略計劃中獲得的回報時，我們將繼續在這方面進行投資。然後它支付了有競爭力的股息，我們每季度同比增長 31%。然後業務產生大量現金，這使我們能夠回購股票。正如你所提到的，我們今年的目標是 27.5 億美元，因此對業務進行真正有意義的投資，以這些形式將現金有意義地返還給股東。

And in terms of CapEx, with these kind of returns, we're going to invest what we need to. But again, I think with that amount, we're doing quite a bit with it. It is up a little bit as a percent of sales from historical norms. But the biggest piece of that is just steel inflation. And so if you strip that out, it's kind of back down to that historical level of a little over 3% of our sales. So feel really good about the allocation. It's working very well for us and I think working very well for the investors.

就資本支出而言，有了這些回報，我們將投資我們需要的東西。但同樣，我認為有了這個數量，我們正在做很多事情。與歷史標準相比，它佔銷售額的百分比略有上升。但其中最大的一部分只是鋼鐵通脹。所以如果你把它去掉，它就會回到我們銷售額的 3% 以上的歷史水平。所以感覺真的很好配置。這對我們來說效果很好，我認為對投資者來說效果很好。

Well, thank you for all the questions, and thanks for your interest in Dollar General. I'm proud of our team which continues to execute at a high level for our customers every day. I'm sure you can tell I'm more excited about this business than ever before. We are a mature retailer in growth mode, and our strategic focus has differentiated us in a discount retail landscape, particularly as we have transformed this company in the last few years. As a result, I believe we are very well positioned to capitalize on the enormous growth opportunities we see in front of us.

好吧，感謝您提出的所有問題，並感謝您對 Dollar General 的興趣。我為我們的團隊感到自豪，他們每天都在為我們的客戶提供高水平的服務。我相信你可以說我對這項業務比以往任何時候都更加興奮。我們是一家成熟的增長模式零售商，我們的戰略重點使我們在折扣零售領域脫穎而出，特別是在過去幾年我們對這家公司進行了轉型。因此，我相信我們已經做好充分準備，可以充分利用擺在我們面前的巨大增長機會。

Thank you for listening, and I hope you have a great day. Thank you.

感謝您的收聽，我希望您有一個美好的一天。謝謝你。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。您此時可以斷開線路，我們感謝您的參與。