克羅格 (KR) 2019 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to The Kroger Company Fourth Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call.

早上好，歡迎來到克羅格公司 2019 年第四季度收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

（操作員說明）請注意，此事件正在記錄中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Rebekah Manis, Director, Investor Relations.

我現在想將會議轉交給投資者關係總監 Rebekah Manis。

Please go ahead.

請繼續。

Thank you, Gary.

謝謝你，加里。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us.

早上好，感謝您加入我們。

Before we begin, I want to remind you that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的討論將包括前瞻性陳述。

We want to caution you that such statements are predictions, and actual events or results can differ materially.

我們想提醒您，此類陳述是預測，實際事件或結果可能存在重大差異。

A detailed discussion of the many factors that we believe may have a material effect on our business on an ongoing basis is contained in our SEC filings.

我們認為可能對我們的業務持續產生重大影響的許多因素的詳細討論包含在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中。

The Kroger assumes no obligation to update that information.

Kroger 不承擔更新該信息的義務。

Both our fourth quarter press release and our prepared remarks from this conference call will be available on our website at ir.kroger.com.

我們的第四季度新聞稿和我們在本次電話會議上準備的評論都將在我們的網站 ir.kroger.com 上提供。

After our prepared remarks, we look forward to taking your questions.

在我們準備好發言之後，我們期待著回答您的問題。

In order to cover a broad range of topics from as many of you as we can, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up question, if necessary.

為了盡可能多地涵蓋廣泛的主題，我們要求您在必要時將自己限制在一個問題和一個後續問題上。

I will now turn the call over to Kroger's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rodney McMullen.

我現在將把電話轉給克羅格的董事長兼首席執行官羅德尼·麥克馬倫。

Thank you, Rebecca.

謝謝你，麗貝卡。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

大家早上好，感謝您加入我們。

With me to review Kroger's fourth quarter and 2019 fiscal year results is Chief Financial Officer, Gary Millerchip.

與我一起回顧克羅格第四季度和 2019 財年業績的是首席財務官 Gary Millerchip。

We were pleased with our 2019 results and improving trends in our supermarket business.

我們對 2019 年的業績和超市業務的改善趨勢感到滿意。

As a result of our customer obsession and renewed intensity around operational excellence, we delivered our commitments for identical sales without fuel, adjusted FIFO operating profit, cost savings and delivered over $100 million of incremental operating profit through alternative profit streams in 2019.

由於我們對客戶的痴迷和圍繞卓越運營的新強度，我們兌現了我們的承諾，即在沒有燃料的情況下實現相同的銷售、調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤、節省成本，並在 2019 年通過替代利潤流實現了超過 1 億美元的增量營業利潤。

For the full year 2019, we delivered on the total shareholder return, or TSR, model that we outlined at our Investor Day and are positioned to deliver on our TSR model of the future, where you're using the power of Kroger's stable and growing supermarket business to create meaningful incremental operating profit through the alternative profit stream businesses, positioning our business for long-term growth that generates consistently attractive total shareholder returns.

在 2019 年全年，我們實現了我們在投資者日概述的股東總回報或 TSR 模型，並定位於實現我們未來的 TSR 模型，您將利用 Kroger 穩定和增長的力量超市業務通過替代利潤流業務創造有意義的增量營業利潤，將我們的業務定位為長期增長，從而產生持續有吸引力的總股東回報。

We continue to generate strong and durable free cash flow as reflected by the fact that the company has reduced debt by $1.1 billion over the prior 4 quarters and continues to increase the dividend to create value for shareholders.

我們繼續產生強勁和持久的自由現金流，這反映在公司在過去四個季度中減少了 11 億美元的債務，並繼續增加股息以為股東創造價值。

In total, we returned $951 million to shareholders in 2019.

2019 年，我們總共向股東返還了 9.51 億美元。

Our confidence that we can deliver even stronger TSR in the future is guided by our strong free cash flow and sustainable net earnings growth.

我們有信心在未來提供更強勁的股東總回報，這得益於我們強勁的自由現金流和可持續的淨收益增長。

By executing against the Restock Kroger framework, we are repositioning our business by widening and deepening our competitive moats.

通過執行 Restock Kroger 框架，我們正在通過擴大和深化我們的競爭護城河來重新定位我們的業務。

The 4 main areas of Restock Kroger framework, redefine the customer experience, partner to create value, develop talent and live our purpose, continue to be a top strategic priority for us.

Restock Kroger 框架的 4 個主要領域，重新定義客戶體驗，合作夥伴創造價值，培養人才和實現我們的目標，繼續成為我們的首要戰略重點。

We're continuing to enhance the customer connection with investments in our competitive moats today, which are product freshness and quality, Our Brands and personalize rewards and our competitive moat of tomorrow, the seamless ecosystem we are building.

我們將繼續通過投資我們今天的競爭護城河來加強與客戶的聯繫，這些護城河是產品新鮮度和質量、我們的品牌和個性化獎勵以及我們明天的競爭護城河，我們正在建立的無縫生態系統。

Fresh continues to be an important driver of sales for Kroger.

Fresh 仍然是 Kroger 銷售的重要推動力。

Our fresh departments drive trips, loyalty and gross margin.

我們的新部門推動了旅行、忠誠度和毛利率。

Again, our produce department's strong identical sales for the quarter demonstrated how our store teams are focused on improving everyday execution in ways that are highly relevant to our customers.

同樣，我們的生產部門本季度強勁的相同銷售額表明我們的商店團隊如何專注於以與客戶高度相關的方式改善日常執行。

Our Fresh for Everyone campaign has been well received and is driving significant improvements in marketing effectiveness.

我們的 Fresh for Everyone 活動廣受好評，正在推動營銷效果的顯著提高。

It is also driving more trips to our seamless ecosystem in-store and online.

它還推動了我們在店內和在線的無縫生態系統的更多旅行。

Our Brands achieved its best year ever, exceeding $23.1 billion in sales.

我們的品牌實現了有史以來最好的一年，銷售額超過 231 億美元。

We introduced 758 new Our Brand items in 2019, which helps drive strong year-over-year sales lift across our portfolio of brands.

我們在 2019 年推出了 758 種新的 Our Brand 產品，這有助於推動我們品牌組合的銷售額同比強勁增長。

Since its launch in 2013, Simple Truth has become the leading natural and organic brand in the country with annual sales exceeding $2.5 billion in 2019.

自 2013 年推出以來，Simple Truth 已成為該國領先的天然有機品牌，2019 年的年銷售額超過 25 億美元。

After identifying plant-based foods as a key food trend well before 2019, we introduced the Simple Truth Plant Based collection in 2019, and that launch is off to a strong start.

在早在 2019 年之前將植物性食品確定為主要食品趨勢之後，我們在 2019 年推出了 Simple Truth Plant Based 系列，該產品的推出有了一個良好的開端。

The Simple Truth brand expanded into plant-based meats with Emerge grinds and patties in January.

Simple Truth 品牌在 1 月份通過 Emerge 磨碎和肉餅擴展到植物性肉類。

In only 1 month, these products ranked third in the category for the entire fourth quarter.

僅1個月，這些產品就在整個第四季度的品類中排名第三。

Our Private Selection brand eclipsed $2 billion in sales for the first time.

我們的 Private Selection 品牌的銷售額首次超過 20 億美元。

The Kroger brand exceeded $13.7 billion in sales capitalizing on product development around key customer trends like global and regional flavors.

Kroger 品牌的銷售額超過 137 億美元，利用圍繞全球和區域風味等關鍵客戶趨勢的產品開發。

Kroger continues to invest in digital as we build a seamless ecosystem that combines the best of the physical store experience with the digital customer experience for our customers.

克羅格繼續投資於數字化，因為我們建立了一個無縫的生態系統，將最好的實體店體驗與客戶的數字化客戶體驗相結合。

This is where customers are increasingly going to meet their needs.

這是客戶越來越多地滿足他們需求的地方。

We know our customers value the greater convenience this provides, and our data shows it's an -- central component of driving overall loyalty.

我們知道我們的客戶重視這提供的更大便利，我們的數據顯示它是提高整體忠誠度的核心組成部分。

Digitally engaged customers not only drive growth through our digital modalities, they also help drive brick-and-mortar sales growth and share of wallet as well.

數字化客戶不僅通過我們的數字模式推動增長，還有助於推動實體銷售增長和錢包份額。

Providing our customers with the ability to have anything, anywhere, anytime from Kroger sets us apart from a large segment of our competitors and will drive loyalty as well as our long-term growth and margin expansion.

為我們的客戶提供隨時隨地從 Kroger 獲得任何東西的能力，這使我們在眾多競爭對手中脫穎而出，並將推動忠誠度以及我們的長期增長和利潤增長。

Our approach to partnerships is simple, but not simplistic.

我們建立夥伴關係的方法很簡單，但並不簡單。

We think they work best when the 2 of us can do things together that neither of us could have done alone.

我們認為，當我們兩個人可以一起做我們兩個人都無法單獨完成的事情時，它們的效果最好。

We're roughly a year away from our first fully functional customer fulfillment center with Ocado in Monroe, Ohio.

我們距離我們在俄亥俄州門羅市的 Ocado 的第一個功能齊全的客戶履行中心還有大約一年的時間。

These facilities will accelerate our ability to provide customers with a seamless experience in a much more cost-effective way.

這些設施將加速我們以更具成本效益的方式為客戶提供無縫體驗的能力。

We continue to be excited about the partnership.

我們繼續對這種夥伴關係感到興奮。

As we've shared previously, we believe Ocado's value as a partner is not just on its current capabilities, but also how quickly the company is able to innovate and serve rapidly changing consumer market.

正如我們之前所分享的，我們相信 Ocado 作為合作夥伴的價值不僅在於其當前的能力，還在於該公司能夠以多快的速度進行創新並服務於快速變化的消費市場。

We continue to roll out our plan, and you should not assume just large facilities.

我們繼續推出我們的計劃，您不應該只假設大型設施。

We're designing a flexible distribution network, combining disaggregated demand and proximity of our stores, medium-sized facilities and large facilities.

我們正在設計一個靈活的分銷網絡，將分散的需求和我們的商店、中型設施和大型設施的距離相結合。

Our network will flex as demand matures, and the optionality will allow us to fulfill same-day or next-day delivery or pickup and the customer or store replenishment.

我們的網絡將隨著需求的成熟而靈活調整，並且可選性將使我們能夠完成當日或次日交貨或取貨以及客戶或商店的補貨。

As America's grocer, we continue to invest in our associates as part of Restock Kroger and have made significant investments in our associate wages.

作為美國的雜貨商，作為 Restock Kroger 的一部分，我們繼續投資於我們的員工，並對我們的員工工資進行了大量投資。

The investments Kroger is making in human capital is putting more money in our associates' product -- pockets today.

克羅格在人力資本方面的投資正在為我們員工的產品投入更多資金——今天的口袋。

Our investments in associate wages has increased Kroger's average hourly rate to $15 an hour in 2019.

我們對員工工資的投資已將克羅格的平均時薪提高到 2019 年的每小時 15 美元。

And with our comprehensive benefits factored in, our average hourly rate is over $20, benefits that many of our competitors don't offer.

考慮到我們的綜合福利，我們的平均時薪超過 20 美元，這是我們的許多競爭對手不提供的福利。

We are working hard to ensure that we have the right talent, teams and structure in the right focus areas in our core supermarket business and our alternative profit businesses.

我們正在努力確保我們在核心超市業務和替代利潤業務的正確重點領域擁有合適的人才、團隊和結構。

Our focus is on developing, training and promoting internal talent while, at the same time, hiring seasoned food industry executives to drive our retail supermarket business.

我們的重點是發展、培訓和提升內部人才，同時聘請經驗豐富的食品行業高管來推動我們的零售超市業務。

In addition to investing in American workers and communities, Kroger is also leading the effort to end hunger in the places we call home and eliminate all waste across the company through our award-winning Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social impact plan.

除了對美國工人和社區進行投資外，克羅格還通過我們屢獲殊榮的“零飢餓 |零廢物社會影響計劃。

We made this bold commitment rooted in our purpose because we fundamentally believe that customers, associates and investors are increasingly choosing where to shop, work for and invest in companies that are purpose-driven and are actively making the world a better place.

我們做出這一大膽承諾的根源在於我們的宗旨，因為我們從根本上相信，客戶、員工和投資者越來越多地選擇在以宗旨為導向並積極讓世界變得更美好的公司購物、工作和投資。

In these ways, Restock Kroger is the right framework to reposition our business to create value for all of our stakeholders, both today and in the future.

通過這些方式，Restock Kroger 是重新定位我們的業務以在今天和未來為我們所有利益相關者創造價值的正確框架。

Our focus on the strategic drivers is expanding Kroger's competitive moats and will drive total shareholder return in 2020 and beyond.

我們對戰略驅動因素的關注正在擴大克羅格的競爭護城河，並將在 2020 年及以後推動股東總回報。

And now I will turn it over to Gary for more details in the quarter financials.

現在我將把它交給加里，以了解季度財務的更多細節。

Gary?

加里？

Thanks, Rodney, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝，羅德尼，大家早上好。

As I get started, I'd like to remind you of the key themes we shared during our Investor Day.

在開始之際，我想提醒您我們在投資者日期間分享的關鍵主題。

Our model is built upon a strong and durable base driven by our retail supermarkets, fuel and health and wellness businesses.

我們的模式建立在由我們的零售超市、燃料以及健康和保健業務推動的強大而持久的基礎之上。

It begins with the customer and our obsession with increasing customer loyalty.

它始於客戶和我們對提高客戶忠誠度的痴迷。

Our intensified focus on execution and continued improvements in the value and experience we deliver for our customers drive increased identical sales without fuel across our store and digital ecosystem.

我們更加專注於執行，並不斷改進為客戶提供的價值和體驗，推動了我們商店和數字生態系統的相同銷售額的增長，而無需燃料。

To drive sustainable sales growth, we continue to invest in areas of the business that are important to our customers.

為了推動可持續的銷售增長，我們繼續投資於對我們的客戶很重要的業務領域。

This includes ongoing investments in talent, price, digital and store experience with an even greater emphasis on our competitive moats: fresh, Our Brands and personalization, plus the moat we are in the process of building, our seamless ecosystem.

這包括對人才、價格、數字和商店體驗的持續投資，更加強調我們的競爭護城河：新鮮、我們的品牌和個性化，以及我們正在構建的護城河，我們的無縫生態系統。

We also committed to be very deliberate in balancing these investments with disciplined execution of cost savings that simplify our business.

我們還承諾非常謹慎地平衡這些投資和嚴格執行成本節約以簡化我們的業務。

Our full year 2019 results demonstrated clear progress towards delivering on this model and generating consistently strong and attractive total shareholder returns.

我們 2019 年的全年業績表明，在實現這一模式和產生持續強勁且有吸引力的總股東回報方面取得了明顯進展。

Identical sales without fuel grew 2% in 2019.

2019 年，不含燃料的相同銷售額增長了 2%。

While first quarter results came in below our identical sales guidance range, the balance of the year came in at the top end of our guidance at 2.25%.

雖然第一季度的業績低於我們相同的銷售指導範圍，但今年的餘額處於我們指導的高端，為 2.25%。

Adjusted FIFO operating profit of $3 billion came in at the top end of our guidance range and demonstrated the strength of our multi-faceted business model with industry-wide retail pharmacy gross margin headwinds offset by strong fuel results.

調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤為 30 億美元，位於我們指導範圍的高端，並展示了我們多方面業務模式的實力，全行業零售藥店的毛利率逆風被強勁的燃料業績所抵消。

We demonstrated financial discipline by balancing investments in our customers, associates and the development of our seamless ecosystem with significant cost savings.

我們通過平衡對客戶、員工的投資以及無縫生態系統的發展與顯著的成本節約來展示財務紀律。

This was evidenced by our improvement in OG&A rate of 29 basis points, more than offsetting our investment in gross margin rate of 23 basis points during 2019.

我們將 OG&A 率提高 29 個基點證明了這一點，超過了我們在 2019 年對毛利率 23 個基點的投資。

We achieved over $1 billion of cost savings in 2019 on top of the $1 billion savings in 2018.

在 2018 年節省 10 億美元的基礎上，我們在 2019 年節省了超過 10 億美元的成本。

We also have clear line of sight to $1 billion of incremental savings in 2020.

我們還清楚地看到了 2020 年將節省 10 億美元的增量。

These savings are being achieved through improved productivity and automation, elimination of waste, improved sourcing of goods for sale and goods not for resale and administrative efficiencies.

這些節省是通過提高生產力和自動化、消除浪費、改進待售商品和非轉售商品的採購以及提高管理效率來實現的。

We also achieved over $100 million of incremental operating profit through alternative profit streams in 2019 and delivered FIFO net operating profit growth within our 3% to 5% target range shared at Investor Day.

2019 年，我們還通過替代利潤流實現了超過 1 億美元的營業利潤增量，並在投資者日分享的 3% 至 5% 的目標範圍內實現了 FIFO 淨營業利潤增長。

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.19, the middle of our guidance range.

調整後的每股收益為 2.19 美元，位於我們指導範圍的中間。

Finally, we generated strong adjusted free cash flow, which we have used to pay down debt and bring our leverage ratio to within our target range and reintroduced share repurchasing in the fourth quarter.

最後，我們產生了強勁的調整後自由現金流，我們用它來償還債務並將我們的槓桿率控制在我們的目標範圍內，並在第四季度重新引入了股票回購。

Now I'd like to provide commentary on Kroger's fourth quarter results.

現在我想對克羅格第四季度的業績發表評論。

We delivered fourth quarter adjusted EPS of $0.57 per diluted share of 18.8%.

我們實現了第四季度調整後每股攤薄收益 0.57 美元，為 18.8%。

LIFO charge for the quarter was $36 million compared to a LIFO credit of $10 million for the same period last year.

本季度的 LIFO 費用為 3600 萬美元，而去年同期的 LIFO 信用為 1000 萬美元。

This increase was driven by higher inflation in dry grocery, pharmacy and dairy.

這一增長是由干雜貨店、藥店和乳製品行業的通脹上升推動的。

Our corporate tax rate for the fourth quarter was 18.2% compared to 20.8% for the same period last year.

我們第四季度的企業稅率為 18.2%，而去年同期為 20.8%。

This decrease resulted from an increase in tax deductions.

這一減少是由於稅收減免增加所致。

Adjusted FIFO operating profit for the fourth quarter was $758 million, up 20.7% compared to $628 million in the fourth quarter in 2018.

第四季度調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤為 7.58 億美元，比 2018 年第四季度的 6.28 億美元增長 20.7%。

Kroger reported identical sales without fuel of 2% during the fourth quarter.

克羅格報告第四季度不含燃料的相同銷售額為 2%。

Several departments outperformed in our supermarket business, including produce, key beverage categories, pharmacy and natural foods.

我們的超市業務中有多個部門表現出色，包括農產品、主要飲料類別、藥房和天然食品。

The underlying trends in the business was strong.

該業務的潛在趨勢很強勁。

November and December identical sales were consistent with third quarter performance.

11 月和 12 月相同的銷售額與第三季度的業績一致。

As expected, January was negatively impacted as we lapped incremental SNAP dollars in the market in January 2019 and we experienced milder weather this year.

正如預期的那樣，1 月份受到了負面影響，因為我們在 2019 年 1 月在市場上增加了 SNAP 美元，並且今年我們經歷了溫和的天氣。

February bounced back nicely and performed in line with our expectations and slightly ahead of the trend in the third quarter and November and December.

2 月反彈良好，表現符合我們的預期，並在第三季度和 11 月和 12 月略微領先於趨勢。

As a reminder, we do expect SNAP to positively impact the first quarter of 2020 as we lap a 15 basis point headwind from prior year.

提醒一下，我們確實預計 SNAP 將對 2020 年第一季度產生積極影響，因為我們比上一年有 15 個基點的逆風。

We expect identical sales in 2020 to improve over 2019 as we drive increased customer loyalty through fresh, Our Brands, personalization and seamless.

我們預計 2020 年的相同銷售額將比 2019 年有所改善，因為我們通過新鮮、我們的品牌、個性化和無縫連接來提高客戶忠誠度。

Digital contributed approximately 75 basis points to identical sales without fuel.

數字在沒有燃料的情況下為相同的銷售額貢獻了大約 75 個基點。

Kroger pickup and delivery continue to grow in a faster pace than our overall digital growth.

克羅格的取貨和交付繼續以比我們整體數字增長更快的速度增長。

During the 2019 holiday season, we offered a limited time free pickup promotion in select markets.

在 2019 年假期期間，我們在特定市場提供了限時免費取貨促銷活動。

Customers responded positively to the promotion, and we were pleased with our fourth quarter digital sales growth of 22%.

客戶對促銷反應積極，我們對第四季度 22% 的數字銷售增長感到滿意。

Gross margin was 22.1% of sales for the fourth quarter.

第四季度毛利率為銷售額的 22.1%。

The FIFO gross margin rate, excluding fuel, increased 6 basis points.

不包括燃料的 FIFO 毛利率增加了 6 個基點。

This increase resulted from improvements in cost of goods, accelerated alternative to profit streams and cycling of investments in the fourth quarter of 2018 partially offset by investments in price and personalization, continued industry-wide lower gross margin rates in pharmacy and growth in the specialty pharmacy business.

這一增長是由於商品成本的改善、2018 年第四季度利潤流替代方案的加速以及投資週期的一部分被價格和個性化投資、全行業藥房毛利率持續下降以及專業藥房的增長所抵消商業。

Our associates continue to do an impressive job managing shrink, which improved in the fourth quarter compared to last year.

我們的員工繼續在管理收縮方面做得令人印象深刻，與去年相比，第四季度有所改善。

This represents the tenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year shrink rate improvement.

這是連續第十個季度同比收縮率改善。

While retail pharmacy gross margin continued to be a headwind in the fourth quarter, retail pharmacy remains an important part of our strategy and continues to generate good returns and strong customer loyalty.

儘管零售藥店的毛利率在第四季度繼續成為不利因素，但零售藥店仍然是我們戰略的重要組成部分，並繼續產生良好的回報和強大的客戶忠誠度。

OG&A cost as a rate of sales, excluding fuel and adjustment items, decreased 79 basis points in the quarter.

OG&A 成本作為銷售額的比率，不包括燃料和調整項目，在本季度下降了 79 個基點。

Part of this was due to cycling of investments in OG&A made in the fourth quarter of 2018, plus broad-based improvements in Restock Kroger savings initiatives.

部分原因是由於 2018 年第四季度對 OG&A 的投資循環，以及 Restock Kroger 儲蓄計劃的廣泛改進。

We were pleased with our ability to deliver OG&A improvement above the level of gross margin investment as a rate of sales in 2019, and we expect that balance to continue in 2020.

我們對 2019 年將 OG&A 提升至高於毛利率投資水平的銷售額感到滿意，我們預計這種平衡將在 2020 年繼續保持。

Fuel is an important part of our strategy to drive customer engagement.

燃料是我們推動客戶參與戰略的重要組成部分。

Our loyal customers received hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel rewards in 2019 in the form of price discounts at the pump.

我們的忠實客戶在 2019 年以加油站價格折扣的形式獲得了數億美元的燃油獎勵。

The average retail price of fuel was $2.58 this quarter versus $2.34 in the same quarter last year.

本季度燃料的平均零售價為 2.58 美元，而去年同期為 2.34 美元。

Our cents per gallon fuel margin in the fourth quarter was $0.33 compared to $0.34 in the same quarter last year.

我們第四季度的每加侖燃料利潤率為 0.33 美元，而去年同期為 0.34 美元。

Fuel is a great example of Kroger's sourcing teams continuing to improve buying practices.

Fuel 是克羅格採購團隊不斷改進採購實踐的一個很好的例子。

This allowed us to achieve improvement in fuel cost of goods in the fourth quarter.

這使我們能夠在第四季度實現商品燃料成本的改善。

Alternative profit streams contributed an incremental operating profit of more than $100 million in 2019.

另類利潤流在 2019 年貢獻了超過 1 億美元的增量營業利潤。

Media and Kroger Personal Finance continued to be the primary drivers of growth.

媒體和克羅格個人理財繼續成為增長的主要驅動力。

Brands continue to invest in Kroger Precision Marketing because we close the loop between media exposure and store and digital sales to make brand advertising more addressable, actionable and accountable.

品牌繼續投資 Kroger 精準營銷，因為我們在媒體曝光與商店和數字銷售之間建立了閉環，使品牌廣告更具針對性、可操作性和可問責性。

An annual survey by the Path to Purchase Institute gave us strong ratings for effective targeting, measurement, sales growth and ROI.

Path to Purchase Institute 的年度調查在有效定位、衡量、銷售增長和投資回報率方面給予了我們很高的評價。

Most recently, we became the first retail media platform to be awarded Platinum Certification by the Trustworthy Accountability Group for meeting guidelines to improve transparency and prevent ad fraud, malware and piracy.

最近，我們成為第一個被 Trustworthy Accountability Group 授予白金認證的零售媒體平台，以符合提高透明度和防止廣告欺詐、惡意軟件和盜版的指導方針。

We're committed to being the most transparent media organization and making the entire digital media ecosystem a safe and effective investment for CPG brands.

我們致力於成為最透明的媒體機構，讓整個數字媒體生態系統成為 CPG 品牌安全有效的投資。

As Rodney mentioned, we continue to invest in our associates as a key part of Restock Kroger in a variety of ways, including investments in wages, training and development.

正如羅德尼所說，我們繼續以各種方式投資於我們的員工，作為 Restock Kroger 的關鍵部分，包括對工資、培訓和發展的投資。

We ratified new labor agreements with the UFCW covering associates in Memphis during the fourth quarter.

我們在第四季度與 UFCW 批准了涵蓋孟菲斯員工的新勞動協議。

We are currently negotiating with the UFCW for contracts covering store associates in Las Vegas and Houston.

我們目前正在與 UFCW 就涵蓋拉斯維加斯和休斯頓商店員工的合同進行談判。

Looking ahead, we have several major negotiations in 2020, including contracts with UFCW for store associates in Dallas, Food 4 Less associates in Southern California and Fry's associates in Arizona.

展望未來，我們在 2020 年進行了幾項重大談判，包括與 UFCW 就達拉斯的商店員工、南加州的 Food 4 Less 員工和亞利桑那州的 Fry 員工簽訂合同。

Our objective in every negotiation is to find a fair and reasonable balance between competitive costs and compensation packages that provide solid wages, good quality affordable health care and retirement benefits for our associates.

我們在每次談判中的目標是在有競爭力的成本和薪酬方案之間找到公平合理的平衡，為我們的員工提供穩定的工資、優質的負擔得起的醫療保健和退休福利。

We strive to make our overall benefit package relevant to today's associates.

我們努力使我們的整體福利方案與今天的員工相關。

Our financial results continue to be pressured by health care and pension costs, which some of our competitors do not face.

我們的財務業績繼續受到醫療保健和養老金成本的壓力，而我們的一些競爭對手則沒有。

We continue to communicate with our local unions and the international unions, which represent many of our associates, on the importance of growing our business in a profitable way, which will help us create more jobs and career opportunities and enhance job security for our associates.

我們將繼續與代表我們許多員工的當地工會和國際工會就以盈利方式發展我們的業務的重要性進行溝通，這將有助於我們創造更多的就業機會和職業機會，並增強我們員工的工作保障。

We continue to generate strong free cash flow and are being very disciplined in how we deploy it to deliver strong and attractive total shareholder returns.

我們繼續產生強勁的自由現金流，並且在我們如何部署它以提供強勁和有吸引力的總股東回報方面非常自律。

We are committed to investing in the business to drive profitable growth, maintain our current investment-grade debt rating and return excess free cash to investors via share repurchases and a growing dividend.

我們致力於投資該業務以推動盈利增長，維持我們目前的投資級債務評級，並通過股票回購和增加股息向投資者返還多餘的自由現金。

In 2019, Kroger reduced our net total debt by $1.1 billion, bringing our net total debt to adjusted EBITDA within our target range.

2019 年，克羅格將我們的淨總債務減少了 11 億美元，使我們的淨總債務達到調整後的 EBITDA 在我們的目標範圍內。

We also returned $486 million to shareholders in dividends and repurchased $400 million of shares in the fourth quarter of 2019 under our $1 billion Board authorization.

根據我們 10 億美元的董事會授權，我們還在 2019 年第四季度向股東返還了 4.86 億美元的股息，並回購了 4 億美元的股票。

At our Investor Day, we committed to continue to apply a rigorous and disciplined approach to capital management, and we are focused on ensuring our capital projects deliver strong returns.

在我們的投資者日，我們承諾繼續對資本管理採用嚴格和紀律的方法，我們專注於確保我們的資本項目帶來豐厚的回報。

Consistent with our approach in 2019, the majority of our investments in 2020 will be allocated to driving profitable sales growth, improving productivity and building out our supply chain and seamless ecosystem.

與我們在 2019 年的做法一致，我們在 2020 年的大部分投資將用於推動可盈利的銷售增長、提高生產力以及構建我們的供應鍊和無縫生態系統。

We also committed to effectively manage our portfolio of assets to improve ROIC over time.

我們還致力於有效管理我們的資產組合，以隨著時間的推移提高投資回報率。

As part of our review process in the fourth quarter, we recognized an impairment charge relating to the planned closing of 35 stores across the footprint in 2020.

作為我們第四季度審查過程的一部分，我們確認了與計劃在 2020 年關閉整個足蹟的 35 家商店有關的減值費用。

This is reflected in the $52 million of transformation costs recognized during the fourth quarter.

這反映在第四季度確認的 5200 萬美元的轉型成本中。

As we have shared with you previously, Kroger made the decision to divest our interest in Lucky's Market in the third quarter of 2019, and we took the appropriate impairment charge based on the information available at that time.

正如我們之前與您分享的那樣，克羅格決定在 2019 年第三季度剝離我們在 Lucky's Market 的權益，並且我們根據當時可用的信息收取了適當的減值費用。

Subsequently, the decision was made by Lucky's Markets to file for bankruptcy in January, which led us to fully write off the value of our investment and deconsolidate Lucky's Market from our consolidated financial statements.

隨後，Lucky's Markets 決定在 1 月份申請破產，這導致我們完全註銷了我們的投資價值，並將 Lucky's Markets 從我們的合併財務報表中取消合併。

This resulted in a noncash charge of $174 million in the fourth quarter.

這導致第四季度的非現金費用為 1.74 億美元。

Kroger maintains liabilities associated with certain property-related guarantees that will result in Kroger making payments to settle these over time.

Kroger 承擔與某些與財產相關的擔保相關的負債，這些擔保將導致 Kroger 隨著時間的推移付款以解決這些問題。

These items have no effect on net earnings per diluted share or adjusted free cash flow guidance for 2020.

這些項目對稀釋後每股淨收益或 2020 年調整後的自由現金流指引沒有影響。

Turning now to guidance for 2020, building on our momentum in 2019, we continue to expect identical sales without fuel of greater than 2.25%.

現在轉向 2020 年的指導，在 2019 年的勢頭基礎上，我們繼續預計無燃料的相同銷售額將超過 2.25%。

We also continue to expect adjusted FIFO operating profit of $3 billion to $3.1 billion and adjusted net earnings per diluted share to range between $2.30 and $2.40.

我們還繼續預計調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤為 30 億美元至 31 億美元，調整後的每股攤薄淨收益在 2.30 美元至 2.40 美元之間。

Looking at the cadence of EPS growth in 2020, we expect the first quarter to be below our annual EPS growth range of 5% to 10% as we cycle real estate gains in the first quarter of 2019.

從 2020 年每股收益增長的節奏來看，我們預計第一季度將低於我們 5% 至 10% 的年度每股收益增長范圍，因為我們將在 2019 年第一季度循環房地產收益。

Overall, I'm encouraged with the momentum created in 2019, which provides a solid platform from which to deliver on our commitments in 2020.

總體而言，我對 2019 年創造的勢頭感到鼓舞，這為我們在 2020 年兌現承諾提供了堅實的平台。

Now I'll turn it back to Rodney.

現在我把它轉回給羅德尼。

Thanks, Gary.

謝謝，加里。

Before we invite your questions, I'd like to say a few words about the coronavirus.

在我們邀請您提問之前，我想就冠狀病毒說幾句話。

From a financial standpoint, it is too early to tell the effect on our business.

從財務角度來看，現在判斷對我們業務的影響還為時過早。

It is not included in our guidance.

它不包含在我們的指導中。

And while it is obviously very early for this public health event in the United States, we're not seeing anything so far that would cause us to change our guidance.

儘管美國的這一公共衛生事件顯然還為時過早，但到目前為止，我們還沒有看到任何會導致我們改變指導方針的事情。

From a business preparedness standpoint, we have established an internal task force that has activated our pandemic preparedness plan with a focus on our customers, associates and supply chain.

從業務準備的角度來看，我們建立了一個內部工作組，啟動了我們的大流行準備計劃，重點關注我們的客戶、員工和供應鏈。

We generally believe that we have limited supply chain exposure in China as the majority of the products we source is domestic.

我們普遍認為我們在中國的供應鏈敞口有限，因為我們採購的大部分產品都是國內的。

We certainly feel for those in America and around the world who have been affected.

我們當然對美國和世界各地受到影響的人感到同情。

The health and well-being of our associates, our customers and our communities is Kroger's top priority.

我們員工、客戶和社區的健康和福祉是克羅格的首要任務。

Always being there for our communities is part of our heritage and especially in times of uncertainty.

始終為我們的社區服務是我們傳統的一部分，尤其是在不確定的時期。

We believe everyone deserves to have access to affordable fresh food.

我們相信每個人都應該獲得負擔得起的新鮮食品。

Returning now to our business results, I want to stress that Restock Kroger is the right strategic framework to deliver both on our 2020 guidance and to position Kroger for sustainable growth and total shareholder return.

現在回到我們的業務成果，我想強調的是，Restock Kroger 是正確的戰略框架，既可以實現我們的 2020 年指導，又可以使 Kroger 實現可持續增長和股東總回報。

Now we look forward to your questions.

現在我們期待您的提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Robbie Ohmes with Bank of America Global Research.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自美國銀行全球研究部的 Robbie Ohmes。

A couple of quick ones.

幾個快速的。

First, just on ClickList with the kind of fee waiver and the response to that and maybe some color, what happens after you put the fee back in and also what are your sort of intermediate term thoughts on keeping a fee versus getting rid of it like some of your competitors seem to have.

首先，只是在 ClickList 上，有一種費用減免和對此的回應，也許還有一些顏色，在你把費用放回去後會發生什麼，以及你對保留費用和擺脫費用的中期想法是什麼你的一些競爭對手似乎有。

That would be one.

那將是一個。

And then just 2 other quick ones, just the pharmacy expectations for 2020 and the fuel profit assumptions in your guidance for 2020.

然後是另外兩個快速的，只是 2020 年的藥房預期和 2020 年指導中的燃料利潤假設。

Maybe just give us some color so we can think about those things in our modeling.

也許只是給我們一些顏色，這樣我們就可以在我們的建模中考慮這些事情。

Thanks, Robbie.

謝謝，羅比。

As Gary mentioned, when you look at the digital promotional offer on the waived fee, overall, we're happy with what we learned.

正如 Gary 所提到的，當您查看有關免除費用的數字促銷優惠時，總體而言，我們對所學到的內容感到滿意。

We did engage with some new customers.

我們確實接觸了一些新客戶。

I think it's important to remember that this was a test among many, many tests that we continue to do.

我認為重要的是要記住，這是我們繼續進行的許多測試中的一個測試。

And overall, what we're focused on is really how to create a seamless experience.

總的來說，我們真正關注的是如何創造無縫體驗。

In terms of going forward, I wouldn't be comfortable sharing our exact plans because, obviously, that will share -- tell our customers -- our competitors, excuse me, what we're planning to do.

就未來而言，我不願意分享我們的確切計劃，因為很明顯，這將分享 - 告訴我們的客戶 - 我們的競爭對手，對不起，我們計劃做什麼。

And the customer behavior was consistent with what we expected.

客戶行為與我們的預期一致。

They were happy and the results since then have been consistent with what we expected as well.

他們很高興，此後的結果也與我們的預期一致。

And overall, I think it's always important to remember what we're really trying to do is build up a seamless experience.

總的來說，我認為記住我們真正想要做的是建立無縫體驗總是很重要的。

And what we find is the better job we do on creating that seamless experience creates a deeper and deeper loyalty strategy.

我們發現，我們在創造無縫體驗方面做得更好，可以創造越來越深的忠誠度戰略。

In terms of pharmacy expectations and fuel, Gary, I'll let you answer both of those.

就藥房期望和燃料而言，加里，我會讓你回答這兩個問題。

Sure.

當然。

Thanks, Rodney.

謝謝，羅德尼。

Thanks for the question, Robbie.

謝謝你的問題，羅比。

So yes, as you think about the model for 2020, I'll maybe refer back a little bit to some of the things that we talked about at Investor Day.

所以是的，當您考慮 2020 年的模型時，我可能會回顧一下我們在投資者日討論的一些事情。

We very much look at the overall customer ecosystem across our food and grocery business, retail pharmacy business and also the fuel business as an overall how do we manage those multifaceted parts of the model.

我們非常關注我們的食品和雜貨業務、零售藥房業務以及燃料業務的整體客戶生態系統，作為一個整體，我們如何管理模型的這些多方面的部分。

And I think if you look at our performance in 2019, as I've said in some of the prepared comments, we feel like it's a really good demonstration of how we're managing that model where, really, the pharmacy headwinds that we saw in 2019 were fully offset by the fuel benefits that we saw.

而且我認為，如果您看看我們在 2019 年的表現，正如我在一些準備好的評論中所說，我們覺得這很好地證明了我們如何管理該模型，實際上，我們看到的藥房逆風2019 年被我們看到的燃料收益完全抵消。

And then the sort of foundational food and grocery business was pretty stable within that environment.

然後那種基礎食品和雜貨業務在那個環境中相當穩定。

I would say that as we look towards 2020, we'll be managing the business in a very similar way.

我想說，展望 2020 年，我們將以非常相似的方式管理業務。

When you think about our overall guidance for 2020, we're essentially expecting that ecosystem to be relatively stable overall, and alternative profit will drive us towards the operating profit growth that we've shared for the full year.

當您考慮我們對 2020 年的總體指導時，我們基本上預計生態系統總體上會相對穩定，替代利潤將推動我們實現全年共享的營業利潤增長。

Within that guidance, we do expect that pharmacy will continue to have some headwinds, nothing to the extent that we saw in 2019.

在該指導下，我們確實預計藥房將繼續面臨一些不利因素，而不會像我們在 2019 年看到的那樣。

We think the gross margin structural challenges will continue in 2020.

我們認為毛利率的結構性挑戰將在 2020 年繼續存在。

But the team has done a great job in continuing to look for opportunities to take out costs where they don't add value for the customer, our associates and looking for ways to improve our cost of goods where we have control over those items.

但該團隊在繼續尋找機會以降低對客戶、我們的員工沒有價值的成本，並在我們可以控制這些項目的情況下尋找改善商品成本的方法方面做得很好。

And so we would expect to see less of a headwind, albeit still somewhat of a headwind from pharmacy in 2020.

因此，我們預計會看到更少的逆風，儘管 2020 年藥房仍然會有一些逆風。

We would also expect fuel, obviously, to start to normalize.

顯然，我們還期望燃料開始正常化。

And so probably something of a headwind there within the overall model.

因此，在整個模型中可能存在一些不利因素。

And really, the way that we cycle those will be through the strength of continuing to improve our ID sales in the core and the $1 billion of cost savings that I talked about overall within the model.

實際上，我們循環這些的方式將通過繼續提高核心 ID 銷售的力量以及我在模型中整體談到的 10 億美元的成本節約來實現。

So overall, we think about it very much as all those moving parts creating a relatively stable core business from an operating profit point of view in 2020 and alternative profits driving the growth in the year.

因此，總體而言，我們非常認為，從 2020 年營業利潤的角度來看，所有這些活動部件創造了相對穩定的核心業務，而替代利潤推動了這一年的增長。

Yes.

是的。

Gary's last point on the incremental profit from alternative profit is an important part, I think, to remember as well.

我認為，加里關於替代利潤的增量利潤的最後一點是一個重要的部分，也需要記住。

And we -- as we shared in our guidance, we expect it to range somewhere between $125 million and $150 million.

而且我們 - 正如我們在指導中分享的那樣，我們預計它的範圍在 1.25 億美元到 1.5 億美元之間。

Next question is from Ken Goldman with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Ken Goldman。

Two for me.

兩個給我。

First, I wanted to -- I know it's way too early to -- for you guys to sort of quantify the coronavirus impact, but that won't stop me from trying to ask.

首先，我想——我知道現在還為時過早——讓你們量化冠狀病毒的影響，但這不會阻止我嘗試提問。

And I appreciate -- I would appreciate any help you can give.

我很感激——我會很感激你能提供的任何幫助。

Can you at least directionally talk about whether it's been a benefit so far in the last couple of weeks?

您能否至少有針對性地談談過去幾周到目前為止它是否有好處？

I mean Campbell's Soup yesterday talked about how they are experiencing better orders in the last week or so from some of their customers.

我的意思是 Campbell's Soup 昨天談到了他們在過去一周左右從一些客戶那裡獲得了更好的訂單。

We've certainly read about stock-outs of water and so forth.

我們當然讀過關於缺貨的水等等。

At least directionally, do you think it's been somewhat of a help so far?

至少在方向上，您認為到目前為止它是否有所幫助？

Or is it really just way too early to say for sure?

或者現在說肯定還為時過早？

Personally, and I'll let Gary if he disagrees, I just think it's way too early to say for sure.

就個人而言，如果 Gary 不同意，我會讓他同意，我只是認為現在下定論還為時過早。

And the key thing is we -- as I mentioned before, is we want to make sure we're there for our communities, our customers and our associates.

關鍵是我們——正如我之前提到的，我們要確保我們為我們的社區、我們的客戶和我們的員工服務。

And the comments that Campbell's and others have said, certainly, we would see an increase in volume in certain categories.

坎貝爾和其他人所說的評論，當然，我們會看到某些類別的數量增加。

And if you think about a lot of the basics and things that people would need to be able to keep and maintain their health and those things, but it's so early in the process in the United States.

如果您考慮人們需要能夠保持和維持健康的許多基本知識和事情以及這些事情，但在美國，這還處於早期階段。

And the only pattern that we would have any idea on how to look at it would be China because that is the most -- first developed in terms of going through the impacts.

我們對如何看待它有任何想法的唯一模式將是中國，因為這是最 - 在經歷影響方面首先發展起來的。

And our -- all of our teams, our stores, our supply chain team, our procurement folks are incredibly focused on making sure that we stay in stock on those critical items in partnering with CPGs and our own supply chain to replenish that.

我們所有的團隊、我們的商店、我們的供應鏈團隊、我們的採購人員都非常專注於確保我們與 CPG 和我們自己的供應鏈合作以補充這些關鍵物品的庫存。

I don't know, Gary, anything you'd want to add to that?

我不知道，加里，你有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes.

是的。

I would completely agree with your comment, Rodney, as I think it's really too early for us to really have a sense of how customers' overall behavior will change and what the impact will be as the situation obviously evolves in the U.S. market.

我完全同意你的評論，羅德尼，因為我認為現在對我們真正了解客戶的整體行為將如何變化以及隨著美國市場形勢的明顯演變而產生的影響還為時過早。

I guess just to build on a couple of points, Ken, with the data points that we do see today.

我想只是建立在幾點基礎上，肯，我們今天看到的數據點。

As I mentioned in the prepared comments, February was generally in line with what we've expected for the period of the first month, if you like, around new year.

正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，2 月份總體上符合我們對第一個月的預期，如果你願意的話，大約是新年。

So we didn't see anything dramatically different from what we would've expected during that time period.

所以我們沒有看到任何與我們在那個時期的預期有很大不同的地方。

Certainly, the trend has improved over -- slightly over what we saw in Q3 and November and December.

當然，這一趨勢已經有所改善——略高於我們在第三季度、11 月和 12 月看到的情況。

So we will have to see that after January was a month that we knew would be a tough one to cycle.

因此，我們將不得不看到，在一月之後是一個我們知道將很難循環的月份。

And as Rodney mentioned, in the last few days, I think you've seen more in response to the media activity and some of the advice out there in the market of customers starting to spend more on things like water and hand sanitizer, hand soap, paper and then some of the -- maybe the box dinners and soups that you might expect just based on the guidance that's been given to consumers in the market.

正如羅德尼所說，在過去的幾天裡，我認為你已經看到更多回應媒體活動和市場上的一些建議，即客戶開始在水和洗手液、洗手液等產品上花費更多，紙，然後是一些——也許是你可能期望的盒飯和湯，只是基於市場上給消費者的指導。

So there's certainly been heightened activity in that regard.

因此，這方面的活動肯定有所增加。

But how that plays out and how it impacts the overall shape of the way customers behave and shop, I think it's really that should be.

但這是如何發揮作用的，以及它如何影響客戶行為和購物方式的整體形態，我認為這確實應該如此。

And I think in the last few days that I would say there's anything different than we would have seen versus what we expected.

而且我認為在過去的幾天裡，我會說與我們所看到的和我們預期的不同。

And how that plays out over a longer period of time is really, I think, impossible to tell.

我認為，這在更長的時間內是如何發揮作用的，真的很難說。

Totally understand.

完全明白。

I appreciate that.

我很感激。

Can I ask a very quick follow-up?

我可以要求非常快速的跟進嗎？

Depreciation and amortization seem to be a little bit higher than most people were looking for this quarter.

折舊和攤銷似乎比大多數人本季度的預期要高一些。

Gary, can you help us understand or think about how to model that for 2020?

加里，你能幫助我們理解或思考如何為 2020 年建模嗎？

What numbers do you have in your internal models?

您的內部模型中有哪些數字？

Yes.

是的。

Sure.

當然。

And thank you for the question.

謝謝你的問題。

Yes, it's -- it is an area, Ken, where we saw some lumpiness during the year.

是的，它是 - 這是一個區域，肯，我們在這一年中看到了一些凹凸不平的地方。

Part of that is to do with the fact that as we've been dynamically changing our capital allocation, the average life of some of the investments that we make in technology look different from some of the traditional investments that we would've made in a traditional store remodel or a new store opening.

部分原因在於，隨著我們一直在動態地改變我們的資本配置，我們在技術上進行的一些投資的平均壽命看起來與我們在技術領域進行的一些傳統投資不同。傳統店面改造或新店開業。

We're still investing in those areas, but the mix is certainly changing over time.

我們仍在這些領域進行投資，但隨著時間的推移，這種組合肯定會發生變化。

As that normalizes out, we would be looking at a range of 3% to 5% as a sort of an annualized increase in depreciation to kind of give you more of a big picture perspective on how to think about 2020, if that's helpful.

隨著這種情況正常化，我們會將 3% 到 5% 的幅度視為折舊的年化增長，以便讓您對如何看待 2020 年有更多的總體看法，如果這有幫助的話。

The next question is from Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer.

下一個問題來自 Rupesh Parikh 和 Oppenheimer。

I want to go back to the comments, Rodney, you made about Ocado and the flexibility to just -- to not just assume large facilities.

我想回到評論，羅德尼，你對 Ocado 和靈活性的看法 - 不僅僅是假設大型設施。

If you can just talk more about the flexibility you guys have to, I guess, have different facility sites and just how you guys are thinking about that flexibility going forward.

如果你能多談談你們必須擁有的靈活性，我猜，有不同的設施站點，以及你們如何考慮未來的靈活性。

Yes.

是的。

As we've talked about before, we really do believe it'll end up being a combination of our physical stores, sheds that are small, medium and large-sized.

正如我們之前所說，我們真的相信它最終會成為我們的實體店、小型、中型和大型棚屋的組合。

The ones that we've announced so far have been all large sized.

到目前為止，我們宣布的都是大型的。

But over time, Ocado continues to spend significant money in R&D and continues to push.

但隨著時間的推移，Ocado 繼續在研發上投入大量資金並繼續推進。

So we would expect it'll be a combination of store-based model, smaller-type facilities and bigger-type regional facilities, and Ocado will be a critical partner in that overall ecosystem.

因此，我們預計它將是基於商店的模式、小型設施和大型區域設施的組合，而 Ocado 將成為整個生態系統中的關鍵合作夥伴。

And by having those combined, it will also allow us to have the best cost of goods coming into the various sheds and using the total assets that we have today.

通過將這些結合起來，它還將使我們能夠以最佳成本進入各個倉庫並使用我們今天擁有的總資產。

So we feel really good about the pieces of the puzzle that we're putting together.

所以我們對我們正在拼湊的拼圖碎片感覺非常好。

And we really think the -- and it will support the ability to do both same day and next day.

我們真的認為 - 它將支持在同一天和第二天進行的能力。

And what we find is, in some cases, customers like same day, some things they like next day.

我們發現，在某些情況下，客戶當天喜歡，有些東西他們喜歡第二天。

But -- and we're excited.

但是——我們很興奮。

We're really looking forward to the facility in Monroe opening and the second facility in Florida will open soon after that.

我們真的很期待門羅的工廠開業，佛羅里達州的第二家工廠也將很快開業。

Great.

偉大的。

And then just one follow-up question.

然後只是一個後續問題。

So you -- I guess, you announced the closing of 35 stores.

所以你——我猜，你宣布關閉 35 家商店。

Is this the right way to think about the cadence going forward?

這是思考未來節奏的正確方法嗎？

Or just maybe just walk us through, I guess, the rationale for these store closures?

或者只是也許只是引導我們了解這些商店關閉的理由？

Sure.

當然。

Thanks for the question.

謝謝你的問題。

It's -- I think I've talked a little bit about it at the Investor Day and then in the prepared comments.

這是 - 我想我已經在投資者日和準備好的評論中談了一點。

What we're really focused on is taking a step back and making sure as we think about how the overall portfolio of assets are performing, how do we make sure we're really setting ourselves, that we're making the right investments to accelerate and grow the business but also looking where we have opportunities to optimize the portfolio and to drive, obviously, ROIC over a period of time.

我們真正關注的是退後一步，並確保在我們考慮整體資產組合的表現時，我們如何確保我們真正設定自己，我們正在做出正確的投資以加速並發展業務，同時也在尋找我們有機會優化投資組合併在一段時間內推動投資回報率的地方。

I would say that this is very much a sort of a stand-alone review that we've taken a step back and said -- look at stores where -- and the average -- to give you some context around it, the average store age is about 28 years old.

我想說，這在很大程度上是一種獨立的評論，我們退後一步說——看看商店在哪裡——以及平均水平——給你一些關於它的背景，平均商店年齡約為28歲。

So these are, in many cases, older stores.

因此，在許多情況下，這些都是較老的商店。

They're geographically spread across the countries.

它們在地理上分佈在各個國家。

There aren't sort of particular markets that it's focused on.

它沒有專注於特定的市場。

It's very much more about looking at our portfolio and really making sure that we see where the customer is going, where we invest our dollars to really drive and support our customers and how we continue to evolve the whole ecosystem that Rodney referred to in his opening comments, just making sure that we're really being disciplined in investing where we see the future growth in the business.

更重要的是查看我們的投資組合，並真正確保我們看到客戶的去向，我們將資金投入到真正推動和支持我們的客戶的地方，以及我們如何繼續發展羅德尼在開幕式中提到的整個生態系統評論，只是確保我們真的在投資我們看到業務未來增長的地方受到紀律處分。

And so it's one of those things that just as part of as we manage the business and look for ways to continue to improve and optimize, we're looking to be very deliberate in making those decisions.

因此，這是我們管理業務並尋找繼續改進和優化方法的一部分，我們希望在做出這些決定時非常慎重。

The next question is from Kelly Bania with BMO Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Kelly Bania。

Wanted to just talk about just alternative profits and really where trade promotion dollars ended up for the year.

只想談談替代利潤，以及今年貿易促進資金最終的去向。

And with -- in your conversations with CPG, just curious if you're finding that there is not any cannibalization or plans for cannibalization as this matures?

還有——在您與 CPG 的對話中，只是好奇您是否發現隨著它的成熟沒有任何自相殘殺或自相殘殺計劃？

And just updated thoughts there.

剛剛更新了那裡的想法。

Yes.

是的。

I'll talk broadly, and then I'll let Gary get into the specifics.

我會泛泛而談，然後讓 Gary 進入細節。

It's one of the reasons that we partner on the media side of the CPGs and one of the things that we have a very open and transparent relationship going both ways.

這是我們在 CPG 的媒體方面合作的原因之一，也是我們擁有非常開放和透明的雙向關係的原因之一。

So we don't want to spend money on Media if the CPG isn't getting a return for it.

因此，如果 CPG 沒有獲得回報，我們不想在媒體上花錢。

And that was the reason why we thought it was so important to get the Platinum Certification from the Trustworthy Accountability Group, is that we want to make sure that when we invest the CPG money, that we're able to show that they get a return for it.

這就是為什麼我們認為從 Trustworthy Accountability Group 獲得白金認證如此重要的原因是，我們希望確保當我們投資 CPG 資金時，我們能夠證明他們獲得了回報為了它。

And by making sure that people are getting a return, that's the best protection, to make sure that they're just not moving trade dollars over.

通過確保人們獲得回報，這是最好的保護，以確保他們不會轉移交易資金。

And we tell the CPGs it doesn't do us any good if you just move the trade dollars over.

我們告訴 CPG，如果你只是轉移交易資金，這對我們沒有任何好處。

What we're trying to do is provide something that you can't get in the marketplace from a media standpoint.

我們試圖做的是提供一些從媒體的角度來看你無法在市場上買到的東西。

We're getting great feedback from the CPGs.

我們從 CPG 那裡得到了很好的反饋。

We have incredibly high retention rate, and many CPGs continue to expand the amount of money they spend with us.

我們擁有令人難以置信的高保留率，許多 CPG 繼續擴大他們在我們身上花費的金額。

Gary, I'll let you get a little bit more into some of the details.

加里，我會讓你更深入地了解一些細節。

Sure.

當然。

Thanks, Rodney.

謝謝，羅德尼。

And obviously, I would agree with everything you shared there.

顯然，我同意你在那里分享的一切。

I think one of the key things that the team is focused on is really working collaboratively across Stuart Aitken's team, that leads the Media group, and then Joe Grieshaber's team, that leads our merchandising capabilities, to make sure that we really are managing all the moving pieces together.

我認為團隊關注的關鍵事情之一是在領導媒體組的 Stuart Aitken 團隊和領導我們的銷售能力的 Joe Grieshaber 團隊之間進行真正的協作，以確保我們真正管理所有一起移動碎片。

And I would say we feel very good around how those relationships are working to make sure that we're capturing the dollars and really helping support our CPG partners to grow their business effectively through the work that we do in the merchandising group and also through the alternative profit streams with the Media business.

我想說的是，我們對這些關係如何努力確保我們獲得資金並真正幫助支持我們的 CPG 合作夥伴通過我們在商品銷售部門所做的工作以及通過媒體業務的替代利潤來源。

I wouldn't say that we see anything that's causing us to believe that as the way this is being managed, that they are very much discrete buckets that are generally being allocated to particular activities.

我不會說我們看到任何讓我們相信作為管理方式的東西，它們是非常離散的桶，通常被分配給特定的活動。

We feel very positive about the progress that we're making there on how we see -- I would probably characterize it as how we see a shock in cost of goods and how it flows through to the gross margin.

我們對我們在如何看待方面取得的進展感到非常積極 - 我可能會將其描述為我們如何看待商品成本的衝擊以及它如何流向毛利率。

I would say it's one of the reasons that we called it out in the quarter earnings release of -- we certainly continue to invest in price and personalization for our customers.

我想說這是我們在本季度收益發布中提到它的原因之一——我們當然會繼續為我們的客戶在價格和個性化方面進行投資。

But the combination of cost of goods benefits and alternative profit streams fully offset that in terms of the impact on gross margin and part of the reason why we were able to see a solid performance on gross margin during the quarter.

但是，商品成本效益和替代利潤流的結合完全抵消了對毛利率的影響，也是我們能夠在本季度看到毛利率穩健表現的部分原因。

Okay.

好的。

That's very helpful.

這很有幫助。

And maybe just since we were on gross margin a little bit, maybe just another question on pharmacy.

也許只是因為我們的毛利率有點高，也許只是藥房的另一個問題。

So it sounds like the headwind there should moderate a little bit from last year as we look into 2020.

因此，當我們展望 2020 年時，聽起來與去年相比，逆風應該會有所緩和。

But what is the -- what is your long-term expectation there?

但是什麼是 - 你在那裡的長期期望是什麼？

Does this ever go away?

這會消失嗎？

Or is this kind of the new norm?

還是這種新常態？

I think certainly, our assumption in the model is that we expect -- continue to see pressure in certain parts of the way the pharmacy business is structured.

我認為當然，我們在模型中的假設是我們期望 - 在藥房業務結構的某些部分繼續看到壓力。

Our focus is on really making sure that we're continuing to improve our operation in a way that ensures that, in addition to all the great things that our pharmacy business do for us today around driving overall customer loyalty and delivering a great experience in the store for customers, that we continue to evolve the way we think about the business model.

我們的重點是真正確保我們繼續以一種方式改進我們的運營，除了我們的藥房業務今天為我們所做的所有偉大的事情，圍繞提高整體客戶忠誠度和提供出色的體驗為客戶存儲，我們將繼續發展我們對商業模式的思考方式。

I mentioned some of the things in one of the earlier comments around how we're taking costs out of the model where that makes sense and doesn't create value for our associates working in that part of the business or for our customers.

我在較早的評論之一中提到了一些事情，關於我們如何從模型中去除成本，這是有意義的，並且不會為我們在該業務部分工作的員工或我們的客戶創造價值。

We've launched a number of new services, like the Kroger's pharmacy program that allows us to be able to deliver more value for the customer, but also to be able to influence more of the dynamics of how the profitability works in the marketplace and to really deliver more value for customers through that program.

我們推出了許多新服務，例如克羅格的藥房計劃，它使我們能夠為客戶提供更多價值，同時也能夠影響市場盈利能力的更多動態，並通過該計劃真正為客戶提供更多價值。

And then I think the third piece that we talked a little bit about, I think, on a previous call is we truly believe that the power of our data and the overall relationship that we have with the customer potentially opens up opportunities to develop new revenue streams in connecting food to how we deliver our health and wellness services in the store, so thinking about the trend towards food as medicine and how can we connect those relationships even more clearly to help our customers live and eat more healthily when they want to do that, but also to connect into the health care system and helping to take out some of the cost and complexity in that model and generate new revenue streams.

然後我認為我們在之前的電話會議上談到的第三點是，我們真的相信我們的數據的力量以及我們與客戶的整體關係可能會為開發新收入提供機會將食品與我們在商店中提供健康和保健服務的方式聯繫起來，因此考慮將食品作為藥物的趨勢以及我們如何更清楚地將這些關係聯繫起來，以幫助我們的客戶在他們想要的時候更健康地生活和飲食不僅如此，還可以連接到醫療保健系統，幫助消除該模型中的一些成本和復雜性，並產生新的收入來源。

We are actively testing where food is actually written under a prescription and helping people live healthier.

我們正在積極測試食物實際上是根據處方書寫的，並幫助人們過上更健康的生活。

And when you look at all of that together, we continue to have a great scripts count growth as well.

當你把所有這些放在一起時，我們的劇本數量也繼續增長。

And we really think it's our pharmacy teams and their connections with the patients that's creating that deeper relationship.

我們真的認為是我們的藥房團隊以及他們與患者的聯繫創造了更深層次的關係。

And as Gary mentioned, when you look at the overall ecosystem, half of health care costs can be affected by the way people eat, and we really believe, with our data, we have the right to help people eat better.

正如 Gary 所提到的，當您查看整個生態系統時，一半的醫療保健成本會受到人們飲食方式的影響，我們真的相信，憑藉我們的數據，我們有權幫助人們吃得更好。

The next question is from Edward Kelly with Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Edward Kelly。

My question around -- my real question for you is if -- Rodney, if we take a step back and just assess the last year and the evolution of the state of the business, your business, your stock's going from $30 to $20 back to $30.

我的問題——我對你的真正問題是——羅德尼，如果我們退後一步，只評估去年的業務狀況，你的業務，你的股票從 30 美元到 20 美元30 美元。

This quarter -- it was in the quarter, right, FIFO EBIT, even if you back out the onetime -- the benefits of onetime laps was up, right, despite a tough fuel lap, but you had some tough quarters in core grocery.

本季度——它是在本季度，對，FIFO EBIT，即使你退出了一次——一次性圈的好處增加了，對，儘管燃料圈很艱難，但你在核心雜貨店有一些艱難的季度。

I guess have you finally turned the corner here?

我猜你終於在這裡拐彎了？

What level of confidence do you have?

你有什麼程度的自信？

I'm just kind of curious as to your big picture thoughts on sort of like the last year how things have evolved and your confidence level on the business and where it is right now.

我只是有點好奇你對去年事情如何發展的大局想法以及你對業務的信心水平以及現在的情況。

Thanks, Ed.

謝謝，埃德。

If you look at overall, as we mentioned before, if you look at the momentum during the year, we felt really good about the progress and momentum during the year, and that's in terms of identical sales and if you look at the operational execution.

如果你看一下整體，正如我們之前提到的，如果你看一下這一年的勢頭，我們對這一年的進展和勢頭感覺非常好，這是就相同的銷售額而言，如果你看看運營執行情況。

I think Mike and the whole team really have done a great job on those areas.

我認為邁克和整個團隊在這些領域確實做得很好。

We're really taking care of the customer.

我們真的很照顧客戶。

We continue to aggressively invest in the seamless experience.

我們將繼續積極投資於無縫體驗。

And if you look at the alternative profit, it continues to come as we expect it would.

如果你看看另類利潤，它會繼續像我們預期的那樣出現。

So that's -- when you look at all those things together is what gave us confidence to continue to support the guidance we gave in November on EPS of $2.30 to $2.40.

所以這就是 - 當你把所有這些事情放在一起時，這讓我們有信心繼續支持我們在 11 月給出的每股收益 2.30 美元至 2.40 美元的指導。

We expect the business to continue to generate good cash, strong free cash flow while, at the same time, continuing to aggressively invest capital in a seamless experience.

我們預計該業務將繼續產生良好的現金、強勁的自由現金流，同時繼續積極投資資本以提供無縫體驗。

So when you look at all those things together, as you know, the last 2 or 3 years, we've been working hard on transforming our fundamental business model, and we feel like we've made significant progress on that and continue to invest in the future from a digital experience.

所以當你把所有這些東西放在一起看時，如你所知，在過去的 2 或 3 年裡，我們一直在努力改變我們的基本商業模式，我們覺得我們在這方面取得了重大進展並繼續投資未來來自數字體驗。

So we're excited about where we are.

所以我們對我們所處的位置感到興奮。

We're even more excited about where we're headed.

我們對未來的發展方向感到更加興奮。

Okay.

好的。

And I just wanted to ask you a question about share repo and expectations for 2020, especially Q1.

我只是想問你一個關於股票回購和 2020 年預期的問題，尤其是第一季度。

I mean Q1's a big cash flow quarter.

我的意思是第一季度是一個現金流量很大的季度。

It seems like share repo is back on.

似乎股票回購又回來了。

Historically, you bought a lot of stock in Q1.

從歷史上看，您在第一季度購買了很多股票。

Just thoughts on how we should be thinking about that in the coming years for modeling?

只是想想在未來幾年我們應該如何考慮建模？

Yes.

是的。

Thanks for the question, Ed.

謝謝你的問題，埃德。

So obviously, I mentioned a little bit around this in the prepared comments.

很明顯，我在準備好的評論中提到了一點。

We committed that as we continue to see strong free cash flow generation, which is a core part of our total shareholder return model, we are committed to continuing to buy back stock as part of the model.

我們承諾，隨著我們繼續看到強勁的自由現金流產生，這是我們股東總回報模型的核心部分，我們承諾繼續回購股票作為模型的一部分。

As you know, we had a $1 billion authorization from the Board.

如您所知，我們從董事會獲得了 10 億美元的授權。

And as long as we continue to deliver on the performance of the business that we expect and generate the strong free cash flow that we've guided to during the year while also maintaining our debt-to-EBITDA ratio within that target range to support our commitment to our investment-grade rating, we would expect to be continuing to buy back stock within the overall authorization that we have.

只要我們繼續實現我們預期的業務表現並產生我們在這一年中指導的強勁自由現金流，同時還將我們的債務與 EBITDA 比率保持在該目標範圍內，以支持我們的承諾我們的投資級評級，我們預計將在我們擁有的總體授權範圍內繼續回購股票。

I would say that the way that we're approaching it is very much in a structured way.

我想說的是，我們接近它的方式非常有條理。

We're not specifically trying to time the market in some way.

我們並沒有特別試圖以某種方式對市場進行計時。

It's much more based on a grid approach to how we determine and look at the intrinsic value of the stock.

它更多地基於網格方法來確定和查看股票的內在價值。

And then we'll put a grid in place to make sure that, over time, if there are opportunities to buy back, we will certainly be executing on that plan throughout the year.

然後我們將建立一個網格，以確保隨著時間的推移，如果有機會回購，我們肯定會在全年執行該計劃。

The next question is from Christopher Mandeville with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Christopher Mandeville。

I guess as it relates to some of the expense control measures found within Restock, can you flesh those out a little bit more specifically?

我想這與 Restock 中的一些費用控制措施有關，你能更具體地充實一下嗎？

How much of this is related to possibly some head count reductions at the store level or even some reductions in store hours for that matter?

其中有多少與商店層面的一些人頭減少或什至商店營業時間的一些減少有關？

Reason why I bring it up is because we have been hearing certain regions have seen some layoffs at the assistant store manager level, and there's been some reductions in hours of operations.

我之所以提出這個問題，是因為我們聽說某些地區的助理店長級別出現了一些裁員，而且營業時間也有所減少。

So maybe you could just kind of talk about that a little bit and then to what extent maybe some of those reductions are being offset by wage increases that you're putting forward to your associates.

因此，也許您可以稍微談談這一點，然後在多大程度上可能這些削減中的一些被您提出給您的同事的工資增長所抵消。

Sure.

當然。

Thanks, Chris.

謝謝，克里斯。

Yes.

是的。

So as we mentioned in some of the prepared comments, that the quarter 4 result obviously did include some cycling of increased investment that we made in Q4 2018.

因此，正如我們在一些準備好的評論中提到的那樣，第 4 季度的結果顯然確實包括我們在 2018 年第 4 季度所做的一些增加投資的循環。

And so some of that is certainly expected, and I know we guided to that as part of what we shared in the EPS expectations when we shared what we thought the cadence would look like throughout 2019.

所以其中一些肯定是意料之中的，我知道當我們分享我們認為整個 2019 年的節奏時，我們將其作為我們在 EPS 預期中分享的一部分。

We're really seeing the improvements across a broad wave of activity across Restock Kroger.

我們確實看到了 Restock Kroger 的廣泛活動的改進。

I listed out many of them in the prepared comments, whether it's -- some of the biggest areas would be in goods not for resale as example, where we're sourcing products better and we're managing to really make sure that we're finding opportunities to be more efficient in the way that we're buying and joining the dots across all the different pieces of procurement across the organization.

我在準備好的評論中列出了其中的許多，無論是 - 一些最大的領域將是非轉售商品，例如，我們正在更好地採購產品，並且我們正在設法真正確保我們是尋找機會以提高我們的採購效率，並在整個組織的所有不同採購環節中加入點點滴滴。

Certainly, we're leveraging technology and automation to make sure that we're taking work away where it doesn't add value for the customer.

當然，我們正在利用技術和自動化來確保我們在不會為客戶增加價值的地方完成工作。

A good example of that might be in cleaning, where it's something that can be done more efficiently and allow our associates to really focus on serving the customer and doing work that the customer really values.

一個很好的例子可能是清潔，它可以更有效地完成，讓我們的員工真正專注於為客戶服務和做客戶真正重視的工作。

And then of course, we did announce last quarter that we did make some structural changes to really simplify the work in our divisional offices to make sure that we're, again, putting our associates and talent closer to the customer in these key store management roles and, at the same time, reducing duplication in work so they can make decisions more quickly and respond and serve the customer more effectively.

當然，我們確實在上個季度宣布，我們確實進行了一些結構性改變，以真正簡化我們部門辦公室的工作，以確保我們再次在這些關鍵商店管理中讓我們的員工和人才更接近客戶同時，減少重複工作，使他們能夠更快地做出決策，更有效地響應和服務客戶。

So I think we feel very good about it.

所以我認為我們對此感覺很好。

It's a good balance across the way that we're managing the cost base.

在我們管理成本基礎的過程中，這是一個很好的平衡。

Certainly, as we look at the performance of our stores, one of the things that -- building on maybe Rodney's comment to the last question that was asked around confidence in the model, we're very excited about as we see our stores continue to execute at a higher level and continuing to deliver improvements in the fresh experience, the friendly experience and our in-stock position and how we're delivering on Kroger pickup.

當然，當我們查看我們商店的表現時，其中一件事 - 基於 Rodney 對關於模型信心的最後一個問題的評論，我們非常興奮，因為我們看到我們的商店繼續在更高的水平上執行，並繼續在新鮮體驗、友好體驗和我們的庫存狀況以及我們如何交付 Kroger 皮卡方面提供改進。

So we're very focused on making sure our stores are in a good place to be able to deliver on the experience that we know our customers are looking for.

因此，我們非常專注於確保我們的商店處於能夠提供我們知道客戶正在尋找的體驗的好地方。

And some of those are the reasons why we feel confident as we're guiding to higher ID sales in 2020, because of the great work our store associates are doing in delivering for our customers.

其中一些是我們在引導 2020 年更高的 ID 銷售額時充滿信心的原因，因為我們的商店員工在為客戶提供服務方面所做的出色工作。

Okay.

好的。

And then just my follow-up, it's maybe a little bit too early.

然後只是我的後續行動，可能還為時過早。

But in the areas where we've seen some of the natural organics, not named Lucky's shutter and then with Ahold Delhaize pulling Peapod out of the Midwest, have you realized any benefits already?

但是在我們已經看到一些天然有機物的地區，沒有命名為 Lucky 的百葉窗，然後 Ahold Delhaize 將 Peapod 拉出中西部，您是否已經意識到任何好處？

Or maybe you could just talk about how you're planning to be positioned to capitalize on the share being up for grabs?

或者，也許您可以談談您計劃如何定位以利用正在爭奪的份額？

Yes.

是的。

Thanks, Christopher.

謝謝，克里斯托弗。

If you look at natural and organic, it continues to be one of the highest growing areas.

如果你看自然和有機，它仍然是增長最快的地區之一。

And we really think it's something that, over the years, our teams have done a great job on continuing to make sure we have the most recent product things on trend.

我們真的認為，多年來，我們的團隊在繼續確保我們擁有最新的產品趨勢方面做得很好。

The example that I talked about in the prepared remarks in Simple Truth and plant-based.

我在 Simple Truth 和基於植物的準備好的評論中談到的例子。

So for us, we're incredibly excited about natural organic.

所以對我們來說，我們對天然有機物感到非常興奮。

It's grown above the company average for several years, and we would expect it to continue to do that.

它多年來一直高於公司平均水平，我們預計它會繼續這樣做。

Anytime market share becomes available, we're going to fight for making sure that we get our fair share plus some.

任何時候市場份額變得可用，我們都會爭取確保我們獲得公平的份額加上一些。

And we certainly feel good about what we're getting, and we'll continue to focus on taking care of our customers.

我們當然對我們得到的東西感覺很好，我們將繼續專注於照顧我們的客戶。

Because when our associates are able to take care of the customers, it turns out really well.

因為當我們的員工能夠照顧到客戶時，效果會非常好。

The next question is from Simeon Gutman with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的西蒙·古特曼。

Rodney, you mentioned on the free pickup that you were pleased with some of the customer satisfaction, I think.

羅德尼，您在免費取貨時提到您對某些客戶滿意度感到滿意，我想。

Can you tell us, was it a reasonable assumption?

你能告訴我們，這是一個合理的假設嗎？

Or did you assume that your business would accelerate offering that feature?

或者您是否認為您的企業會加速提供該功能？

And was that the case?

是這樣嗎？

Did your overall business grow because of it?

您的整體業務是否因此而增長？

Yes.

是的。

It did pick up.

它確實回升了。

And as I mentioned, we did get some new customers.

正如我所提到的，我們確實獲得了一些新客戶。

Overall, it was kind of what we expected it to be, and we did it so we can continue to learn.

總的來說，這是我們所期望的，我們這樣做是為了繼續學習。

And I think the thing that's important is at any point in time, we'll probably have 20 or 30 different types of tests going on.

而且我認為重要的是在任何時候，我們可能會進行 20 或 30 種不同類型的測試。

And the key will be identifying those tests, when you put them together, that create something that's not easily that a competitor can duplicate and it really creates something new for the customer.

關鍵是確定那些測試，當你把它們放在一起時，它們創造了競爭對手不容易複製的東西，它確實為客戶創造了新的東西。

One of the things that's always our strength is our incredible strength on fresh product.

我們一直以來的優勢之一是我們在新鮮產品方面的驚人實力。

And our customers tell us that relative to our big traditional competitors, we score very well.

我們的客戶告訴我們，相對於我們的大型傳統競爭對手，我們的得分非常好。

And we think things like that and the service that our associates provide is equally as important.

我們認為這樣的事情和我們的員工提供的服務同樣重要。

Yes.

是的。

And I guess just checking on some websites, it looks like it's still being offered.

而且我想只是檢查一些網站，看起來它仍在提供。

I think you may have mentioned you're not going to divulge if that's your strategy.

我想你可能已經提到，如果這是你的策略，你不會透露。

And just tied to it, Ocado, broadly.

並且廣泛地與它聯繫在一起，Ocado。

And I guess, it's early but you still haven't opened the first facility yet.

我想，現在還早，但你還沒有打開第一個設施。

But do you think in this world of click and collect and delivery, that this Ocado model, you could be able to offer these services for free as a -- as table stakes and still have pretty good economics on doing those type of fulfillments?

但是您是否認為在這個點擊、收集和交付的世界中，這種 Ocado 模型，您可以免費提供這些服務作為賭注，並且在執行這些類型的履行方面仍然具有相當不錯的經濟性？

Yes.

是的。

When you look at Ocado and the combination of our physical -- existing physical stores, we think we'll be able to offer the customer an incredible customer experience and convenience based on what they want.

當您查看 Ocado 和我們實體店的組合時，我們認為我們將能夠根據客戶的需求為他們提供令人難以置信的客戶體驗和便利。

The fee part won't be -- isn't the major driver of making the economics of that work or not.

費用部分不會 - 不是使這項工作的經濟性的主要驅動力。

And whether we charge a fee or not will really depend on what's the market opportunity.

我們是否收取費用將取決於市場機會。

But Ocado is incredibly efficient.

但 Ocado 的效率令人難以置信。

And our final question today is from John Heinbockel with Guggenheim Securities.

我們今天的最後一個問題來自古根海姆證券公司的約翰·海因博克爾。

Rodney, if you think about the $1 billion of cost saves, right, and the core business ex alternative profit being flat, so that -- you think about that $1 billion going to cover normal inflation in OG&A and then investments in the business, would you think that would be a 50-50 split in terms of how that $1 billion get spent?

羅德尼，如果您考慮 10 億美元的成本節省，對，核心業務除替代利潤持平，那麼 - 您認為 10 億美元將用於支付 OG&A 的正常通脹，然後對業務進行投資，會你認為這 10 億美元的支出方式會是 50-50？

And then do you think there's another $1 billion more or less in 2021?

然後你認為 2021 年還有 10 億美元或多或少嗎？

Yes.

是的。

The -- I'd say -- I'm trying to do the math in my head as you were asking the question.

- 我會說 - 當你問這個問題時，我正試圖在我的腦海中進行數學運算。

If you look, we would certainly believe there's opportunities in 2021.

如果你看，我們肯定會相信 2021 年會有機會。

We really haven't done the in-depth analysis for -- to be able to say what do I think the specific number is.

我們真的沒有對 - 能夠說出我認為具體數字是多少進行深入分析。

One of the things that I think is interesting on cost saves and process changes, the more we learn how to do it, the more that we find.

我認為在節省成本和改變流程方面很有趣的一件事是，我們越了解如何去做，我們發現的越多。

So we would be very excited about continuing to identify opportunities to simplify our business and take complication out, which every time we do, it saves money.

因此，我們會很高興繼續尋找機會來簡化我們的業務並消除複雜性，每次我們這樣做都可以節省資金。

In terms of -- we would -- I don't know that we would say 50-50.

就 - 我們會 - 我不知道我們會說 50-50。

I guess what we're looking to do is making sure that we deliver the TSR that we outlined in November at our investor meeting.

我想我們要做的是確保我們交付我們在 11 月在投資者會議上概述的 TSR。

And the cost saves, along with our -- and continued improvement from our seamless customer experience, in terms of that becoming a bigger tailwind, all of that together is what allows us to be confident and make the commitments we did on TSR.

成本節省，以及我們的無縫客戶體驗的持續改進，就成為更大的順風而言，所有這一切都讓我們有信心並做出我們在 TSR 上所做的承諾。

I don't know, Gary, any specifics that you would want to add?

我不知道，加里，你想補充什麼細節？

No.

不。

I would agree with your points, Rodney.

我同意你的觀點，羅德尼。

I think in terms of the cost savings, as you mentioned it, for me, many of the opportunities that we still see out there are around how we can continue to use technology more effectively and really simplify the design of the work to make it easier for our associates to be successful in the role.

我認為就節省成本而言，正如您所提到的，對我來說，我們仍然看到的許多機會都是圍繞我們如何繼續更有效地使用技術並真正簡化工作設計以使其更容易讓我們的員工在這個角色上取得成功。

And that often means, as you know, John, is we're often reinvesting them in other areas of the store experience and the digital experience.

這通常意味著，如你所知，約翰，我們經常將它們再投資於商店體驗和數字體驗的其他領域。

So that net-net, it doesn't necessarily translate through to a total saving in cost because what we're often doing is redeploying those savings into new ways to either improve the experience or to meet the customer where they're at.

所以這個網絡，它不一定轉化為總成本節省，因為我們經常做的是將這些節省重新部署到新的方式中，以改善體驗或滿足他們所在的客戶。

So it is -- back to Rodney's comment on the what's inflation versus what's incremental is a little bit more difficult as the world's get blurrier around what are the minimum expectations of the customer and where things like average wage going in the marketplace.

所以它是 - 回到羅德尼關於什麼是通貨膨脹與什麼是增量的評論有點困難，因為世界對客戶的最低期望以及市場上的平均工資等事情變得更加模糊。

And then just lastly, maybe just talk to how the Walgreen partnership is ramping up on the procurement side.

最後，也許只是談談沃爾格林的合作夥伴關係如何在採購方面加強。

And does that become a much bigger driver of part of that $1 billion later this year and even bigger next year?

這是否會成為今年晚些時候甚至明年更大的 10 億美元的一部分？

Yes.

是的。

Thanks for the question, John.

謝謝你的問題，約翰。

It's -- yes, that's a good call.

這是 - 是的，這是一個很好的電話。

Actually, that would be very true in the way you characterized it.

實際上，按照您描述它的方式，這將是非常正確的。

So we've really just then got off the ground with that part of the partnership.

所以我們真的剛剛開始與這部分合作夥伴關係。

As you know, the retail test that we have in market have now been going for some time, and we've been pleased with the progress there.

如您所知，我們在市場上進行的零售測試已經進行了一段時間，我們對那裡的進展感到滿意。

And we continue to develop our thinking around how to connect more detail with the customer and fulfill on that convenient shopping experience.

我們將繼續圍繞如何將更多細節與客戶聯繫起來並實現便捷的購物體驗來發展我們的思維。

The group purchasing organization part of it is very much in its infancy stage.

它的團購組織部分非常處於起步階段。

We've just started to work on where the opportunities are there, and that would certainly be part of the tailwinds into 2020 and beyond in driving more efficiency and cost savings.

我們剛剛開始研究機會所在，這肯定會成為 2020 年及以後推動更高效率和成本節約的順風的一部分。

Thanks, John.

謝謝，約翰。

As always, before we end today's call, I'd like to share a few final comments directed to our associates and how we live our purpose every day.

與往常一樣，在我們結束今天的電話會議之前，我想分享一些針對我們的員工的最終評論，以及我們每天如何實現我們的目標。

To our associates, thank you for everything that you do for our customers, communities and each other every single day, every single hour of every day.

對於我們的員工，感謝您每天、每一小時為我們的客戶、社區和彼此所做的一切。

You truly make a difference.

你真的有所作為。

This difference makes people's lives better, and this was obviously incredibly evident earlier this week when the devastating tornado touched down in Nashville.

這種差異使人們的生活變得更好，本週早些時候，當毀滅性的龍捲風襲擊納什維爾時，這一點顯然非常明顯。

I'm always amazed and proud to hear stories of our associates pulling together in the aftermath of events like this.

聽到我們的員工在這樣的事件發生後團結起來的故事，我總是感到驚訝和自豪。

One story that was shared with me is some customers that didn't have protection came to our store to seek shelter inside of our dairy case when the tornado hit, and that's just one example.

與我分享的一個故事是，當龍捲風襲來時，一些沒有保護措施的顧客來到我們的商店尋求庇護，這只是一個例子。

And the thing that's even, to me, more impressive is what our associates do, what you do when your own families are personally impacted and to all the work that you do to ensure our stores are open and serving our communities.

對我來說，更令人印象深刻的是我們的員工所做的事情，當您自己的家人受到個人影響時您所做的事情，以及您為確保我們的商店開放並為我們的社區服務所做的所有工作。

As I mentioned earlier on the call in regard to the threat of the coronavirus, always being there for our communities is part of our heritage.

正如我之前在關于冠狀病毒威脅的電話會議中提到的那樣，始終為我們的社區服務是我們傳統的一部分。

This is Kroger at our best, when we come together and uplift our customers, communities and each other.

這是我們最好的 Kroger，當我們走到一起並提升我們的客戶、社區和彼此時。

Thank you for what you do for everyone every day, and thank you for joining our call today.

感謝您每天為每個人所做的一切，感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議。

The conference has now concluded.

會議現已結束。

Thank you for attending today's presentation.

感謝您參加今天的演講。

You may now disconnect.

您現在可以斷開連接。