Five Below Inc (FIVE) 2020 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Five Below Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2020 Financial Results Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 2020 年第四季和全年財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，該事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Christiane Pelz, VP of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁克里斯蒂安·佩爾茲 (Christiane Pelz)。請繼續。

Thank you, Cole. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Five Below's Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Results Conference Call. On today's call are Joel Anderson, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Ken Bull, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. After management has made their formal remarks, we will open the call to questions.

謝謝你，科爾。大家下午好，感謝您今天參加我們的 5 Below 第四季和 2020 財年財務業績電話會議。出席今天電話會議的有總裁兼執行長喬爾·安德森 (Joel Anderson)；以及財務長兼財務主管 Ken Bull。管理層發表正式講話後，我們將開始提問。

I need to remind you that certain comments made during this call may constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to and within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as amended. Such forward-looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Those risks and uncertainties are described in the press release and Five Below's SEC filings. The forward-looking statements are -- made today are as of the date of this call, and we do not undertake any obligation to update our forward-looking statements. If you do not have a copy of today's press release, you may obtain one by visiting the Investor Relations page of our website at fivebelow.com.

我需要提醒您的是，在本次電話會議中發表的某些評論可能構成前瞻性陳述，並且是根據經修訂的1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款並在其含義範圍內發表的。此類前瞻性陳述受到已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與此類陳述有重大差異。這些風險和不確定性在新聞稿和 5 Below 的 SEC 文件中進行了描述。今天所做的前瞻性陳述截至本次電話會議之日，我們不承擔任何更新前瞻性陳述的義務。如果您沒有今天新聞稿的副本，您可以造訪我們網站 Fivebelow.com 的投資者關係頁面以取得一份。

I will now turn the call over to Joel.

我現在將把電話轉給喬爾。

Thank you, Christiane, and thanks, everyone, for joining us for our fourth quarter and year-end earnings call. I will review the highlights of our fourth quarter and fiscal year performance as well as share some thoughts on 2021 before handing it over to Ken to discuss our financials in more detail. Then we will open the call up for questions.

謝謝克里斯蒂安，也謝謝大家參加我們的第四季和年終財報電話會議。我將回顧我們第四季度和財年業績的亮點，並分享對 2021 年的一些想法，然後交給 Ken 更詳細地討論我們的財務狀況。然後我們將開放提問。

Before I speak to our results, I want to acknowledge what an unprecedented year 2020 was. At this time last year, we had little idea how much COVID would impact our business and our lives. So many of our customers, crew and fellow citizens were and remain deeply impacted by the pandemic. Our thoughts and prayers remain with them, especially those who lost loved ones.

在談論我們的結果之前，我想承認 2020 年是前所未有的一年。去年的這個時候，我們幾乎不知道新冠疫情會對我們的業務和生活產生多大影響。我們的許多客戶、機組人員和同胞過去和現在都深受這場流行病的影響。我們的思念和祈禱與他們同在，特別是那些失去親人的人。

I want to recognize and thank our customers, our crew, our vendor partners and others who came together during the pandemic, enabling us to adjust to the realities of operating in this environment. I truly am impressed with how our associates pivoted and embraced the change, relentlessly solving problems for issues we have never faced before, working back from the customer and creating new ways of offering the trend-right products and store experience our customers expect from Five Below.

我要感謝我們的客戶、我們的工作人員、我們的供應商合作夥伴和其他在疫情期間聚集在一起的人，使我們能夠適應在這種環境下運作的現實。我對我們的員工如何轉變和接受變革、堅持不懈地解決我們以前從未遇到過的問題、從客戶那裡進行反饋並創造新的方式來提供客戶期望從“五以下”中獲得的順應潮流的產品和商店體驗印象深刻。 。

Although it was an extremely difficult period, Five Below became stronger as a company because of it, developing new muscle that will serve us well in what is sure to remain a very dynamic operating environment. We will continue to operate with the health and safety of our customers and crew as our top priority while maintaining the financial discipline we have historically demonstrated.

儘管這是一個極其困難的時期，但五層以下作為一家公司因此變得更加強大，發展了新的力量，這將在肯定仍然充滿活力的運營環境中為我們提供良好的服務。我們將繼續將客戶和船員的健康與安全作為我們的首要任務，同時維持我們歷來展現的財務紀律。

Now turning to the fourth quarter. Our Q4 results exceeded the guidance we announced in conjunction with our holiday sales release. Sales were strong leading up to that announcement and accelerated in January, fueled with the second round of stimulus. We delivered fourth quarter sales of $858.5 million or growth of nearly 25%, and earnings per share grew nearly 12% to $2.20. Comparable sales were a remarkable 13.8%, representing the best Q4 comp we have ever achieved. Our e-commerce business continues to grow at a pace significantly faster than our stores. However, due to the small base, the overwhelming majority of our comp still comes from our stores.

現在轉向第四季。我們第四季度的業績超出了我們在假期銷售發佈時宣布的指導。在該公告發布之前，銷售強勁，並在第二輪刺激措施的推動下，一月份銷售加速。我們第四季的銷售額為 8.585 億美元，成長近 25%，每股盈餘成長近 12%，達到 2.20 美元。可比銷售額成長了 13.8%，這是我們有史以來取得的最好的第四季業績。我們的電子商務業務的成長速度明顯快於我們的商店。然而，由於基數較小，我們的絕大多數收入仍然來自我們的商店。

With respect to new stores, which remain our top growth opportunity, we opened 2 stores in the fourth quarter for a total of 120 net new stores opened across 32 states in 2020. Notably, our Bronx, New York store performed in the top 25 holiday brand openings, even with a more restrictive environment and reduced marketing. We ended the year with 1,020 stores, a nearly fivefold increase from when we went public in July of 2012 and leaving a long runway for growth to reach the 2,500-plus total store potential we continue to see in the United States.

新店仍然是我們最大的成長機會，我們在第四季度新開了2 家店，2020 年在32 個州總共淨開設了120 家新店。值得注意的是，我們紐約布朗克斯店的假期表現名列前25 名。即使在更嚴格的環境和減少的行銷活動中，品牌的開放也是如此。截至年底，我們擁有 1,020 家門市，比 2012 年 7 月上市時增加了近五倍，並且為達到我們在美國繼續看到的 2,500 多家門市總數的成長潛力還有很長的路要走。

Before I speak to the specifics about the fourth quarter, I want to mention the key holiday selling period and acknowledge that both internal and external factors contributed to our strong performance. While our team did an outstanding job ensuring a safe, smooth and successful holiday, we have benefited from external factors such as a favorable calendar and the ongoing shift in consumer spending from areas like travel and entertainment.

在談論第四季度的具體情況之前，我想提一下關鍵的假期銷售期，並承認內部和外部因素都促成了我們的強勁業績。雖然我們的團隊在確保安全、順利和成功的假期方面表現出色，但我們也受益於外部因素，例如有利的日曆以及消費者支出從旅行和娛樂等領域的持續轉變。

Regarding the internal factors. From a merchandising perspective, the trend-right amazing value products in our stores resonated with our customers. We saw broad-based strength throughout the store, especially in our Room, Style, Sports and Tech worlds. The trends related to COVID we experienced throughout the year continued. Room and Tech benefited from the work- and play-at-home trend, while Style captured the direct COVID impact of customers buying masks and hand sanitizers, among other items. five beyond also contributed to sales, both through the permanent offering in new stores and remodels as well as the seasonal five beyond wall that was in all our stores for holiday for the second year.

關於內部因素。從商品陳列的角度來看，我們店裡的順應潮流、超值的產品引起了顧客的共鳴。我們在整個商店中看到了廣泛的優勢，特別是在我們的房間、風格、運動和科技領域。我們全年經歷的與新冠病毒相關的趨勢仍在繼續。 Room 和 Tech 受益於在家工作和娛樂的趨勢，而 Style 捕捉了顧客購買口罩和洗手液等物品對新冠疫情的直接影響。 《超越五人》也對銷售做出了貢獻，既透過在新店和改建中永久提供產品，也透過第二年在我們所有商店的假期中推出的季節性《超越五人》。

On the marketing front, we continued the shift to digital and fully eliminated our paper circulars while decreasing our TV reach to approximately 25% of stores. As previously mentioned, we stopped our holiday campaign early this year to avoid big crowds in stores given our desire to provide a safe shopping environment for everyone.

在行銷方面，我們繼續向數位轉型，完全消除了紙本傳單，同時將電視覆蓋範圍減少到約 25% 的商店。如前所述，鑑於我們希望為每個人提供一個安全的購物環境，我們今年早些時候停止了假期活動，以避免商店裡出現大量人群。

On the digital front, we are focused on increasing our brand awareness and conversion to more targeted marketing, focusing on the acquisition and retention of our customers through various search and social platforms. In addition, we piloted a test with Instacart, allowing us to offer our customers more flexible options to shop our stores.

在數位方面，我們專注於提高品牌知名度並轉換為更有針對性的行銷，重點是透過各種搜尋和社交平台來獲取和保留客戶。此外，我們還對 Instacart 進行了試點測試，使我們能夠為客戶提供更靈活的商店購物選擇。

With respect to infrastructure, our distribution center in Conroe, Texas became fully operational and was a big factor in helping to serve our stores in Texas and further west more quickly and efficiently. Without a doubt, the Conroe facility helped us achieve the smoothest holiday we have ever experienced.

在基礎設施方面，我們位於德克薩斯州康羅的配送中心已全面投入運營，這是幫助我們更快、更有效率地為德克薩斯州和更西部的商店提供服務的一個重要因素。毫無疑問，康羅設施幫助我們度過了有史以來最順利的假期。

On the e-commerce front, the addition of our Ohio fulfillment center was vital to serving increased customer demand online.

在電子商務方面，俄亥俄州履行中心的增加對於滿足不斷增長的線上客戶需求至關重要。

In summary, we are very pleased with our fourth quarter, especially with the overall execution and operations during the holiday, from merchandising to supply chain, to our stores and hiring.

總而言之，我們對第四季度的表現非常滿意，尤其是假期期間的整體執行和運營，從銷售到供應鏈，再到我們的商店和招聘。

Now turning to the year. Sales overall for 2020 were nearly $2 billion, with earnings per share of $2.20. We accomplished so much during 2020 while quickly pivoting to adapt to the new environment and new ways of working. None of this would have been possible without our incredible team I am so personally proud of. Their agility, grit and resilience enabled us to close and safely reopen our entire fleet of existing stores in record pace as well as complete our new store opening plans and achieve our 1,000th store milestone. We accomplished all of this while making strides against our key strategic priorities, namely product, experience and supply chain, while continuing to innovate.

現在轉向年份。 2020 年整體銷售額接近 20 億美元，每股收益為 2.20 美元。 2020 年，我們取得瞭如此多的成就，同時迅速適應新環境和新工作方式。如果沒有我個人引以為傲的令人難以置信的團隊，這一切都不可能實現。他們的敏捷性、毅力和韌性使我們能夠以創紀錄的速度關閉並安全地重新開放整個現有門市，並完成我們的新店開業計劃並實現第 1,000 家門市的里程碑。我們在實現所有這些目標的同時，在我們的關鍵策略重點（即產品、體驗和供應鏈）上取得了長足進步，同時繼續創新。

Let me highlight some of the accomplishments. Number one, we deepened our commitment to gaming with our first exclusive product collaboration with Bugha and opened 3 local host test stores adjacent to our stores. Number two, we innovated our in-store experience with the launch of our new prototype with five beyond in the back of the store. We also accelerated the implementation of our crew member-assisted self-checkout to now about half of our chain, which was very helpful during the holiday season and made the checkout process more efficient for our customers. Number three, regarding the digital experience, we integrated the Hollar.com assets, including the launch of the Five Below app, which improved our e-commerce offering. We also added new online services for our customers by partnering with Instacart to offer same-day delivery in over 350 locations while piloting a test of curbside pickup in select stores. And number four, on supply chain and systems, in addition to opening our new Texas DC, we broke ground on our West Coast DC in Arizona, which will open in the summer of 2021. We completed the implementation of the new Oracle core retail merchandise system, which provides us with the platform to support our future growth. We also upgraded our new warehouse management system in Pedricktown to support our store growth in the northeast.

讓我重點介紹一些成就。第一，我們透過與 Bugha 的首次獨家產品合作加深了對遊戲的承諾，並在我們的商店附近開設了 3 家本地主機測試店。第二，我們創新了店內體驗，推出了新原型，店後還有五個原型。我們也加快了機組人員協助自助結帳的實施，目前已擴展到我們連鎖店的一半左右，這在假期期間非常有幫助，並使我們的客戶的結帳流程更加高效。第三，關於數位體驗，我們整合了 Hollar.com 資產，包括推出 Five Below 應用程序，這改善了我們的電子商務產品。我們也與 Instacart 合作，在 350 多個地點提供當日送達服務，同時在部分商店試行路邊取貨測試，為客戶增加了新的線上服務。第四，在供應鏈和系統方面，除了在德克薩斯州開設新的配送中心外，我們還在亞利桑那州的西海岸配送中心破土動工，該配送中心將於2021 年夏季開業。我們完成了新的Oracle 核心零售商品的實施系統，為我們提供了一個支持我們未來發展的平台。我們還升級了佩德里克敦的新倉庫管理系統，以支持我們在東北部的商店成長。

Now let me turn to 2021. We are really excited for this year and a return to a more normalized store growth program. The plan is to open 170 to 180 stores across 33 states in fiscal 2021. In fact, as of today, we've already opened 34 new stores, including 2 more opening this week. This year, we will be entering the states of Utah and New Mexico, bringing the states we operate in to 40. By the end of the year, Texas, Florida, California and New York will have now surpassed our home state of Pennsylvania in terms of the number of Five Below stores, and we expect to continue to densify and grow in these states.

現在讓我談談 2021 年。我們對今年以及回歸更正常化的商店成長計劃感到非常興奮。計劃在 2021 財年在 33 個州開設 170 至 180 家商店。事實上，截至今天，我們已經開設了 34 家新店，其中本週又新開了 2 家。今年，我們將進入猶他州和新墨西哥州，使我們開展業務的州達到 40 個。到今年年底，德克薩斯州、佛羅裡達州、加利福尼亞州和紐約州的數據量將超過我們的家鄉賓夕法尼亞州五以下商店的數量，我們預計這些州將繼續密集化和成長。

We are also excited to continue to play offense, execute with discipline and make progress in furthering our strategic initiatives. Allow me to elaborate. First, as it relates to product, it all starts with the WOW factor that is our customer promise. Innovation and agility are core to Five Below, adjusting to customers' needs. And new trends is what Five Below does very well as we've demonstrated during COVID.

我們也很高興能夠繼續進攻、嚴格執行並在推進我們的戰略舉措方面取得進展。請允許我詳細說明。首先，就產品而言，這一切都始於令人驚嘆的因素，即我們對客戶的承諾。創新和敏捷性是 Five Below 的核心，根據客戶的需求進行調整。正如我們在新冠疫情期間所展示的那樣，「五以下」在新趨勢方面做得非常好。

Let me give you a little more color on what we are doing with five beyond and product collaborations. The emergence of five beyond from our Ten Below tests is a great example of how we pivoted to play offense. The customer has responded positively to our new five beyond assortment, which is filled with fresh, amazing value items and new categories to wow our customers. In 2020, the five beyond permanent section was in approximately 140 stores, and we plan to more than double that number in 2021, making it available in approximately 30% of our chain by year-end. We also plan to add the five beyond wall in all stores and select new seasons like we did in January with the wellness offering. In addition, we are working on exclusive online items as part of the overall five beyond offering.

讓我向您詳細介紹一下我們在 5 Beyond 和產品合作方面所做的事情。從我們的“十個以下”測試中出現的五個“超出”是我們如何轉向進攻的一個很好的例子。客戶對我們新推出的五種產品做出了積極反應，其中充滿了新鮮、超值的商品和新類別，讓我們的客戶驚嘆不已。 2020 年，約 140 家門市將開設 5 個常設專區，我們計劃在 2021 年將這一數字增加一倍以上，到年底將在我們連鎖店中約 30% 的門市提供此服務。我們還計劃在所有商店中增加五個“超越牆”，並選擇新的季節，就像我們在一月份提供健康產品一樣。此外，我們正在開發獨家線上產品，作為整體五種產品的一部分。

As to product collaborations, we plan to expand the Bugha gaming offering as well as do more exclusive collaborations in 2021. In fact, we kicked off the year with a new partnership focused on the creative aspects of teens' and tweens' lives with Andrea Pippins, who's an illustrator and author. The Pippins collections of products helps kids to imagine, create and shine. Her colorful and inspiring tees have been very popular. We plan to create more opportunities like these in other areas across our stores.

至於產品合作，我們計劃在2021 年擴大Bugha 遊戲產品並進行更多獨家合作。事實上，我們以與Andrea Pippins 建立的新合作夥伴關係拉開了新的一年的序幕，該合作夥伴關係重點關注青少年生活的創意方面，他是一位插畫家和作家。 Pippins 產品系列幫助孩子想像、創造和發光。她色彩繽紛、鼓舞人心的 T 卹非常受歡迎。我們計劃在我們商店的其他區域創造更多類似的機會。

Second, as it relates to experience, our goal is to elevate the experience for both our customers and our crew. How do we do that? We do that through innovation, both in-store and digitally. In store, we are featuring a new prototype with five beyond in the back of the store, in both new stores and remodels. While our local host test was temporarily interrupted by COVID, we will restart this initiative. We continue to add more local host locations in 2021. We continue to be pleased with our partnership with Nerd Street Gamers and see them emerging as a leader in e-sports. Expect us to continue to expand our capabilities in gaming.

其次，由於與體驗相關，我們的目標是提升客戶和機組人員的體驗。我們該怎麼做呢？我們透過店內和數位方式的創新來做到這一點。在商店裡，我們在新商店和改建商店中展示了一個新的原型，商店後面有五個以上的原型。雖然我們的本地主機測試因新冠疫情而暫時中斷，但我們將重新啟動此計劃。 2021 年，我們將繼續增加更多本地舉辦地點。我們對與 Nerd Street Gamers 的合作關係繼續感到滿意，並看到他們逐漸成為電子競技領域的領導者。期待我們繼續擴大我們在遊戲方面的能力。

We also added assisted self-checkout to over 250 more stores, including the majority of new stores and remodels inter, bringing the total stores with assisted self-checkout to about 60% of our chain. This allows us to move our crew from behind the register to the floor to assist our customers with their shopping journey, which makes for a better customer experience overall.

我們還為另外 250 多家商店增加了輔助自助結帳功能，其中包括大多數新店和改建的商店，使配備輔助自助結帳的商店總數達到我們連鎖店的 60% 左右。這使我們能夠將工作人員從收銀台後面轉移到地板上，以協助顧客完成購物之旅，從而整體上提供更好的顧客體驗。

On the digital front, we are focused on increasing our brand awareness and more targeted marketing. As I previously stated, we are focused on the acquisition and retention of our customers through various search and social platforms, and we'll continue to build upon our successful trial with Instacart into 2021.

在數位方面，我們專注於提高品牌知名度和更有針對性的行銷。正如我之前所說，我們專注於透過各種搜尋和社交平台來獲取和留住客戶，我們將在 2021 年繼續利用 Instacart 的成功試驗。

As for our crew experience, technology plays a key role. And in 2021, we are planning to upgrade our human capital management system.

就我們的船員經驗而言，技術起著關鍵作用。 2021年，我們計畫升級人力資本管理體系。

Finally, on supply chain, we are making progress in developing our core distribution network and optimizing inventory management while focused on other ways to make our processes more efficient. We will open our West DC and Buckeye, Arizona this year. In addition, we expect to break ground on our Midwest distribution center in Indiana, which we plan to open in 2022. This will complete the initial buildout of our core distribution center network. The new configuration should allow us to service all our stores within 2 days. We are also optimizing our inventory through our new warehouse management system and implementing a new cloud-based data and analytics platform for demand forecasting.

最後，在供應鏈方面，我們在開發核心分銷網絡和優化庫存管理方面取得了進展，同時專注於其他提高流程效率的方法。今年我們將開設西特區和亞利桑那州巴克艾市。此外，我們預計位於印第安納州的中西部配送中心將破土動工，並計劃於 2022 年開業。這將完成我們核心配送中心網路的初步建設。新配置應該能讓我們在 2 天內為所有商店提供服務。我們也透過新的倉庫管理系統優化庫存，並實施新的基於雲端的資料和分析平台來進行需求預測。

Another ongoing project regarding inventory is focused on making packaging more efficient to optimize pallets and transportation. All these initiatives will be especially important this year as we, like others, (inaudible) with the ongoing global supply chain challenges resulting from the pandemic.

另一個正在進行的有關庫存的項目的重點是提高包裝效率，以優化托盤和運輸。所有這些措施今年都將變得尤其重要，因為我們和其他人一樣（聽不清楚），面臨疫情造成的全球供應鏈挑戰。

In summary, as a company, we are committed to remaining nimble and adapting to this dynamic operating environment, including through the vaccination period and subsequent return to normalcy we are all craving. Five Below has a long history of successfully navigating in difficult times, whether economic or other, and we believe that value never goes out of style. We remain laser focused on the customer and delivering our promise in a safe shopping environment.

總之，作為一家公司，我們致力於保持靈活性並適應這種動態的營運環境，包括度過我們都渴望的疫苗接種期和隨後恢復正常狀態。 Five Below 擁有在經濟或其他困難時期成功渡過難關的悠久歷史，我們相信價值永遠不會過時。我們始終以客戶為中心，並在安全的購物環境中兌現我們的承諾。

We worked back from our customers to find those got to have it, trend-right products at extreme value, and that will never change. With Easter just around the corner on April 4, we are really excited about our offering and to be a destination for Easter basket stuffers, including gifts, candy and all else that brings joy to our customers and helps them celebrate the holidays.

我們從客戶那裡得到回饋，發現那些必須擁有它、具有極高價值的潮流產品，這一點永遠不會改變。 4 月4 日復活節即將到來，我們對我們的產品感到非常興奮，並成為復活節籃子填充物的目的地，包括禮物、糖果和所有其他能給我們的顧客帶來歡樂並幫助他們慶祝節日的東西。

With that, I'd like to turn it over to Ken for the financial discussion.

有了這個，我想把它交給肯進行財務討論。

Thanks, Joel, and good afternoon, everyone. I will begin my remarks with a review of our fourth quarter and fiscal 2020 results and then discuss fiscal 2021.

謝謝喬爾，大家下午好。我將先回顧我們第四季和 2020 財年的業績，然後再討論 2021 財年。

Our sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 were $858.5 million, up 24.9% from the fourth quarter of 2019. We ended the quarter with 1,020 stores, a year-over-year increase of 120 net new stores or 13.3%. In addition, we remodeled 45 stores during the fiscal year.

我們 2020 年第四季的銷售額為 8.585 億美元，比 2019 年第四季成長 24.9%。截至本季末，我們擁有 1,020 家門市，年比淨增 120 家新店，增幅 13.3%。此外，我們在本財年改造了 45 家門市。

Comparable sales increased a record 13.8% for the fourth quarter of 2020 versus a 2.2% comparable sales decrease in the fourth quarter of 2019. The fourth quarter of 2019 was impacted by 6 fewer holiday shopping days. The comp increase for the fourth quarter was driven by a 15.9% increase in comp average ticket, partially offset by a 1.8% decrease in comp transactions. Our holiday comparable sales through the first 9 weeks of the quarter increased 10.1%, and sales accelerated in January, driven by the second round of government stimulus.

2020 年第四季可比銷售額成長了創紀錄的 13.8%，而 2019 年第四季可比銷售額下降了 2.2%。2019 年第四季受到假日購物日減少 6 個的影響。第四季的贈品增長是由贈品平均票價增長 15.9% 推動的，但贈品交易量下降 1.8% 部分抵消了這一增長。本季前 9 週的假期可比銷售額成長了 10.1%，在第二輪政府刺激措施的推動下，1 月銷售額加速成長。

Gross profit increased 17.9% to $340.9 million from $289.1 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2019. Gross margin finished at 39.7%, decreasing approximately 240 basis points from the record 42.1% last year. As expected, the decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by sales mix impacted by customer preferences from pandemic-related items, which was partially offset by leverage in-store occupancy costs on the higher sales.

毛利從 2019 年第四季報告的 2.891 億美元成長 17.9%，達到 3.409 億美元。毛利率最終達到 39.7%，比去年創紀錄的 42.1% 下降約 240 個基點。正如預期的那樣，毛利率的下降主要是由於客戶對流行病相關商品的偏好影響的銷售組合所致，但銷售額增加所帶來的店內入住成本的槓桿作用部分抵消了這一影響。

SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales for the fourth quarter of 2020 decreased approximately 120 basis points to 20% from 21.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019, largely due to the intentional pullback in marketing, as Joel discussed. In addition, we leveraged fixed costs, while higher incentive compensation compared to last year was a partial offset.

正如 Joel 所討論的，2020 年第四季的 SG&A 費用佔銷售額的百分比從 2019 年第四季的 21.1% 下降了約 120 個基點至 20%，這主要是由於行銷的有意縮減。此外，我們利用了固定成本，而與去年相比更高的激勵薪酬則部分抵消了這一影響。

Operating income increased 17.7% to $169.6 million. Operating margin decreased approximately 120 basis points to 19.8% of sales from 21% in the fourth quarter of 2019.

營業收入成長 17.7%，達到 1.696 億美元。營業利潤率下降約 120 個基點，佔銷售額的 19.8%，從 2019 年第四季的 21% 下降。

The effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2020 was 26.6% compared to 23.6% in the fourth quarter of 2019. The increase in the effective tax rate was driven by the outperformance in the fourth quarter, which resulted in year-end adjustments to our previously estimated tax rate.

2020 年第四季的有效稅率為 26.6%，而 2019 年第四季為 23.6%。有效稅率的上升是由於第四季度的優異表現推動的，這導致我們對先前估計的稅率。

Net income for the fourth quarter increased 12.3% to $123.9 million or $2.20 per diluted share from $110.4 million or $1.97 per diluted share last year. For fiscal 2020, total net sales were $1.96 billion, an increase of 6.2%.

第四季淨利潤從去年的 1.104 億美元（即稀釋後每股收益 1.97 美元）增加 12.3% 至 1.239 億美元（即稀釋後每股收益 2.20 美元）。 2020 財年淨銷售額總額為 19.6 億美元，成長 6.2%。

Comparable sales decreased 5.5% versus a comparable sales increase of 0.6% in 2019. This comparable sales decrease was driven by a reduction in transactions, due primarily to the pandemic-related store closures in the first and second quarters.

可比銷售額下降 5.5%，而 2019 年可比銷售額增長 0.6%。可比銷售額下降的原因是交易量減少，而交易量減少主要是由於第一季和第二季度與大流行相關的商店關閉。

Gross profit for the full year decreased 3.2% to $652.3 million. Gross margin decreased by approximately 330 basis points to 33.2%, driven primarily by lower merchandise margins and deleverage of occupancy expenses due to the pandemic-driven store closures during the first half of the year.

全年毛利下降 3.2% 至 6.523 億美元。毛利率下降約 330 個基點至 33.2%，主要是因為上半年因疫情導致商店關閉導致商品利潤率下降以及入住費用去槓桿化。

SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales for the year increased approximately 60 basis points to 25.4% from 24.7% in 2019, due primarily to deleverage of fixed costs and corporate expenses due to the store closures, offset in part by a reduction of marketing expenses.

SG&A 費用佔當年銷售額的百分比從2019 年的24.7% 增加約60 個基點至25.4%，這主要是由於商店關閉導致固定成本和公司費用去槓桿化，但行銷費用的減少部分抵消了這一影響。

Operating income for 2020 of $154.8 million decreased 28.8% over the prior year. Operating margin of 7.9% decreased approximately 390 basis points from last year's operating margin of 11.8%.

2020年營業收入為1.548億美元，較上年下降28.8%。營業利益率為 7.9%，比去年 11.8% 的營業利益率下降了約 390 個基點。

The net total of interest and other expense for 2020 reported below operating income was a charge of $1.7 million versus a net total of interest income and other expense in the amount of $4.3 million in 2019. Lower invested cash balances and interest rates, combined with temporary drawdowns and higher costs on our line of credit, resulted in a net interest expense in 2020 versus net interest income in 2019. In addition, in 2020, we recognized a full year of a pro rata loss related to our noncontrolling interest in Nerd Street Gamers.

營業收入下方報告的 2020 年利息和其他費用淨總額為 170 萬美元，而 2019 年利息收入和其他費用淨總額為 430 萬美元。投資現金餘額和利率較低，加上臨時我們的信貸額度提款和成本上升，導致2020 年出現淨利息支出，而2019 年出現淨利息收入。此外，2020 年，我們確認了與Nerd Street Gamers 非控股權益相關的全年按比例損失。

Our effective tax rate for the year was 19.4% compared to 21% in 2019. The lower-than-planned tax rate in both years was primarily due to the benefit of share-based accounting.

我們本年度的有效稅率為 19.4%，而 2019 年為 21%。這兩年的稅率低於計劃主要是由於股份制會計的好處。

Diluted earnings per share was $2.20 for fiscal 2020, a decrease of 29.5% versus diluted earnings per share of $3.12 for fiscal 2019. Diluted earnings per share included an $0.08 benefit from share-based accounting in 2020 and a $0.14 benefit in 2019.

2020 財年的稀釋每股收益為2.20 美元，與2019 財年的稀釋每股收益3.12 美元相比，下降了29.5%。稀釋每股收益包括2020 年基於股份會計的0.08 美元收益和2019 年0.14 美元的收益。

We ended the year with approximately $410 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investment securities and no debt. We made share repurchases of approximately $13 million or 137,000 shares during the year.

截至年底，我們擁有約 4.1 億美元的現金、現金等價物和短期投資證券，沒有債務。本年度我們回購了約 1,300 萬美元或 137,000 股股票。

Inventory at the end of the year was $281.3 million as compared to $324 million at the end of fiscal 2019. Ending inventory on a per-store basis decreased approximately 23% year-over-year against elevated inventory balances at the end of fiscal 2019, which were the result of lower fourth quarter sales and accelerated tariff-related receipts. In addition, ending inventory for fiscal 2020 was impacted by higher-than-expected fourth quarter sell-throughs this year as well as delayed inventory receipts resulting from global supply chain disruptions due to elevated product demand and congestion at ports.

年末庫存為 2.813 億美元，而 2019 財年末庫存為 3.24 億美元。與 2019 財年末庫存餘額增加相比，每家商店的期末庫存同比下降約 23%，這是第四季度銷售額下降和關稅相關收入增加的結果。此外，2020 財年期末庫存也受到今年第四季銷售量高於預期以及產品需求增加和港口擁堵導致全球供應鏈中斷導致庫存接收延遲的影響。

With respect to CapEx, we spent approximately $200 million in gross CapEx in fiscal 2020, excluding tenant allowances. This reflected the cost of opening the new Texas distribution center and payments on the new Arizona distribution center, opening 122 new stores, completing 45 remodels and investments in systems and infrastructure.

在資本支出方面，我們 2020 財政年度的資本支出總額約為 2 億美元（不含租戶津貼）。這反映了開設新德州配送中心的成本以及新亞利桑那州配送中心、開設 122 家新商店、完成 45 項改造以及系統和基礎設施投資的費用。

Now I would like to turn to 2021. We are providing first quarter guidance, but due to the continued uncertainty related to both the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and potential future shifts in consumer spending, we are unable to provide formal full year sales and earnings guidance for 2021. However, I will offer directional commentary on how we are viewing the year.

現在我想談談 2021 年。我們正在提供第一季指導，但由於與 COVID-19 的持續影響和消費者支出未來潛在變化相關的持續不確定性，我們無法提供正式的全年銷售額和2021年的獲利指引。不過，我將就我們如何看待這一年提供方向性評論。

This first quarter will be very different than last year when we closed our stores due to the pandemic on March 20, the Friday following our fourth quarter earnings call. These store closures resulted in the loss of sales for last year's Easter and spring seasons. With Easter on April 4 this year, we are currently in the key selling weeks for the quarter.

今年第一季將與去年有很大不同，去年我們因疫情而於 3 月 20 日（即第四季度財報電話會議後的星期五）關閉了商店。這些商店的關閉導致去年復活節和春季的銷售損失。今年 4 月 4 日是復活節，目前正處於本季的關鍵銷售週。

Last year, the pandemic was declared on Wednesday, March 11, and we reported a 2.9% comparable sales increase for that quarter-to-date period. For the same period this year, comparable sales increased 12.3%. Based on our current trajectory and the expected benefit to sales from the third round of government stimulus, we expect first quarter sales to be in a range of $540 million to $560 million. We expect to open approximately 60 stores in the first quarter. And as Joel mentioned, we are already over halfway there.

去年，3 月 11 日星期三宣佈出現疫情，我們報告該季度迄今的可比銷售額增長了 2.9%。今年同期，可比銷售額成長了 12.3%。根據我們目前的發展軌跡以及第三輪政府刺激計畫對銷售的預期效益，我們預計第一季的銷售額將在 5.4 億美元至 5.6 億美元之間。我們預計第一季將開設約 60 家門市。正如喬爾所提到的，我們已經完成了一半。

Diluted EPS is expected to be in the range of $0.56 to $0.68. Our effective tax rate for the fourth quarter is planned at approximately 25%, and it excludes the impact of share-based accounting or any share repurchases. As you know, our practice is to update the tax rate outlook quarterly with actual results when we report earnings.

稀釋後每股收益預計在 0.56 美元至 0.68 美元之間。我們第四季的有效稅率計劃約為 25%，且不包括股權會計或任何股票回購的影響。如您所知，我們的做法是在報告收益時根據實際結果每季更新稅率前景。

For the full fiscal year of 2021, although we are not providing formal sales and EPS guidance, we would like to provide a framework for how we are thinking about the year. We expect it to be a more normalized year from a growth and operating margin perspective. Accordingly, we view fiscal 2019 as a better comparison year for fiscal 2021 than the pandemic-impacted fiscal 2020. In a scenario where sales growth reflects a 2-year compound growth rate in the high teens, we would expect fiscal 2021 operating margin to be relatively flat to fiscal 2019. We expect the second half of fiscal 2021 to be a difficult comparison as we lapped a very strong second half in 2020 when sales grew 25% and comparable sales were at a record high of 13.5%.

對於 2021 年整個財年，儘管我們沒有提供正式的銷售和每股盈餘指引，但我們希望提供一個框架來說明我們如何看待這一年。從成長和營業利潤率的角度來看，我們預計今年將是更正常化的一年。因此，我們認為 2019 財年是 2021 財年比受疫情影響的 2020 財年更好的比較年。如果銷售成長反映出 2 年複合成長率處於高位，我們預期 2021 財年的營業利潤率為與2019 財年相對持平。我們預計2021 財年下半年將是一個困難的比較，因為我們在2020 年下半年表現非常強勁，銷售額增長了25%，可比銷售額達到13.5% 的歷史新高。

With regards to nonoperating results, our minority interest in Nerd Street Gamers is also expected to have a larger year-on-year negative impact, resulting in a net other expense of approximately $0.06. And we are currently planning an effective tax rate for fiscal 2021 of 25%.

就非經營業績而言，我們在 Nerd Street Gamers 中的少數股權預計也將產生較大的年比負面影響，導致其他淨費用約為 0.06 美元。我們目前計劃 2021 財政年度的有效稅率為 25%。

For stores, we expect to open 170 to 180 new stores and complete approximately 30 to 35 remodels in fiscal 2021, with approximately 90 to 100 new stores opening in the first half of the year. We are planning to spend approximately $315 million in gross capital expenditures, excluding the impact of tenant allowances. This reflects opening a new distribution center in Arizona and beginning construction on a new distribution center in the Midwest, along with opening new stores and executing remodels and investing in systems and infrastructure.

對於商店，我們預計2021財年將開設170至180家新店，並完成約30至35家改造，其中上半年將開設約90至100家新店。我們計劃花費約 3.15 億美元的總資本支出，不包括租戶津貼的影響。這反映了在亞利桑那州開設一個新的配送中心，並開始在中西部建設一個新的配送中心，同時開設新商店、進行改造以及投資系統和基礎設施。

For all other details related to our results, please refer to our earnings press release. And with that, I would like to turn the call back over to Joel to provide some closing comments before we open it up for questions. Joel?

有關我們業績的所有其他詳細信息，請參閱我們的收益新聞稿。因此，我想將電話轉回給喬爾，在我們開始提問之前提供一些結束語。喬爾？

Yes. Thanks, Ken. In summary, we are very pleased with our performance overall in 2020. We played offense and acted quickly to position ourselves for success. We made difficult decisions while always keeping our customers and our crew at the forefront. The experience of 2020 has again demonstrated the strength of our proven model with the inherent flexibility of our eight worlds and our unique merchandising approach.

是的。謝謝，肯。總而言之，我們對 2020 年的整體表現感到非常滿意。我們採取進攻並迅速採取行動，為成功做好準備。我們做出了艱難的決定，同時始終將我們的客戶和員工置於最前線。 2020 年的經驗再次證明了我們經過驗證的模式的實力，以及我們八個世界固有的靈活性和我們獨特的行銷方法。

I'm pleased with how well we connected with our customers and communities, including providing for those in need through our Toys for Tots, Alex's Lemonade, St. Jude, CHOP Hospital and other donation programs. All of this has made us an even stronger company, and we entered 2021 with great momentum. We are well positioned for growth and less than halfway to our 2,500-plus store target. We are really excited for 2021 to build on our progress, deliver on our customer promise and relentlessly raise the bar as we continue to grow our amazing companies this year and beyond.

我對我們與客戶和社區的良好聯繫感到滿意，包括透過我們的 Toys for Tots、Alex's Lemonade、St. Jude、CHOP Hospital 和其他捐贈計畫為有需要的人提供幫助。所有這些都使我們成為一家更強大的公司，我們以強勁的勢頭進入2021年。我們已經做好了成長的準備，距離 2,500 多家門市目標還不到一半。我們對 2021 年感到非常興奮，我們將在今年及以後繼續發展我們出色的公司，繼續取得進步，兌現我們的客戶承諾，並不斷提高標準。

And with that, I'd like to turn the call back over to the operator for questions, but must remind you that we have a lot to share with you today, and we really need to stick to 1 question per analyst. With that, operator?

說到這裡，我想將電話轉回給接線員詢問問題，但必須提醒您，我們今天有很多東西要與您分享，我們確實需要堅持每個分析師 1 個問題。那麼，操作員？

(Operator Instructions) And our first question today will come from Simeon Gutman with Morgan Stanley.

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

It's Simeon Gutman. My question is on incremental margins and, I guess, EBIT margins broadly. In Q1, I was going to ask around incremental margin. It's hard to do the year-over-year comparison, but it looks like the implied EBIT margin is in the 8% to 8.5% range, which is considerably better than the 7% from Q1, I think, of 2019. Can you tell us -- because we can't really see what the incremental is, is there anything in the 8% to 8.5% implied that's being conservative, if there's anything that's holding you back in the first quarter in terms of flow-through? And then bigger picture, is there anything that you see changing the comp leverage point of the business broadly? This is really beyond '21 or maybe even in the back half of '21. Because I think you've told us 3% in the past. So curious how that algorithm may change going forward.

我是西蒙古特曼。我的問題是關於增量利潤率，我想是關於息稅前利潤率。在第一季度，我打算詢問增量保證金。很難進行同比比較，但看起來隱含的息稅前利潤率在 8% 到 8.5% 的範圍內，我認為這比 2019 年第一季的 7% 要好得多。你能告訴我嗎？我們——因為我們無法真正看到增量是多少，如果有什麼因素在第一季的流量方面阻礙了您，那麼8% 到8.5% 中是否有任何暗示是保守的？然後從更大的角度來看，您認為有什麼可以廣泛改變業務的補償槓桿點嗎？這實際上已經超過了 21 年，甚至可能是 21 世紀後半段。因為我認為您過去已經告訴我們 3%。很好奇該演算法未來會如何改變。

Do you want...

你想要...

Yes. Thanks, Simeon. I'll answer the second part of your question, first, around our leverage points as we move forward. As you mentioned, it is going to be an unusual year anniversary in 2020. But our impression in our -- what we see here from a leverage point, going forward, we had said before at about a 3% comp, ex any meaningful investment for a year, we should start to see leverage on the business. So I think that still continues to be what we see and that holds true.

是的。謝謝，西蒙。我將回答你問題的第二部分，首先，圍繞我們前進的槓桿點。正如您所提到的，2020 年將是一個不尋常的周年紀念日。但我們的印像是——我們從槓桿角度看到的，展望未來，我們之前說過，除了任何有意義的投資外，我們的複合年利率約為3%一年後，我們應該開始看到業務的槓桿作用。所以我認為這仍然是我們所看到的，也是事實。

Relative to the first quarter, again, as you mentioned, it's very difficult to make a comparison, really hard to make a comparison up against Q1 '20 given the store closures, but I think you mentioned Q1 2019. And what we're seeing, at least right now versus Q1 '19, you would have -- for the most part, probably gross margins are relatively flat, and we see some meaningful lift and leverage over Q1 2019 on SG&A. And that would really be the driver you would call out or estimate of leverage in 2019. And then part of that -- overwhelming majority of that will be coming in, in SG&A.

再次，正如您所提到的，相對於第一季度，很難進行比較，考慮到商店關閉，很難與20 年第一季度進行比較，但我認為您提到了2019 年第一季。我們所看到的情況，至少現在與 19 年第一季相比，在大多數情況下，毛利率可能相對持平，而且我們看到 SG&A 比 2019 年第一季有一些有意義的提升和槓桿。這確實是 2019 年槓桿率的驅動因素或估計。其中的一部分——絕大多數將來自 SG&A。

And our next question will come from Chuck Grom with Gordon Haskett.

我們的下一個問題將由查克·格羅姆和戈登·哈斯克特提出。

Happy St. Patrick's Day. My question is on new customer acquisition, particularly in light of the better traffic performance in the fourth quarter relative to the past couple of quarters. So when you look at 2020 and those that shopped you for the first time for PPE or supplies, curious if there's a way to isolate that cohort and maybe compare them to the gains that you saw over the past 5 years with, say, the rainbow looms and the spinner craze?

快樂聖派翠克節。我的問題是關於新客戶的獲取，特別是考慮到第四季度的流量表現比過去幾季更好。因此，當你回顧2020 年以及第一次向你購買個人防護裝備或用品的人時，你會好奇是否有一種方法可以隔離該群體，並可能將它們與你在過去5 年中看到的收益（例如彩虹）進行比較織布機和紡紗機熱潮？

Happy St. Paddy's Day to you, too, Chuck. I got my green screen on here. I'm looking at Ken, and I think it's a really -- it's a great question you asked. Any years is probably the 1 year you can't really isolate it because unlike when there's other trends going on, it's pretty easy to isolate it because it's really the only thing going on.

也祝你聖派翠克節快樂，查克。我的綠屏在這裡。我看著肯，我認為你問的問題非常好。任何年份都可能是您無法真正隔離它的一年，因為與其他趨勢發生時不同，它很容易隔離，因為它確實是唯一正在發生的事情。

But in addition to customer mix changes and costs associated with PPE and then just reopening times and then...

但除了客戶組合的變化和與個人防護裝備相關的成本，然後只是重新開放時間，然後...

Shopping patterns.

購物模式。

Shopping patterns and our closing times being off, I think there's just so much noise in it. And I think that's why rather than specific guidance on the year, we focus so much on making sure that the message got back to you, that we really feel like we're back to normal operating margins, and 2019 is certainly a much more normalized year. But it's really hard to specifically isolate what you're asking for, Chuck, and I hope that helps you get a little clarity around it. Thanks, Chuck.

購物模式和我們的關門時間都關閉了，我認為這裡面有太多噪音。我認為這就是為什麼我們非常注重確保訊息傳達給您，而不是今年的具體指導，我們真的感覺我們已經回到了正常的營業利潤率，而且 2019 年肯定會更加正常化。年。但查克，要具體分離出你所要求的東西確實很困難，我希望這能幫助你弄清楚它。謝謝，查克。

And our next question will come from Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題將來自摩根大通的馬修·博斯。

Congrats on another great quarter, guys. So Joel, as we think about the best back half comps, I think for the company in basically a decade, what do you attribute company-specific to the recent inflection in performance? And then as we exit the pandemic, I guess how would you rank opportunities as we think about accelerating market share on the other side, more -- it goes back, I think, last couple of quarters, you've talked about taking a more offensive approach. What -- maybe just elaborate on different opportunities you see to do that.

夥計們，恭喜又一個偉大的季度。所以喬爾，當我們考慮最好的後半部分時，我認為對於公司來說基本上十年來，你將公司特定的因素歸因於最近的業績變化？然後，當我們擺脫這場流行病時，我想當我們考慮加速另一邊的市場份額時，您會如何對機會進行排名，我想，這可以追溯到過去幾個季度，您談到了採取更多措施進攻性的方法。什麼——也許只是詳細說明你看到的不同機會。

Yes. Thanks, Matt. And I mean, clearly, we're very forthright about acknowledging both internal and external factors. And I think as you look at the 9-week period, the 10-ish comp, that acceleration where the quarter ended at 13.8%, we attribute the overwhelming majority of that to external forces, the second stimulus.

是的。謝謝，馬特。我的意思是，顯然，我們非常坦率地承認內部和外部因素。我認為，當你觀察 9 週期間、大約 10 週的比較時，季度末增長率為 13.8%，我們將其中絕大多數歸因於外部力量，即第二個刺激因素。

But if you work backwards to the holiday and then as well as what we're seeing in the first quarter, I think what you're starting to see, Matt, is a lot of offense coming together to work. Certainly, five beyond played a very large piece of that. Our assortment, the merchants really pivoted nicely. And if you think of the pandemic as a trend, kind of a weird way to categorize it, but our job, when something emerges, is to move the merchandising mix. And I called out specific examples in both Style and Room, how the customers' buying patterns changed. And I think if we had stayed the same, we wouldn't have seen as quite the lift we saw in the back half of the year.

但如果你回顧一下假期，然後以及我們在第一季度看到的情況，我認為你開始看到的是，馬特，很多進攻聚集在一起工作。當然，五人以上在其中扮演了很大的角色。我們的品種，商家的轉變確實很好。如果你認為這種流行病是一種趨勢，那麼對它進行分類的方式有點奇怪，但當出現某些情況時，我們的工作就是改變商品組合。我在《風格》和《房間》中都舉出了具體的例子，說明顧客的購買模式是如何改變的。我認為，如果我們保持不變，我們就不會看到今年下半年看到的那麼大的提升。

So look, these eight worlds continue to serve us well, Matt, and it allows us to pivot into wherever the trend may be. And this was emphasized in -- especially room as people stayed home, and there was a lot more Room products bought than we've probably ever seen before. So clearly, the run-up at the end was external, but the overwhelming majority of that first 9-week holiday was us being nimble and reacting to the trends we saw. And the merchant team continues to do a great job. The planners got back out in the market, and we bought after canceling hundreds of millions of goods.

所以看，這八個世界繼續為我們提供良好的服務，馬特，它使我們能夠轉向任何趨勢可能的方向。這在人們待在家裡的時候特別強調了 Room，購買的 Room 產品比我們以前見過的要多得多。很明顯，最後的上漲是外部的，但第一個 9 週假期的絕大多數時間是我們靈活應對我們看到的趨勢。商人團隊繼續做得很好。策劃者又回到市場了，我們取消了數億的商品後就買了。

And I'll tell you, the team, Matt, really operated on all cylinders to kind of salvage what started out as probably the toughest start to a year we've ever seen. And we finished '20 with momentum, and we enter '21 now with great momentum as well. Thanks, Matt.

我會告訴你，馬特這個團隊真的全力以赴，挽救了可能是我們見過的最艱難的一年的開局。我們以強勁的勢頭結束了 20 年，現在我們也以強勁的勢頭進入了 21 年。謝謝，馬特。

And our next question will come from John Heinbockel with Guggenheim.

我們的下一個問題將來自古根漢的約翰·海因博克爾。

Guys, how do you think about phasing investments, right, in product and marketing, I guess, specifically through the year, right? You have the easy compares. You got stimulus. Do you save firepower and point things more toward the second half by design? And those type of investments, how do you sort of gauge the elasticity of either 1 product or marketing, if you've pointed them to the back half of the year?

夥計們，你們如何看待分階段投資產品和行銷，我想，特別是全年，對吧？你可以很容易地進行比較。你得到了刺激。你是否會節省火力並透過設計將事情更多地指向下半場？對於這些類型的投資，如果您將其指向下半年，您如何衡量產品或行銷的彈性？

Well, John, great question. I think specifically on the marketing one, what you're really seeing as we believe we're kind of back to a more normalized marketing spend, which historically has been 2% to 3%. And while we pulled back in the back half of last year, we've pulled back in the front half of this year, but we'll shift that back into the back half of next year. And I think it's somewhat become something that we can really use as needed. But I think our base marketing remains 2% to 3%, and we stay focused on that piece of it.

嗯，約翰，好問題。我特別認為在行銷方面，你真正看到的是，我們相信我們已經回到了更正常化的行銷支出，歷史上一直是 2% 到 3%。雖然我們在去年下半年有所回落，但今年上半年我們已經有所回落，但我們會將其推遲到明年下半年。我認為它在某種程度上已經成為我們真正可以根據需要使用的東西。但我認為我們的基礎行銷仍佔 2% 到 3%，我們將繼續專注於這一部分。

On the product side, I'm not sure I'm following, John, what you're asking about that shift there.

在產品方面，約翰，我不確定我是否明白你所問的關於那裡的轉變的問題。

Well, just more -- is there more of a focus on new product introduction and particularly five beyond in the back half, right, to generate more buzz, right, with shoppers than you may need in the first half?

好吧，只是更多- 是否會更多地關注新產品的推出，特別是後半段的五種新產品介紹，對吧，以便在購物者中產生比上半場可能需要的更多的轟動？

Yes. No. Look, I mean, Michael and his team, and there's always product innovation, it tends to probably show itself more in the back half of the year. Craze is excluded. Because we come out of holiday, we really see new things emerge, new buying habits. And then the merchant spend the front half of the year chasing those and really pivoting for the back half of the year.

是的。不，我的意思是，邁克爾和他的團隊，總是有產品創新，它往往在今年下半年表現更多。熱潮除外。因為假期結束後，我們確實看到了新事物的出現、新的購買習慣。然後，商家會在前半年的時間裡追逐這些目標，並在下半年真正轉向。

Now if a craze emerges, like spinner was one that we weren't even talking about in March '17, and then that one is more about us just operating with speed. But in general, product innovations, Bugha is a great example of one. We read a lot. We observed many new trends around gaming. And the buyers are back out in the marketplace buying that new product assortment. And just the cycle of it, it's largely going to show up in the back half again. And I think that continues to kind of be the flywheel we see with new product innovations, in general. Thanks, John.

現在，如果出現一股熱潮，就像我們在 17 年 3 月根本沒有談論過旋轉器一樣，那麼這種熱潮更多是關於我們快速操作的。但總的來說，在產品創新方面，Bugha 就是一個很好的例子。我們讀了很多書。我們觀察到許多有關遊戲的新趨勢。買家又回到市場購買新產品。就這樣循環往復，它很大程度上會再次出現在後半部。我認為，總的來說，這仍然是我們在新產品創新中看到的飛輪。謝謝，約翰。

And our next question will come from Michael Lasser with UBS.

我們的下一個問題將來自瑞銀集團的邁克爾·拉瑟（Michael Lasser）。

Can you break down the ticket growth you saw in 4Q between UPT and AUR and what drove those pieces? And given those dynamics and the likelihood that retail traffic, it will likely improve over the course of the year, should we think about Five Below now having a structurally higher comp than the 3.3% average from 2015 to 2019?

您能否詳細分析一下第四季度 UPT 和 AUR 之間的門票成長情況以及推動這些成長的因素是什麼？考慮到這些動態以及零售流量可能在一年內改善的可能性，我們是否應該考慮現在「五人以下」的結構性收入高於 2015 年至 2019 年 3.3% 的平均水平？

Yes. Thanks, Michael. Just on the -- on your ticket, I guess, ticket component question, I think I mentioned the increase we saw in Q4 was just over 15%. When you dive a little bit deeper into that, it really is really from both UPTs and the average unit retail increases.

是的。謝謝，麥可。就在你的票上，我想，票組成部分的問題，我想我提到了我們在第四季度看到的增長剛剛超過 15%。當你更深入地研究這個問題時，你會發現它確實來自 UPT 和平均單位零售量的成長。

And then the second part of your question, I didn't quite understand around the historical.

然後你問題的第二部分，我不太了解歷史。

Yes. The second piece is, does -- should we think about Five Below having a structurally higher level of same-store sales growth moving forward? Because you -- clearly, you figured out how to drive ticket growth. And as traffic returns, you'll be able to retain this growth in ticket, and that will lead to a structurally higher level of same-store sales growth moving forward than Five Below has achieved in the past.

是的。第二個問題是，我們是否應該考慮「五以下」公司未來的同店銷售成長水準會在結構上更高？因為你——顯然，你想出瞭如何推動門票成長。隨著客流量的恢復，您將能夠保持門票的成長，這將導致同店銷售成長在結構上比「五以下」過去實現的水平更高。

Yes. I think the -- from a longer-term perspective -- and that's a difficult question to answer at this point. I think just going out into this year, I think the one thing, just to recall, and I think Joel and I both mentioned it in our comments, just the significant challenge we're going to have in the back half of the year up against the record performance that we had last year.

是的。我認為——從更長遠的角度來看——這是一個目前很難回答的問題。我想今年下半年，我想有一件事，我想喬爾和我都在我們的評論中提到了這一點，這就是我們在今年下半年將面臨的重大挑戰與我們去年創紀錄的表現相比。

But again, as we look further out, we would expect a more kind of normalized part of the business. Where that comes from, it could be a combination of both, right, transactions and ticket. I mean, that's just something we'll have to see. But it's hard to really peg anything much longer and further (inaudible).

但同樣，當我們放眼更遠的時候，我們預期業務的一部分會更加規範化。它的來源可能是權利、交易和票據的組合。我的意思是，這只是我們必須看到的事情。但很難真正將任何東西固定得更長更遠（聽不清楚）。

Yes. I think, Michael, what you're getting at is a great question. And I think you just got to give us a little time and some more normal times to kind of see what that long-range impact on things like five beyond are, where we can now change that growth trajectory. But we've got to get through this ambiguous period, consumer shifts back to services. And so some of that might just play a bigger play until we get beyond it.

是的。我認為，邁克爾，你的問題問得很好。我認為你只需要給我們一點時間和一些更正常的時間來看看對諸如五個之後的事情的長期影響是什麼，我們現在可以改變成長軌跡。但我們必須度過這個模糊的時期，消費者重新轉向服務業。因此，其中一些可能會發揮更大的作用，直到我們超越它。

But what you're alluding to is exactly how we're thinking about the business. And I think that, I call it, play offense, many of those initiatives are really starting to come together, both in product and marketing, that e-commerce, a lot of those potentially drive that. But we've got to -- need to give us a little bit more time to kind of watch what happens here and forecast that out.

但你所指的正是我們對業務的思考。我認為，我稱之為“進攻”，許多舉措真正開始融合在一起，無論是在產品還是行銷方面，電子商務，其中許多都可能推動這一點。但我們必須——需要給我們多一點時間來觀察這裡發生的事情並做出預測。

And our next question will come from Scot Ciccarelli with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題將來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的斯科特·西卡雷利（Scot Ciccarelli）。

You mentioned on the call, Joel, the densification of stores in certain states, and now you're going to be in 40 states. Is there any way to quantify the benefit you guys get from that densification strategy, whether it's sales because of brand awareness or maybe at the margin line because you can better leverage expenses like marketing and distribution? Just any color on that would be helpful just given the expansion process that you guys are going through.

喬爾，你在電話中提到，某些州的商店會更加密集，現在你的業務將擴展到 40 個州。有沒有什麼方法可以量化你們從緻密化策略中獲得的收益，無論是因為品牌知名度而帶來的銷售額，還是因為您可以更好地利用行銷和分銷等費用而獲得的利潤？考慮到你們正在經歷的擴展過程，任何顏色都會有所幫助。

Yes. It's really both, Scot. And I mean, it's -- sorry about the ambiguity on some of this just because all of the noise last year. But look, I think the one thing we are seeing is our brand awareness is something we've always been watching and it's been rather low. But what we've really seen year-over-year is our brand awareness in kind of markets anywhere open from 2 to 7 years is moving up 3 to -- 100 to 500 basis points faster than it used to.

是的。確實兩者兼而有之，斯科特。我的意思是，很抱歉，由於去年的所有噪音，其中一些內容含糊不清。但你看，我認為我們看到的一件事是我們一直在關注的品牌知名度，但它相當低。但我們真正看到的是，我們在開放 2 到 7 年內的任何市場中的品牌知名度比以前快了 3 到 100 到 500 個基點。

And so why I can't specifically, due to all the noise last year, tell you it's because of densification. We internally believe that. And we've shared with you cannibalizations closer to 100 bps a year. And we're not afraid of that because I think the payoffs around awareness and picking up market share far outweigh slight cannibalization from individual stores. But directionally, it's really impacting both, and we're seeing it show up in brand awareness. Thanks, Scot.

由於去年的所有噪音，為什麼我不能具體告訴你這是因為緻密化。我們內心相信這一點。我們與您分享了每年接近 100 個基點的蠶食。我們並不害怕這一點，因為我認為圍繞知名度和擴大市場份額的回報遠遠超過個別商店的輕微蠶食。但從方向上來說，它確實對兩者都有影響，我們看到它體現在品牌知名度上。謝謝，斯科特。

And our next question will come from Paul Lejuez with Citi.

我們的下一個問題將來自花旗銀行的 Paul Lejuez。

Curious if you can talk about anything noteworthy on the inflation front. If so, if you are seeing some inflation, in which parts of the assortment? And just what's the plan of attack?

很好奇您是否能談論有關通膨方面的任何值得注意的事情。如果是這樣，如果您發現商品種類中的哪些部分出現了通貨膨脹？那麼攻擊計畫到底是什麼呢？

Right now, Paul, our overall inflation we're feeling is relatively flat. I mean, there's certainly pressure on the supply chain side. But we're also seeing opportunities on the real estate side. And I think as it all mixes out, we've -- through our scale and everything, we've been able to hold it relatively in check, and hence, the kind of guide to relatively flat operating margin. I don't know, Ken, if I left any...

保羅，目前我們感覺整體通膨相對穩定。我的意思是，供應鏈方面肯定存在壓力。但我們也看到了房地產方面的機會。我認為，隨著這一切的混合，我們透過我們的規模和一切，已經能夠相對控制它，因此，這是相對平坦的營業利潤率的指南。我不知道，肯，我是否留下了任何...

Yes. Paul, I think Joel hit it. There obviously are cost increases throughout the business, right, and whether it's supply chain product or otherwise. But we always go back to the scale benefit that we have to be able to offset and mitigate those. And even the way we operate, which is maybe a little bit different than some other retailers. And Joel mentioned freight, and we all know about what's going on out there in freight and supply chain disruptions. And a credit out to the team getting out ahead of that from a negotiating standpoint and locking up our contracts earlier, both in a rate and capacity perspective.

是的。保羅，我想喬爾做到了。整個業務的成本顯然都在增加，無論是供應鏈產品還是其他方面。但我們總是回到規模效益，我們必須能夠抵消和減輕這些效益。甚至我們的營運方式也可能與其他一些零售商有所不同。喬爾提到了貨運，我們都知道貨運和供應鏈中斷的情況。值得讚揚的是，團隊從談判的角度出發，從費率和容量的角度提前鎖定了我們的合約。

So although we are seeing increases, it's probably not as much as other businesses out there. So really a combination of being nimble with our vendors. And negotiating and navigating all that, combined with scale, really help us to either offset or mitigate increases that are out there.

因此，儘管我們看到了成長，但可能沒有其他企業那麼多。所以這確實是我們與供應商保持靈活的結合。談判和應對所有這些，再加上規模，確實有助於我們抵消或減輕現有的成長。

And our next question will come from Karen Short with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題將來自巴克萊銀行的凱倫·肖特。

I just wanted to go to the comps in the quarter versus your comments on comps in the quarter-to-date preclosing for the pandemic. So I kind of get to a January comp in like the mid- to high-20 range. And then I think, Ken, you commented that comps preclosing were in the 12.3% range. So I guess what I'm wondering is, is that kind of the right way to look at the spread or the impacts differently from the stimulus? And I ask that in the context that March stimulus will obviously be much more impactful dollar-wise in January. And then the follow-up I just had on that is, is there any way to quantify the impact of five beyond on comps?

我只是想談談本季度的比較，以及您對本季度迄今為止的大流行預交割中的比較的評論。所以我一月份的比賽大概在 20 名中上等範圍內。然後我想，肯，你評論說預交割的比較在 12.3% 的範圍內。所以我想我想知道的是，這種以不同於刺激的方式看待傳播或影響的正確方法嗎？我認為，在 3 月的刺激措施對 1 月的美元影響顯然會更大的背景下。然後我剛剛的後續行動是，有什麼方法可以量化五次超越對比較的影響嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Karen. Your math around your estimates around the comps, they're pretty reasonable. I mean, I think you can probably kind of do the math knowing that where we were in total sales through the 9 weeks and then what we provided in total sales for the quarter and then the 10 comp for the 9 weeks versus the 13.8% for the quarter. So you're -- yes, I think you're in a pretty reasonable range there. And again, the impact of stimulus payments, they're always tough to measure and gauge, whether it be the magnitude or the extent how long they last. And as we mentioned, the guidance that we gave for Q1 this year, it did include our estimate of a benefit from the third round of stimulus in the quarter. But I would say your estimates are relatively reasonable.

是的。謝謝，凱倫。你對比較的估計進行的數學計算，它們是相當合理的。我的意思是，我想你可能可以做一下數學計算，知道我們在9 週內的總銷售額，然後我們在該季度的總銷售額中提供了什麼，然後是9 週的10 個比較與13.8 ％該季度。所以你——是的，我認為你處於相當合理的範圍內。再說一遍，刺激支出的影響總是很難衡量和衡量，無論是規模還是持續時間。正如我們所提到的，我們為今年第一季提供的指導確實包括我們對該季度第三輪刺激措施的效益的估計。但我想說你的估計是相對合理的。

And our next question will come from Edward Kelly with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題將來自富國銀行的愛德華凱利。

Nice quarter. I want to -- just a follow-up on stimulus here. Ken, I'm just curious, within the Q1 guidance, what you are assuming for that stimulus benefit. And then as a follow-up to that, how positive do you believe the increase in the child tax credit will be for you later this year, given that it's coming -- it looks like it's coming in monthly payments this summer. I would imagine that, I don't know, the majority of your customers live in households with kids. I'm just kind of curious as to how you're maybe thinking about that as well.

不錯的季度。我想——這只是刺激措施的後續行動。肯，我只是很好奇，在第一季的指導中，您對刺激效益的假設是什麼。然後，作為後續行動，您認為今年稍後兒童稅收抵免的增加會對您產生多大的積極影響，因為它即將到來——看起來今年夏天將按月支付。我想，我不知道，你們的大多數客戶都住在有孩子的家庭裡。我只是有點好奇你可能會怎麼想這個問題。

Yes. Thanks, Ed. As I mentioned, and Karen asked the last question, too, around -- our guidance does include an estimate for the benefit from the third round of stimulus. I really don't want to get into specific amounts in terms of what's embedded in that number at the end of the day, I mean, how we guide in terms of the total number for the quarter and how we're seeing it. I can tell you that it's less than -- well less than what the consensus was prior to this call, in other words, what we reported and what the consensus from the analysts were. So it was well less than that.

是的。謝謝，艾德。正如我所提到的，凱倫也提出了最後一個問題——我們的指導確實包括對第三輪刺激計劃的好處的估計。我真的不想討論最終數字中包含的具體金額，我的意思是，我們如何指導本季度的總數以及我們如何看待它。我可以告訴你，這比這次電話會議之前的共識要少得多，換句話說，比我們報告的內容和分析師的共識要少得多。所以遠比這個少。

With regards to the child care credit, yes, I mean, those are the type of things that impact us. Joel, in his remarks, had mentioned there's always internal and external factors. And that's an external factor that, if there's any change in policy, in mandates out there or benefits from taxes, we have seen historically that, that could benefit our business to an increase -- because normally, that's an increase overall traffic or spending and we benefit in that, similar to what we've seen in the second round of stimulus and currently in the third round of stimulus.

關於兒童照護信貸，是的，我的意思是，這些都是影響我們的事情。喬爾在演講中提到，總是有內部和外部因素。這是一個外部因素，如果政策、強制措施或稅收優惠發生任何變化，我們從歷史上看，這可能有利於我們的業務成長——因為通常情況下，這會導致總體流量或支出的增加，我們從中受益，類似於我們在第二輪刺激計劃和目前的第三輪刺激計劃中看到的情況。

So yes, if the rules change that way, it could end up impacting our traffic during the summertime. Now keep in mind, though, other things could be happening, too. I mean, it's really hard to predict around the COVID-19 and the vaccines and then where overall consumer spending goes, as entertainment and travel may start to -- spending on that may start to increase.

所以，是的，如果規則發生這種變化，最終可能會影響我們夏季的交通。但請記住，其他事情也可能發生。我的意思是，很難預測 COVID-19 和疫苗的情況，以及整體消費者支出的去向，因為娛樂和旅行可能會開始增加——這方面的支出可能會開始增加。

Yes. I mean, Ed, it's -- clearly, it's a tailwind for us. But it's also one that we don't have a lot of data points on. So that's why we felt important to be more directional on the year. And I think what, hopefully, everyone's taken away is we've provided you our new stores, which make up historically 80% of our growth. You know the cadence on them. You know how we're thinking about the bottom line and growth rates.

是的。我的意思是，艾德，這顯然對我們來說是順風。但這也是我們沒有大量數據點的一個。這就是為什麼我們覺得今年更有方向性很重要。我想，希望每個人都能明白的是，我們為你們提供了我們的新店，這些新店歷史上占我們成長的 80%。你知道他們的節奏。您知道我們如何考慮利潤和成長率。

And so it starts to triangulate in at a pretty predictable number. And now we have to add in the pluses and takes of some of these external events. But most of them seem to be tailwinds, but we also got to watch a shift in consumer behavior, the other way, too. And we're controlling what we can control. And it feels great to be back to growth cycle again. And we're in a pretty good position going into the end of the first quarter here.

因此它開始以一個相當可預測的數字進行三角測量。現在我們必須加入一些外部事件的優點和優點。但其中大多數似乎都是順風車，但我們也必須從另一個方面觀察消費者行為的轉變。我們正在控制我們能控制的事情。再次回到成長週期感覺很棒。進入第一季末，我們處於一個非常好的位置。

And our next question will come from Chandni Luthra with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題將來自高盛的 Chandni Luthra。

Congratulations on successfully navigating an extremely difficult year. If you could throw some more color on inventory levels, you exited the quarter down 13%. Would you say that hindered your ability to capture some sales in the fourth quarter and you had to leave some on the table? And then what gives you confidence in managing that, especially given all the challenges going on globally, as you think about first half of the year and likely into the second half as well?

恭喜您成功度過了極其困難的一年。如果您能對庫存水準進行更多描述，您會發現本季庫存下降了 13%。您是否會說這阻礙了您在第四季度獲得部分銷售額的能力，而您不得不放棄一些銷售額？那麼，是什麼讓您有信心應對這項挑戰，特別是考慮到全球正在發生的所有挑戰，您認為今年上半年甚至下半年也可能如此？

Yes. Thanks, Chandni. Yes, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, we were down about 23% on a year-over-year basis from an average store. And again, a couple of things were going on there. One, you got to look at last year when we were up probably half of that related to the sales. And then also we moved inventory in earlier, tariff-related inventory to avoid some tariffs there. And then you kind of flip to this year when we oversold, right, and had some tremendous sell-throughs there in the fourth quarter. And then some delayed receipts, and I think Joel mentioned it, too, where we are seeing some delays related to that global supply chain disruption. But I got to tell you, I think the team is managing it very well. We don't see a material impact to that related to Q1 based on the guidance and the sales that we provided. I guess more to come on that as we move through the year. But right now, we feel like we're in pretty good position with that and, again, navigating that pretty well with our vendors and then also with the -- throughout the supply chain.

是的。謝謝，錢德尼。是的，正如我在準備好的發言中提到的，我們的銷售額比普通商店同比下降了約 23%。再說一次，那裡發生了一些事情。第一，你必須看看去年，當時我們的成長可能有一半與銷售額有關。然後我們還將庫存轉移到先前與關稅相關的庫存中，以避免那裡的一些關稅。然後你會看到今年我們超賣了，對吧，並且在第四季度出現了一些巨大的銷售。然後是一些延遲的收據，我想喬爾也提到了這一點，我們看到一些與全球供應鏈中斷相關的延遲。但我必須告訴你，我認為團隊管理得很好。根據我們提供的指導和銷售情況，我們認為第一季的相關影響不會產生重大影響。我想隨著這一年的發展，還會有更多的事情發生。但現在，我們覺得我們在這方面處於非常有利的位置，並且再次與我們的供應商以及整個供應鏈一起很好地應對這一問題。

And our next question will come from Lorraine Hutchinson with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題將來自美國銀行的 Lorraine Hutchinson。

I wanted to follow up on some of the comments you made on five beyond adding more frequent (inaudible). Can we just talk a little bit about the strategy and if there's a chance that we will see those permanent fixtures throughout the fleet at some point this year?

我想跟進您對五個內容所做的一些評論，除了增加更頻繁的評論（聽不清楚）。我們能否簡單談談該戰略以及今年是否有機會在整個機隊中看到這些永久固定裝置？

Yes. Great question. And let me just refresh everybody on where we're at with five beyond, right, because there's actually 2 components at this point in time. There's a five beyond prototype, and then there's what we affectionately call the WOW wall that's in the rest of the chain. And so our go-forward prototype for the class of '21 will -- for the most part, all new stores and remodels will now incorporate five beyond in the back of the store. And then the WOW wall will be used at seasonal times throughout the rest of the chain. I think it's less about it being in the rest of the chain all year round, and it's more about us continuing to convert and shift more and more stores to the five beyond prototype.

是的。很好的問題。讓我向大家介紹一下我們現在的情況，還有 5 個組件，對吧，因為此時實際上有 2 個組件。有一個五倍以上的原型，然後就是我們親切地稱之為WOW牆的東西，它位於鏈的其餘部分。因此，我們面向 21 屆學生的前進原型將——在大多數情況下，所有新商店和改造現在將在商店後面納入 5 個以上的商店。然後，WOW 牆將在整個鏈條的其餘部分中季節性使用。我認為這與它全年都在連鎖店的其他部分無關，而更多的是我們繼續將越來越多的商店轉變為超越原型的五個商店。

We're obviously pretty pleased with it. We like where it's going. But look, I also am very respectful of who our customer is, what our brand stands for. And I want to walk really carefully. We're not violating that agreement we have with customer, namely Five Below. And so I think the feedback we've gotten from is they love five beyond. They love the value, the WOW factor. Keep delivering that, but also keep it separate and segregated. And so we think we found a nice, happy way to do that with seasonal in and out WOW presentations and yet moving ahead very quickly.

我們顯然對此非常滿意。我們喜歡它的發展方向。但是看，我也非常尊重我們的客戶是誰，我們的品牌代表什麼。我想非常小心地走路。我們沒有違反與客戶簽訂的協議，即「以下五項」協議。所以我認為我們得到的回饋是他們喜歡五之外。他們喜歡它的價值和令人驚嘆的因素。繼續提供這一點，但也要將其分開並隔離。因此，我們認為我們找到了一種很好、快樂的方式來做到這一點，透過季節性進出 WOW 演示，但進展很快。

I mean, 30% of our chain will now have the five beyond prototype by the end of the year. And so that's a nice balance with it. Look, we'll watch it. Could it change over time? Maybe. But I think we're on a pretty good path right now of moving towards this new prototype and then dropping in some WOW from time to time in the fleet. Ken, anything I missed there?

我的意思是，到今年年底，我們 30% 的連鎖店將擁有 5 Beyond 原型。所以這是一個很好的平衡。瞧，我們會注意的。隨著時間的推移它會改變嗎？或許。但我認為我們現在正走在一條非常好的道路上，朝著這個新的原型前進，然後不時在機隊中帶來一些驚喜。肯，我錯過了什麼嗎？

No. I think you hit it.

不，我認為你成功了。

And our next question will come from Anthony Chukumba with Loop Capital.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Loop Capital 的 Anthony Chukumba。

Let me add my congratulations as well on a strong finish to the year. So my question, you talked about the fact that you fully eliminated your paper circulars and you pulled back your marketing 25% of your stores. I mean, obviously, this is sort of a extraordinary year. But I guess, what are your thoughts as you think about marketing going forward? I mean, I'm assuming you're probably not really going to do paper circulars anymore. But I guess how do you think about your TV -- about TV ads going forward, given the fact you just did your best comp in company history when you did pull your TV advertising back?

讓我也對這一年圓滿的結束表示祝賀。所以我的問題是，您談到了您完全消除了紙質傳單並撤回了 25% 商店的營銷活動。我的意思是，顯然，今年是不平凡的一年。但我想，當您考慮未來的行銷時，您有什麼想法？我的意思是，我假設您可能不再真正打算再做紙質傳單了。但我想你如何看待你的電視——關於未來的電視廣告，考慮到當你撤回電視廣告時，你剛剛做了公司歷史上最好的補償？

Yes. Thanks on the support there, Anthony. And look, it's -- we were already on the journey to reduce our dependence on paper. And clearly, the pandemic allowed us to accelerate that. We're not going back. We're pretty pleased where we're at. But I think what we also learned is, whereas we were heading on a pretty strong path of national TV, the consumer behavior shifted a lot, and we had much more success with some of our more targeted digital.

是的。感謝您的支持，安東尼。看，我們已經開始減少對紙張的依賴。顯然，疫情讓我們加速了這一進程。我們不會回去。我們對目前所處的位置非常滿意。但我認為我們也了解到，雖然我們正走在全國電視的一條相當強勁的道路上，但消費者行為發生了很大變化，而且我們在一些更有針對性的數位節目上取得了更大的成功。

And so I think as we sit here today, pending consumer shift again, that will be the path we'll go down. We've seen the opportunity to not have to spend as much marketing, but I think there's still the opportunity for use of performance marketing and reaching into some of our social paid platforms.

因此，我認為，當我們今天坐在這裡，等待消費者再次轉變時，這將是我們將走的路。我們已經看到了不必花費那麼多行銷費用的機會，但我認為仍然有機會使用效果行銷並進入我們的一些社交付費平台。

But as for right now, I mean, we're in a more normalized 2% to 3%. And I think pending another change, I think I kind of hold it towards there, and it's a reasonable number that gives us the right leverage. But we're certainly always looking for ways to be more efficient. And I think the stuff we've taken out is setting us up nicely. Thanks, Anthony.

但就目前而言，我的意思是，我們處於更正常化的 2% 到 3% 之間。我認為在等待另一次改變之前，我想我會堅持下去，這是一個合理的數字，為我們提供了正確的槓桿。但我們當然一直在尋找提高效率的方法。我認為我們拿出的東西對我們來說很好。謝謝，安東尼。

And our next question will come from Jeremy Hamblin with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

我們的下一個問題將來自克雷格-哈勒姆資本集團的傑里米·漢布林。

I'll add my congratulations. I wanted to talk on Nerd Street. And just with the vaccine rollout really accelerating here and maybe coming a little sooner or maybe quite a bit sooner than people were anticipating several months ago, do you have a sense on how that may evolve here in the back half of the year in terms of maybe being a little bit more front and center for testing and expanding that initiative? Obviously, you provided a $0.06 drag to EPS for the year. But any additional color you can share on how you're looking at that rollout as it stands for 2021? Or is that something you're kind of punting down the road to '22?

我會補充我的祝賀。我想在書呆子街說話。隨著疫苗的推出確實在加速，而且可能比人們幾個月前的預期要早一點或早很多，你是否知道今年下半年情況會如何發展？也許是測試和擴展該計劃的更前沿和中心？顯然，您對今年的 EPS 造成了 0.06 美元的拖累。但對於 2021 年的推出，您還有什麼可以分享的嗎？或者這就是你在通往 22 歲月的道路上押注的東西？

Well, Ken was here in '19, '18, and I wasn't. So...

嗯，肯在 19 年、18 年來過這裡，而我不在。所以...

Been here a long time.

來這裡已經很久了。

No, I'm just kidding, Jeremy. Look, you can just tell by our comments during the prepared remarks that we really try to focus on what we can control and tell you how we're thinking about the business and, quite honestly, how we think we're back to our growth algorithm.

不，我只是在開玩笑，傑里米。 Look, you can just tell by our comments during the prepared remarks that we really try to focus on what we can control and tell you how we're thinking about the business and, quite honestly, how we think we're back to our growth演算法.

What you just gave, 1 great example, we could probably sit here and go through 2 or 3 other external factors and argue about whether they're tailwinds or headwinds. And I think they're going to play out. We're going to see some ups and some downs. Net-net, I think, overall, there are probably more pluses and minuses out there.

你剛剛給出的一個很好的例子，我們可能可以坐在這裡，討論 2 或 3 個其他外部因素，並爭論它們是順風還是逆風。我認為他們將會發揮作用。我們會看到一些起伏。 Net-net，我認為，總的來說，可能還有更多的優點和缺點。

But I think what -- the message I want to leave with you and the rest of the analysts is Five Below is getting back to what we can control and get back to more normal business. And we're going to keep playing offense and innovate in this awesome concept and making it better than ever. So I hope that gives you enough clarity, but that's kind of how we're thinking about it.

但我想，我想給你們和其他分析師留下的訊息是“五以下”，即回到我們可以控制的範圍，回到更正常的業務。我們將繼續進攻並創新這個令人敬畏的概念，並使其比以往任何時候都更好。所以我希望這能讓你夠清楚，但這就是我們的想法。

And our next question will come from Paul Trussell with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題將來自德意志銀行的保羅·特魯塞爾。

Just on stores. Just a question on any metrics that you can provide as we think about your new store -- or prototype regarding productivity or returns relative to the rest of the base? And also, with you kind of breaking ground on the distro center that will open next year, just curious, what will be kind of capacity in terms of what you can support through the DC system in 2022?

就在商店裡。只是一個問題，當我們考慮您的新商店時，您可以提供任何指標，或相對於其他基地的生產率或回報的原型？此外，隨著將於明年開業的分銷中心破土動工，我很好奇，2022 年透過 DC 系統可以支援什麼樣的容量？

Yes. Thanks, Paul. Look, taking the back half of that. On the DC side, in theory, when the next one is up, it certainly gives us the capacity to support all 2,500 stores. Now that doesn't mean you'll never hear us open another distribution center, because at some point in time, you also got to look at efficiencies, and you want a smaller regional in, say, the Pacific Northwest or something.

是的。謝謝，保羅。看，拿後半部分。在DC方面，理論上來說，當下一個上線時，它肯定會給我們支援所有2500家商店的能力。現在，這並不意味著您永遠不會聽到我們開設另一個配送中心，因為在某個時間點，您還必須考慮效率，並且您希望在太平洋西北地區或其他地區建立較小的區域。

But our overwhelming heavy lift, the multiyear investment phase to -- which we're honestly kind of behind in, we're now ahead. And so I think we feel pretty good at that as we get Arizona open this year and the Midwest next year.

但我們壓倒性的繁重工作，也就是多年的投資階段——老實說，我們有點落後了，但現在我們已經領先了。所以我認為，隨著今年亞利桑那州和明年中西部地區的開放，我們對此感覺非常好。

Store metrics are tough. I mean, obviously, store is getting more productive. We continue to see lifts in the remodels we're doing. So we'd expect those productivity gains to continue to grow.

商店指標很嚴格。我的意思是，顯然，商店的生產力正在提高。我們繼續看到我們正在進行的改造有所提升。因此，我們預計生產率的提高將繼續增長。

I'd ask for a little patience from you guys before we kind of give you specifics because we've been trying to parse it out in the remodels we've done. And there's just so much noise from closed stores, open stores, states having different levels of shutdowns, stimulus money dropping in. But obviously, we feel really good about it, as you're seeing us move forward with this prototype and remodels. Thanks, Paul.

在我們向你們提供具體細節之前，我希望你們有一點耐心，因為我們一直在嘗試在我們所做的改造中解析它。來自關閉的商店、開放的商店、不同程度的關閉、刺激資金投入的各州發出了太多噪音。但顯然，我們對此感覺非常好，因為你看到我們正在推進這個原型和改造。謝謝，保羅。

And I think we're wrapping up here. And we'll end with Paul there. Really appreciate you getting on the call with us. Thanks, everyone, for joining. We look forward to speaking with you again on our first quarter call, which will be in early June. Have a good evening, and I appreciate your support of Five Below. Thank you.

我想我們到這裡就結束了。我們將以保羅結束。非常感謝您與我們通話。謝謝大家的加入。我們期待在六月初的第一季電話會議上再次與您交談。祝您晚上愉快，感謝您對「五下」的支持。謝謝。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。此時您可以斷開線路。