克羅格 (KR) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the Kroger Co. First Quarter Earnings Call. My name is Alex, and I'll be coordinating the call today. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎參加克羅格公司第一季度財報電話會議。我的名字是亞歷克斯，我將在今天協調電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I will now hand over to your host, Rob Quast, Director of Investor Relations. Over to you, Rob.

我現在將移交給您的主持人，投資者關係總監 Rob Quast。交給你了，羅布。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us for Kroger's First Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. I am joined today by Kroger's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Rodney McMullen; and our Chief Financial Officer, Gary Millerchip.

早上好。感謝您加入我們參加克羅格 2022 年第一季度財報電話會議。今天，Kroger 的董事長兼首席執行官加入了我的行列；羅德尼·麥克馬倫；和我們的首席財務官 Gary Millerchip。

Before we begin, I want to remind you that today's discussions will include forward-looking statements. We want to caution you that such statements are predictions, and actual events or results can differ materially. 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. The Kroger Company assumes no obligation to update that information.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的討論將包括前瞻性陳述。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。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。克羅格公司不承擔更新該信息的義務。

After our prepared remarks, we look forward to taking your questions. (Operator Instructions) In response to your feedback on allowing more participants during Q&A, we may provide abbreviated responses to your follow-up questions to hear from as many of you as we can.

在我們準備好發言之後，我們期待著回答您的問題。 （操作員說明）為了回應您在問答期間允許更多參與者的反饋，我們可能會對您的後續問題提供簡短的答复，以便盡可能多地聽取您的意見。

I will now turn the call over to Rodney.

我現在將把電話轉給羅德尼。

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We're off to a great start in 2022, delivering strong performance by successfully executing our strategy of Leading With Fresh and Accelerating With Digital. Our associates' relentless focus on providing fresh, affordable food to our customers is driving our strong results.

謝謝你，羅布。大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。我們在 2022 年有了一個良好的開端，通過成功執行我們的“以新鮮為先導”和“以數字化加速”的戰略，實現了強勁的業績。我們的員工堅持不懈地致力於為客戶提供新鮮、實惠的食品，這正在推動我們取得強勁的業績。

During the quarter, we demonstrated the resilience of our business model led by strong top line sales ahead of internal expectations. In addition, our team navigated a challenging operating environment characterized by continued inflationary cost pressures and supply chain headwinds, which included higher diesel fuel costs. Through our strategic cost savings execution and sustained food-at-home trends, our team delivered 16% growth in adjusted FIFO operating profit, providing once again the strength of our financial model in a variety of operating environments.

在本季度，我們展示了我們的業務模式的彈性，這得益於超出內部預期的強勁頂線銷售。此外，我們的團隊在充滿挑戰的經營環境中度過了難關，其特點是持續的通脹成本壓力和供應鏈逆風，其中包括更高的柴油成本。通過我們的戰略成本節約執行和持續的家庭食品趨勢，我們的團隊在調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤中實現了 16% 的增長，再次為我們的財務模型在各種運營環境中提供了實力。

Our teams are focused on delivering a great customer experience with 0 compromise. Rising inflation, as consumers rethinking their shopping and eating habits, while customers continue to cook more, we are seeing different shopping behaviors based on how individual customers are experiencing the current inflationary environment.

我們的團隊專注於以零妥協的方式提供出色的客戶體驗。通貨膨脹上升，隨著消費者重新考慮他們的購物和飲食習慣，而顧客繼續做飯，我們看到不同的購物行為取決於個人顧客如何體驗當前的通貨膨脹環境。

Many customers continue to shop premium products throughout the store, including Private Selection, Murray's Cheese and deluxe meal solutions. For other customers whose budget are more directly impacted by food and fuel inflation, they are actively looking for ways to save. We're doing everything we can to help this customer stretch their budgets.

許多顧客繼續在整個商店購買優質產品，包括 Private Selection、Murray's Cheese 和豪華膳食解決方案。對於預算更直接受食品和燃料通脹影響的其他客戶，他們正在積極尋找節省的方法。我們正在竭盡全力幫助該客戶擴大預算。

I'd like to share more about the work we're doing for our customers and how our competitive moats uniquely position us to meet these challenging and changing customer needs.

我想分享更多關於我們為客戶所做的工作以及我們的競爭護城河如何獨特地定位我們以滿足這些具有挑戰性和不斷變化的客戶需求。

First, we are leading with fresh. Our customers continue to prioritize fresh as the #1 determinant of where to shop. We are meeting their needs with operational efficiencies and new technologies that extend days of freshness and grow our selection of quality fresh products.

首先，我們以新鮮為主導。我們的客戶繼續將新鮮食品作為購物地點的第一決定因素。我們通過提高運營效率和新技術來滿足他們的需求，這些新技術可以延長保鮮天數並增加我們對優質新鮮產品的選擇。

In the first quarter, we achieved 5.2% identical sales growth in our fresh categories. These gains were led by the expansion of our End-to-End Fresh Produce program, which elevates standards and improves our ability to maintain freshness throughout the supply chain.

第一季度，我們的生鮮品類實現了 5.2% 的相同銷售額增長。這些收益得益於我們端到端新鮮農產品計劃的擴展，該計劃提高了標準並提高了我們在整個供應鏈中保持新鮮度的能力。

We certified 355 stores this quarter, and the customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We also continue to increase our use of forecasting and analytical tools, specifically leveraging 84.51° to improve our ability to maintain fresh products in stock, both in store and online.

本季度我們對 355 家門店進行了認證，客戶反饋非常積極。我們還繼續增加對預測和分析工具的使用，特別是利用 84.51° 來提高我們在店內和網上保持新鮮產品庫存的能力。

Our recent floral results are a great example of how we are leading with fresh. As the nation's largest florist, the first quarter was our time to shine for holiday celebrations and our floral team stepped up, achieving record sales. In fact, we set an overall single-day floral sales record on Valentine's Day and a Mother's Day sales record with strong double-digit growth.

我們最近的花卉結果是我們如何在新鮮方面領先的一個很好的例子。作為全國最大的花店，第一季度是我們為節日慶祝而大放異彩的時候，我們的花藝團隊加緊努力，創造了創紀錄的銷售額。事實上，我們在情人節創造了整體單日花卉銷售記錄和母親節銷售記錄，並以兩位數的強勁增長。

Second is Our Brands. During the quarter, we saw tremendous growth in Our Brands, which had identical sales of 6.3% and outpaced all national brands. With 92% of households purchasing at least one of these products, we launched 239 new and innovative products during the quarter, reflecting many of the top food trend predictions we made at the beginning of the year. All of our new products continue to be tested and validated to ensure that they are as good or better than the comparable national brand. We continue to invest heavily in the quality of Our Brands, which preserves our strong price position and drives higher profitability.

其次是我們的品牌。在本季度，我們的品牌出現了巨大的增長，銷售額相同，為 6.3%，超過了所有民族品牌。由於 92% 的家庭至少購買了其中一種產品，我們在本季度推出了 239 種創新產品，反映了我們在年初做出的許多頂級食品趨勢預測。我們所有的新產品都將繼續進行測試和驗證，以確保它們與同類國家品牌一樣好或更好。我們繼續大力投資於我們品牌的質量，這保持了我們強大的價格地位並推動了更高的盈利能力。

Next area is personalization. Our data science platform provides unique insights that creates personalized customer experiences. In this dynamic environment where customer behaviors are changing rapidly, we use our data and insights to be nimble and react quickly to ever-changing needs. Our broad-based data science approach helps us determine how to best implement price, promotion and display.

下一個領域是個性化。我們的數據科學平台提供獨特的洞察力，創造個性化的客戶體驗。在這個客戶行為快速變化的動態環境中，我們利用我們的數據和洞察力來靈活應對不斷變化的需求。我們廣泛的數據科學方法幫助我們確定如何最好地實施價格、促銷和展示。

We are focused on delivering incredible value to our customers through relevant personalized offers and fuel rewards. Our loyal customers are using our fuel rewards program now more than ever and, in fact, more than 600,000 incremental households engaged for the first time this quarter.

我們專注於通過相關的個性化優惠和燃料獎勵為我們的客戶提供令人難以置信的價值。我們的忠實客戶現在比以往任何時候都更多地使用我們的燃料獎勵計劃，事實上，本季度首次增加了超過 600,000 個家庭。

Finally, our seamless ecosystem continues to deliver fresh products to our customers anytime, anywhere and with 0 compromise.

最後，我們的無縫生態系統將繼續隨時隨地為我們的客戶提供新鮮產品，並且零妥協。

During the first quarter, more customers returned to in-store shopping. And as a result, we made strides to enhance that experience while introducing new tools that help our associates better serve customers. In pickup, we unveiled new technology that improved wait times 20% and expanded capacity based on customer needs. In delivery, we continue to introduce key initiatives that expand our reach and shorten delivery times. We strive to provide more customers access to high-quality, affordable food regardless of whether they have a physical store in their community.

在第一季度，更多的顧客回到了店內購物。因此，我們在增強這種體驗方面取得了長足的進步，同時引入了幫助我們的員工更好地為客戶服務的新工具。在取貨方面，我們推出了將等待時間縮短 20% 並根據客戶需求擴大容量的新技術。在交付方面，我們繼續推出關鍵舉措，擴大我們的覆蓋範圍並縮短交付時間。我們努力為更多客戶提供優質、實惠的食品，無論他們在社區中是否有實體店。

During the quarter, we opened 2 new customer fulfillment centers powered by Ocado's automated Smart Platform, one in Dallas, Texas and one in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, bringing our total CFC count to 5. We also opened 3 new spoke locations for a total of 6 spokes.

在本季度，我們開設了 2 個由 Ocado 自動化智能平台提供支持的新客戶履行中心，一個位於德克薩斯州的達拉斯，一個位於威斯康星州的普萊森特草原，使我們的 CFC 總數達到 5 個。我們還開設了 3 個新的輻條地點，總數為6個輻條。

As we head into summer, our end-to-end cold solutions, including the custom-built refrigerated van, will ensure customers get the freshest product delivered directly to their doorstep.

隨著我們進入夏季，我們的端到端冷藏解決方案，包括定制的冷藏車，將確保客戶將最新鮮的產品直接送到他們家門口。

Finally, our Boost membership is delivering promising results. Our one-of-a-kind membership program offers incredible value where customers can get unlimited free delivery on orders of $35 or more, double the fuel points on every dollar spent at Kroger and other exclusive member benefits.

最後，我們的 Boost 成員正在帶來可喜的成果。我們獨一無二的會員計劃提供了令人難以置信的價值，客戶可以在 35 美元或以上的訂單上獲得無限制的免費送貨服務，在 Kroger 消費的每一美元都可以使燃料積分翻倍，以及其他獨家會員福利。

We are encouraged by the number of new members in the 4 current pilot divisions. Importantly, delivery sales increased significantly compared to non-Boost divisions and delivery retention improved approximately 600 basis points.

我們對目前 4 個試點部門的新成員數量感到鼓舞。重要的是，與非 Boost 部門相比，交付銷售額顯著增加，交付保留率提高了約 600 個基點。

Because of this early success, we are proud to announce today that Kroger Boost is launching nationwide beginning in the next few weeks. This next-generation loyalty program is deepening our relationships with customers as they continue to look for value and convenience.

由於這一早期的成功，我們今天自豪地宣布，Kroger Boost 將於未來幾週開始在全國范圍內推出。隨著客戶繼續尋求價值和便利，這一下一代忠誠度計劃正在加深我們與客戶的關係。

Turning to supply chain. Our 2022 business plan anticipated ongoing supply chain challenges. By planning ahead and focusing on staffing, technology and process efficiencies, we manage our costs effectively. By owning and operating a portion of our fleet, we better control and manage transportation costs despite diesel fuel cost headwinds.

轉向供應鏈。我們的 2022 年商業計劃預計持續的供應鏈挑戰。通過提前計劃並專注於人員配備、技術和流程效率，我們可以有效地管理成本。通過擁有和運營我們的一部分機隊，我們可以更好地控制和管理運輸成本，儘管存在柴油燃料成本的不利因素。

We were also proactive about forward buying and securing capacity for goods, resulting in better vendor rates. Through our supplier relationships, we saw sequential improvement in product availability. We are well positioned to adapt to the evolving environment, and we are cautiously optimistic in a broader supply chain recovery throughout the year.

我們還積極主動地進行遠期購買和確保貨物的容量，從而提高了供應商的價格。通過我們的供應商關係，我們看到了產品可用性的連續改進。我們有能力適應不斷變化的環境，我們對全年更廣泛的供應鏈復甦持謹慎樂觀的態度。

We also continue to invest in our associates and an associate experience that facilitates an amazing customer experience. We firmly believe that exceptional financial and operating performance connects directly to the ways we support and invest in our associates.

我們還繼續投資於我們的員工和員工體驗，以促進令人驚嘆的客戶體驗。我們堅信卓越的財務和經營業績與我們支持和投資於員工的方式直接相關。

During the quarter, we took numerous steps to meet our associates' needs while they delivered for our customers. We continue to invest in associate wages and we expect hourly wages to grow throughout the year.

在本季度，我們採取了許多措施來滿足員工在為我們的客戶提供服務時的需求。我們繼續投資於員工工資，我們預計小時工資將全年增長。

We launched new initiatives to simplify day-to-day work, including the modernized scheduling tool, MyTime. We took steps to improve communication across all of our teams and bring meaningful training to all of our associates no matter where they work. One example of this commitment is the addition of Microsoft Teams Rooms across most of our store locations. This technology improvement will facilitate deeper connections and improve the associate experiences.

我們推出了簡化日常工作的新舉措，包括現代化的日程安排工具 MyTime。我們採取措施改善所有團隊之間的溝通，並為我們所有的員工提供有意義的培訓，無論他們在哪里工作。這一承諾的一個例子是在我們的大多數商店位置增加 Microsoft Teams Rooms。這種技術改進將促進更深層次的聯繫並改善員工體驗。

As an employer of choice, more people are applying to work for Kroger and more associates are choosing to stay with us. While we still have work to do, we experienced a meaningful improvement in both hiring and retention in the months after the Omicron surge. We are also seeing more boomerangs. These are associates who left to work elsewhere and ultimately came back to us. Kroger's strong culture invites associates to come for a job and discover a career. And we're glad that so many value and appreciate our work environment, our culture and the people they work with every day.

作為首選雇主，越來越多的人申請為克羅格工作，越來越多的員工選擇留在我們這裡。儘管我們仍有工作要做，但在 Omicron 激增後的幾個月裡，我們在招聘和留任方面都經歷了有意義的改進。我們也看到了更多的迴旋鏢。這些是離開到其他地方工作並最終回到我們身邊的員工。克羅格強大的文化邀請員工來找工作並發現自己的事業。我們很高興有這麼多人重視和欣賞我們的工作環境、我們的文化以及他們每天一起工作的人。

Our winning culture is rooted in living our purpose to feed the human spirit. During the past last year, our teams took significant steps to support our customers and communities through our Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social and environmental impact plan. We introduced a new Kroger and USO co-branded mobile unit to nourish active duty military service members and their families at military bases and USO centers across the country as well as provide community disaster relief. The first of 4 units hit the road in May.

我們的製勝文化植根於實現我們為人類精神提供營養的目標。在過去的一年裡，我們的團隊採取了重大措施，通過我們的零飢餓 | 支持我們的客戶和社區。零廢物社會和環境影響計劃。我們推出了一個新的 Kroger 和 USO 聯合品牌移動單位，以滋養全國軍事基地和 USO 中心的現役軍人及其家人，並提供社區救災服務。 4 個單元中的第一個單元於 5 月上路。

In summary, we're off to a very strong start in fiscal 2022. We are widening our competitive moats, creating a shopping experience with 0 compromise, investing where it matters most to our customers and associates and strengthening our purpose in large and small ways every day. When we do all of this well, our teams, our customers and our shareholders all win.

總之，我們在 2022 財年的開局非常強勁。我們正在擴大我們的競爭護城河，創造零妥協的購物體驗，在對我們的客戶和員工最重要的地方進行投資，並以大大小小的方式加強我們的目標每天。當我們把這一切都做好時，我們的團隊、我們的客戶和我們的股東都會贏。

Now I'd like to turn it over to Gary to take you through our first quarter results. Gary?

現在我想把它交給加里來帶你了解我們的第一季度業績。加里？

Thank you, Rodney, and good morning, everyone. Kroger delivered another quarter of strong results as our team did an outstanding job executing our go-to-market strategy while navigating a dynamic operating environment. Our results again highlight the strength and resilience of Kroger's financial model, which allowed us to continue to invest in our associates, deliver fresh, affordable food for our customers and create value for our shareholders.

謝謝你，羅德尼，大家早上好。克羅格又取得了四分之一的強勁業績，因為我們的團隊在執行我們的進入市場戰略的同時在動態的運營環境中表現出色。我們的結果再次凸顯了克羅格財務模式的實力和彈性，這使我們能夠繼續投資於我們的員工，為我們的客戶提供新鮮、負擔得起的食品，並為我們的股東創造價值。

I'll now provide more detail on our results in the quarter. Led by our competitive moats, we achieved identical sales without fuel growth of 4.1%. Fresh categories and Our Brands identical sales both outpaced overall company results.

我現在將提供有關本季度業績的更多詳細信息。在我們具有競爭力的護城河的帶領下，我們實現了相同的銷售額，但燃料沒有增長 4.1%。生鮮品類和我們的品牌相同的銷售額均超過了公司的整體業績。

Adjusted EPS was $1.45, up 22% compared to the same quarter last year, driven by increased sales and exceptional cost management during the quarter.

調整後的每股收益為 1.45 美元，與去年同期相比增長 22%，這得益於該季度銷售額的增長和卓越的成本管理。

Digital sales declined 6% in the first quarter, broadly in line with our expectations. We continue to ramp the digital growth initiatives shared at our Investor Day, including enhanced personalization capabilities, Boost membership, customer fulfillment centers and Kroger Delivery Now. As a result of these initiatives, we grew digitally engaged households during the quarter, and we would expect digital sales to accelerate as the year progresses.

第一季度數字銷售額下降了 6%，大致符合我們的預期。我們繼續推進在投資者日分享的數字增長計劃，包括增強的個性化能力、Boost 會員資格、客戶履行中心和 Kroger Delivery Now。由於這些舉措，我們在本季度增加了數字參與家庭，我們預計數字銷售將隨著時間的推移而加速。

Gross margin was 21.6% of sales for the quarter. The FIFO gross margin rate, excluding fuel, decreased 26 basis points compared to the same period last year. This decrease was primarily attributable to continued strategic price investments and higher supply chain costs, offset by sourcing benefits and the cycling of a write-down related to a donation of personal protective equipment inventory in the prior year.

本季度毛利率為銷售額的 21.6%。不包括燃料的 FIFO 毛利率與去年同期相比下降了 26 個基點。這一下降主要歸因於持續的戰略價格投資和更高的供應鏈成本，但被採購收益和與上一年捐贈個人防護設備庫存相關的減記循環所抵消。

Our team continues to do an excellent job managing higher product cost inflation. We are leveraging our data and sourcing expertise and working closely with our suppliers to help minimize the effect on our customers and our financial model. We are investing where it matters most to our customers and are using our proprietary data to deliver additional value through personalization.

我們的團隊繼續出色地管理更高的產品成本膨脹。我們正在利用我們的數據和採購專業知識，並與我們的供應商密切合作，以幫助最大限度地減少對我們的客戶和我們的財務模型的影響。我們正在對客戶最重要的地方進行投資，並使用我們的專有數據通過個性化提供額外價值。

Our Brands are also proving to be an important differentiator for our customers in this environment, providing an unmatched combination of great quality and great value.

在這種環境下，我們的品牌也被證明是我們客戶的重要差異化因素，提供了無與倫比的高品質和高價值組合。

We will continue to leverage these proven and unique capabilities to help our customers manage their grocery budgets more effectively and maintain a strong value proposition relative to our competitors as we believe inflation will remain front of mind for many of our customers for the remainder of 2022.

我們將繼續利用這些經過驗證的獨特能力來幫助我們的客戶更有效地管理他們的雜貨預算，並相對於我們的競爭對手保持強大的價值主張，因為我們相信通貨膨脹將在 2022 年剩餘時間內成為我們許多客戶的首要考慮因素。

In recognition of current product cost inflation and our outlook for the rest of the year, we recorded a LIFO charge for the quarter of $93 million compared to $37 million in the prior year. This increase represents a $0.06 headwind to EPS in the quarter versus 2021.

鑑於當前的產品成本膨脹和我們對今年剩餘時間的展望，我們在本季度記錄了 9300 萬美元的 LIFO 費用，而去年同期為 3700 萬美元。與 2021 年相比，本季度每股收益的增長為 0.06 美元。

Our OG&A rate decreased 46 basis points, excluding fuel and adjustment items. We were successful in offsetting inflation headwinds in many parts of our business and continued investments in our associate wages by reducing costs in areas that do not impact the customer experience. As an example, this quarter, we introduced a new bakery forecasting tool, which is improving product freshness, reducing waste and, at the same time, simplifying the associate ordering process. We have a strong pipeline of process improvement initiatives and innovative technology-driven solutions that will lower digital fulfillment costs, increase store productivity and reduce waste and shrink.

我們的 OG&A 利率下降了 46 個基點，不包括燃料和調整項目。通過降低不影響客戶體驗的領域的成本，我們成功地抵消了我們業務的許多部分的通貨膨脹逆風，並繼續投資於我們的員工工資。例如，本季度，我們推出了一種新的麵包店預測工具，它可以提高產品新鮮度、減少浪費，同時簡化員工訂購流程。我們擁有強大的流程改進計劃和創新技術驅動的解決方案，這些解決方案將降低數字履行成本、提高商店生產力並減少浪費和收縮。

For the fifth consecutive year, we remain on track to deliver $1 billion of cost savings in 2022. The traffic and data generated by our supermarket business continue to create a strong flywheel effect for alternative profits. Led by retail media and Kroger Personal Finance, alternative profits are on track to contribute meaningful growth in 2022.

連續第五年，我們仍有望在 2022 年實現 10 億美元的成本節約。我們超市業務產生的流量和數據繼續為替代利潤創造強大的飛輪效應。在零售媒體和 Kroger Personal Finance 的帶領下，另類利潤有望在 2022 年實現有意義的增長。

During the quarter, Kroger Precision Marketing added more than 100 new brand partners. We continue to enhance our market-leading capabilities and have entered into new agreements with 3 leading advertising management platforms, allowing our CPG partners to manage their on-site ad campaigns more effectively.

在本季度，Kroger Precision Marketing 增加了 100 多個新的品牌合作夥伴。我們繼續增強我們的市場領先能力，並與 3 個領先的廣告管理平台簽訂了新協議，使我們的 CPG 合作夥伴能夠更有效地管理他們的現場廣告活動。

Fuel remains an important part of our overall value proposition and a key offering to help customers stretch their dollars, especially when fuel prices are high. We continue to deliver significant value through our loyalty program, which saves customers up to $1.25 per gallon. As Rodney shared earlier, more customers engaged with fuel rewards this quarter, and our gallons grew at a faster rate than the market.

燃料仍然是我們整體價值主張的重要組成部分，也是幫助客戶增加資金的關鍵產品，尤其是在燃料價格較高的情況下。我們繼續通過我們的忠誠度計劃提供顯著的價值，為客戶節省高達每加侖 1.25 美元的費用。正如羅德尼早些時候分享的那樣，本季度更多的客戶參與了燃料獎勵，我們的加侖增長速度快於市場。

The average retail price of fuel was $4 this quarter versus $2.79 in the same quarter last year. Our cents per gallon fuel margin was $0.42 compared to $0.35 in the same quarter last year.

本季度燃料的平均零售價為 4 美元，而去年同期為 2.79 美元。我們每加侖燃料的利潤為 0.42 美元，而去年同期為 0.35 美元。

Our associates continue to do an outstanding job executing our strategy and serving our customers. we introduced a number of new initiatives to support associates this quarter as well as continuing to invest in hourly wages. These investments are fully contemplated in our guidance and long-term financial model.

我們的員工繼續在執行我們的戰略和為客戶服務方面表現出色。我們在本季度推出了許多新舉措來支持員工，並繼續投資於小時工資。我們的指導和長期財務模型充分考慮了這些投資。

During the first quarter, we ratified new labor agreements with the UFCW in Denver, Southern California, Houston, Little Rock, Memphis and Seattle, covering more than 67,000 associates. We continue to negotiate contracts with the UFCW in Las Vegas, Southern California for Ralphs pharmacies, Indianapolis, Roanoke, Chicago and Columbus.

在第一季度，我們在丹佛、南加州、休斯頓、小石城、孟菲斯和西雅圖與 UFCW 批准了新的勞動協議，覆蓋了 67,000 多名員工。我們將繼續與拉斯維加斯、南加州的 UFCW 就 Ralphs 藥房、印第安納波利斯、羅阿諾克、芝加哥和哥倫布的合同進行談判。

Turning now to cash flow and liquidity. Kroger continues to generate strong free cash flow. Our net total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio is 1.68 compared to 1.79 a year ago. The company's net total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio target range is 2.3 to 2.5.

現在轉向現金流和流動性。克羅格繼續產生強勁的自由現金流。我們的淨總債務與調整後 EBITDA 的比率為 1.68，而一年前為 1.79。該公司的淨總債務與調整後的 EBITDA 比率目標範圍為 2.3 至 2.5。

Consistent with our financial strategy, we are investing in the business to drive sustainable future earnings growth and continue to expect capital expenditures of between $3.8 billion and $4 billion in 2022.

根據我們的財務戰略，我們正在對該業務進行投資，以推動可持續的未來盈利增長，並繼續預計 2022 年的資本支出將在 38 億美元至 40 億美元之間。

During quarter 1, we were disciplined in returning cash to shareholders. In total, Kroger returned $819 million via a combination of share repurchases and dividends.

在第一季度，我們在向股東返還現金方面受到紀律處分。克羅格通過股票回購和股息的組合總共返還了 8.19 億美元。

We are operating from a position of financial strength and we'll continue to evaluate opportunities to deploy excess cash to accelerate our growth model and deliver sustainable total shareholder returns.

我們在財務實力的基礎上運營，我們將繼續評估部署多餘現金的機會，以加速我們的增長模式並提供可持續的股東總回報。

In closing, let me share additional color on our outlook for the rest of the year. While there are a number of uncertainties in the macroeconomic and inflation outlook for the remainder of 2022, Kroger is laser-focused on executing the plans outlined at our Investor Day, and we believe our go-to-market strategy will serve us well in navigating the current environment.

最後，讓我分享一下我們對今年剩餘時間的展望。儘管 2022 年剩餘時間的宏觀經濟和通脹前景存在許多不確定性，但克羅格專注於執行我們在投資者日概述的計劃，我們相信我們的上市戰略將為我們提供良好的導航當前環境。

Based on the strength of our quarter 1 results and sustained food-at-home trends, we are raising our full year guidance. We now expect full year identical sales without fuel of 2.5% to 3.5%, adjusted FIFO operating profit of $4.3 billion to $4.4 billion and adjusted net earnings per diluted share of $3.85 to $3.95, representing an annual growth rate of 5% to 7%.

基於我們第一季度的業績和持續的家庭食品趨勢，我們正在提高我們的全年指導。我們現在預計全年相同銷售額（不含燃料）為 2.5% 至 3.5%，調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤為 43 億美元至 44 億美元，調整後每股攤薄淨收益為 3.85 美元至 3.95 美元，年增長率為 5% 至 7%。

Our updated guidance assumes inflation will remain at tightened levels for the remainder of the year, although we would expect the year-over-year rate to moderate in the second half of the year as we cycle higher inflation from quarter 3 and quarter 4 2021.

我們更新後的指導假設通脹將在今年剩餘時間內保持在緊縮水平，儘管隨著我們從 2021 年第 3 季度和第 4 季度開始循環較高的通脹，我們預計下半年的同比增長率將放緩。

Due to this higher outlook for inflation, we now expect our LIFO full year charge will be in the range of $300 million compared to $197 million last year. As a reminder, while the actual LIFO charge is calculated at a point in time at the end of our fourth quarter, we recognize the projected charge evenly throughout the year.

由於通脹前景較高，我們現在預計我們的 LIFO 全年費用將在 3 億美元範圍內，而去年為 1.97 億美元。提醒一下，雖然實際 LIFO 費用是在我們第四季度末的某個時間點計算的，但我們在全年平均確認預計費用。

Our guidance also assumes retail fuel profitability will be a headwind for the remainder of 2022 as we cycle higher CPG margins from 2021.

我們的指導還假設零售燃料盈利能力將成為 2022 年剩餘時間的逆風，因為我們從 2021 年開始循環更高的 CPG 利潤率。

Our full year projected tax rate has been lowered from 23% to 22%, primarily due to higher-than-expected tax deductions related to employee stock option exercises.

我們的全年預計稅率已從 23% 降至 22%，主要是由於與員工股票期權行使相關的稅收減免高於預期。

Overall, we are extremely pleased with our start to the year, which provides another proof point of the strength of our financial model. And looking forward, we remain confident in our ability to deliver sustained earnings growth and total shareholder returns of 8% to 11% over time.

總體而言，我們對今年的開局感到非常滿意，這再次證明了我們財務模型的實力。展望未來，我們仍然有能力實現持續的盈利增長和 8% 至 11% 的股東總回報率。

And now I'll turn it back to Rodney.

現在我將把它轉回給羅德尼。

Thanks, Gary. I would like to once again acknowledge and thank our outstanding associates. Their hard work and dedication fuel our Leading With Fresh and Accelerating With Digital strategy and our obsession for our customers. We continue finding new ways to help customers stretch their dollars through everyday prices, data-driven promotions, personalized experiences, trusted Our Brand products and a seamless e-commerce platform. We believe this relentless focus on delivering for customers will help us maintain robust sales and drive growth.

謝謝，加里。我要再次感謝並感謝我們傑出的同事。他們的辛勤工作和奉獻精神推動了我們以新鮮和加速數字化戰略以及我們對客戶的痴迷。我們繼續尋找新的方法來幫助客戶通過日常價格、數據驅動的促銷、個性化體驗、值得信賴的我們的品牌產品和無縫電子商務平台來增加收入。我們相信，這種對為客戶提供服務的不懈關注將有助於我們保持強勁的銷售並推動增長。

Moving ahead, we remain confident that we have the right strategy to deliver value for all stakeholders, including our shareholders.

展望未來，我們仍然相信我們有正確的戰略為所有利益相關者（包括我們的股東）創造價值。

Now we'll turn to your questions.

現在我們將轉向您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question for today comes from Robby Ohmes of BofA Global Research.

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

Guys, great quarter. My question is, I was wondering if we could get a little more color on the ID sales. So maybe thoughts on what your -- the traffic component of that, what you're seeing in traffic, the ticket component and maybe specifically the inflation component in the ID sales.

伙計們，很棒的季度。我的問題是，我想知道我們是否可以在 ID 銷售上獲得更多顏色。因此，也許您可以考慮一下您的流量部分，您在流量中看到的內容，票務部分，特別是 ID 銷售中的通貨膨脹部分。

And then sort of along with that, some of your competitors that sell groceries and food and beverage are seeing very strong sort of double-digit same-store sales. Is the price spread versus your competitors widening because of the price investments you're making?

與此同時，你的一些銷售雜貨和食品和飲料的競爭對手看到了非常強勁的兩位數同店銷售額。由於您正在進行的價格投資，與您的競爭對手的價格差是否在擴大？

Thanks, Robby, and good morning. If you look at -- in terms of traffic, the 2 areas that we felt really good about is if you look at the number of loyal shoppers we have and our household count, both improved. Now a typical basket size for a customer coming in continues to decline. Part of that is just driven because of the economic environment some customers are having.

謝謝，羅比，早上好。如果您查看 - 在流量方面，我們感覺非常好的兩個方面是如果您查看我們擁有的忠誠購物者的數量和我們的家庭人數，兩者都得到了改善。現在，顧客進來的典型購物籃尺寸繼續下降。部分原因只是因為一些客戶所處的經濟環境。

If you look at identicals during the quarter, toward the end of the quarter, they finished a little stronger than where we were during the quarter, and that's continued so far early in the second quarter. Obviously, we're extremely early in the quarter.

如果您在本季度查看相同的產品，則在本季度末，它們的收盤情況比我們在本季度的情況要強一些，並且在第二季度初一直如此。顯然，我們在本季度非常早期。

Obviously, we do have a reasonable-sized general merchandise business that affect it as well. And the comment that I made in the prepared comments, if you look at our fresh departments, they were up over 5%.

顯然，我們確實有一個規模合理的日用百貨業務也會對其產生影響。我在準備好的評論中發表的評論，如果你看看我們的新部門，他們上漲了 5% 以上。

So overall, we think the customers are doing a lot of work on balancing their total budget, and we continue to balance it as well with promotions. And then customers are aggressively starting to buy our brands and what they're finding is the quality of that product, and there's no compromise with that versus some of the other products. And if you look at our price spreads, we check pricing, obviously, every week. We look at pricing spreads for different types of customers. And those spreads continue to be where they've been or improving slightly has been the case over the last couple of years.

所以總的來說，我們認為客戶在平衡他們的總預算方面做了很多工作，我們也會繼續通過促銷來平衡它。然後客戶開始積極購買我們的品牌，他們發現的是該產品的質量，與其他一些產品相比，這並沒有妥協。如果您查看我們的價差，我們顯然每週都會檢查定價。我們著眼於不同類型客戶的定價差價。在過去幾年中，這些價差繼續保持不變或略有改善。

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

我不知道，加里，你想補充什麼嗎？

I think you covered it well, Rodney. The only other point you mentioned around total households and loyal households growing, we also saw visits improving during the quarter as well, Robby, which was -- we were really pleased with that trend as well.

我認為你講得很好，羅德尼。你提到的唯一一點是關於總家庭和忠誠家庭的增長，我們也看到本季度的訪問量也在增加，羅比，我們也對這一趨勢感到非常滿意。

Our next question comes from John Heinbockel of Guggenheim Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自 Guggenheim Partners 的 John Heinbockel。

Yes. So let me start with our own brand, right? So it looks like own brand is probably growing 2x the rate of national brand. I'm curious, price spreads there, so maybe, Rodney, talk about that. Where you think own brand momentum goes from here? And I know historically, right, you guys have always said that own brand strength leads to increased CPG promotions. Do you think that will be true this time?

是的。所以讓我從我們自己的品牌開始，對吧？所以看起來自有品牌的增長速度可能是民族品牌的 2 倍。我很好奇，那裡的價格差，所以也許，羅德尼，談談這個。您認為自有品牌的動力從何而來？而且我知道從歷史上看，對，你們一直說，自有品牌實力會導致CPG促銷活動增加。你認為這一次會是真的嗎？

Yes. I love the question, John. And as you know, we're super proud of our brands and super proud of Private Selection, the banner brand and Simple Truth and then Home Chef is our most recent owned brand.

是的。我喜歡這個問題，約翰。如您所知，我們為我們的品牌感到非常自豪，也為 Private Selection、橫幅品牌和 Simple Truth 感到非常自豪，然後 Home Chef 是我們最近擁有的品牌。

The -- that growth has been strong across all components. The only exception of that is Simple Truth was a little soft earlier in the quarter because we did have supply issues with one of the chicken suppliers. But other than that, growth is nice as well.

- 所有組件的增長都非常強勁。唯一的例外是 Simple Truth 在本季度早些時候有點軟，因為我們確實與其中一家雞肉供應商存在供應問題。但除此之外，增長也很好。

As you know, what we've always found is over time, our brands gain share, and that's been true for over 25 years. And when the economy is tight, our brands always gain share. And then once the economy is good, we may lose a little or maintain, but that's been the case all throughout. Because what customers find is once they try it, they love it.

如您所知，我們一直發現，隨著時間的推移，我們的品牌份額不斷增加，25 年來一直如此。而當經濟緊縮時，我們的品牌總能獲得份額。然後一旦經濟好，我們可能會損失一點或維持，但始終如此。因為客戶一旦嘗試就會發現，他們會喜歡上它。

We -- if you look at our leadership team, our -- we've gone and really upgraded our leadership team in terms of our focus on our brands. And for us, it really is -- we look at it the same as a national brand. Our customers do. And as I mentioned, over 90% of our customers include it in their basket. So feel really good.

我們——如果你看看我們的領導團隊，我們的——就我們對品牌的關注而言，我們已經真正升級了我們的領導團隊。對我們來說，它真的是——我們把它看作是一個民族品牌。我們的客戶這樣做。正如我所提到的，超過 90% 的客戶將其包含在他們的購物籃中。所以感覺真的很好。

Your second part of your question about the national brand change. I think there's still a lot of capacity constraints among some of the national brands. So I would expect if it's a national brand with capacity, you'll see a typical trend where they get more aggressive in promoting as their tonnage goes down. But if they're supply constrained, I would be surprised. And part of that is just because all of us are exiting COVID at a level of volume higher than what we had going in, which has put different people at different points on supply constraints.

關於民族品牌變化的問題的第二部分。我認為一些民族品牌之間仍然存在很多產能限制。所以我預計，如果它是一個有能力的民族品牌，你會看到一個典型的趨勢，即隨著噸位的下降，他們會更加積極地進行促銷。但如果他們的供應受到限制，我會感到驚訝。部分原因是因為我們所有人退出 COVID 的數量都高於我們之前的水平，這使得不同的人處於不同的供應限制點。

A quick follow-up to that. Forward buying, right? Normally, a big P&L benefit in inflationary times. It sounds like today, it's limited, right, because of their capacity constraints?

對此進行快速跟進。遠期購買，對吧？通常，在通貨膨脹時期會有很大的損益收益。聽起來像今天，它是有限的，對吧，因為他們的能力限制？

Yes. We do -- the excess warehouse space that we took on as part of COVID, a lot of that space, we've continued to keep. And I would say we're using that space to be able to get product when we can get it. So I think a lot of the CPGs are using it to level out production. So when they have excess production, we're taking that. And it, in essence, becomes forward buy, but I don't think it will be as big as it's been in past situations.

是的。我們確實這樣做了——作為 COVID 的一部分，我們佔用了多餘的倉庫空間，其中很多空間，我們一直在保留。我會說我們正在利用這個空間來獲得產品，當我們可以得到它時。所以我認為很多 CPG 都在使用它來平衡生產。因此，當他們生產過剩時，我們會接受。從本質上講，它變成了遠期購買，但我認為它不會像過去那樣大。

Our next question comes from Simeon Gutman from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Simeon Gutman。

I'll ask my question and follow-up, one shot here.

我會問我的問題和跟進，這裡一槍。

First, Rodney, I want to ask about the competitive environment. It feels like it's pretty rational out there, and it seems like the consumer has been price taking for the last, call it, number of months. And even Walmart mentioned 1.5 weeks ago they're not getting in too aggressive on price. I want to ask you, now that the consumer basket or consumer behavior is starting to change, might this environment change? Do we think -- do you think we're at a new normal in terms of promotional activity? Or do you think this is -- yes, I don't want to put it like a house of cards, but it feels like everyone's kind of playing nice and something can break.

首先，羅德尼，我想問一下競爭環境。感覺那裡很合理，而且似乎消費者最近幾個月一直在接受價格，稱之為幾個月。甚至沃爾瑪在 1.5 週前也提到，他們並沒有在價格上過於激進。我想問你，現在消費籃子或消費行為開始發生變化，這個環境會不會改變？我們是否認為 - 您是否認為我們在促銷活動方面處於新常態？或者你認為這是 - 是的，我不想把它說成是紙牌屋，但感覺每個人都玩得很好，有些東西可能會破裂。

Yes. Well, it's a good question. And obviously, we always spend a lot of time focused on it.

是的。嗯，這是個好問題。顯然，我們總是花很多時間專注於它。

Your first comment, we are seeing the competitive environment pretty similar to what it's been. As you know, our go-to-market strategy really is Leading With Fresh. And what we find is it's the most important reason why somebody decides where to shop. And our teams are really working hard to take our fresh experience to the next level, and our customers are telling us they appreciate what they're doing and they're seeing that improvement.

您的第一條評論，我們看到的競爭環境與以往非常相似。如您所知，我們的市場營銷策略確實是以新鮮為先導。我們發現這是人們決定去哪裡購物的最重要原因。我們的團隊正在努力將我們的新鮮體驗提升到一個新的水平，我們的客戶告訴我們他們很欣賞他們正在做的事情，他們正在看到這種改進。

So when you look at it, we think price is just one component. We're going to make sure that we always maintain a reasonable spread in the things that we're good at with our rewards program, our fuel rewards and our fresh go-to-market strategy. Those things matter, and that's where we're going to win in the marketplace. And we expect that to continue to be important in every imaginable environment going forward.

因此，當您查看它時，我們認為價格只是其中一個組成部分。我們將確保通過獎勵計劃、燃料獎勵和新的上市策略，在我們擅長的事情上始終保持合理的分佈。這些事情很重要，這就是我們要在市場上取勝的地方。我們希望這在未來的每一個可以想像的環境中都將繼續發揮重要作用。

So to me, it's one of those things where it's important, we continually check. But we always think it's important to remember it's the total customer experience that we're focused on rather than price alone.

所以對我來說，這是重要的事情之一，我們會不斷檢查。但我們始終認為重要的是要記住，我們關注的是整體客戶體驗，而不是單純的價格。

Our next question comes from Spencer Hanus of Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Spencer Hanus。

Can you provide some more color on the FIFO adjusted gross margins in the quarter? Because it looks like that slowed sequentially. And then you said your price gaps are well positioned, but do you think you're going to need to invest further in price in the second half as we just see sort of inflation pick up and that consumer gets under more pressure?

您能否提供更多關於本季度 FIFO 調整後毛利率的信息？因為它看起來像按順序放慢了速度。然後你說你的價格差距處於有利位置，但你認為你是否需要在下半年進一步投資於價格，因為我們只是看到通脹上升並且消費者面臨更大的壓力？

Yes, thanks for the question. Yes, I'll cover that, and Rodney can add any additional color he'd like to.

是的，謝謝你的提問。是的，我會介紹的，Rodney 可以添加他想要添加的任何其他顏色。

Generally, our gross margin rate was in line with our expectations for the quarter. As you heard us share, we had 2 major investments during the quarter, which was investing in value for the customer and also the supply chain headwinds that we -- as Rodney mentioned in his prepared comments, we fully expected during the year.

總的來說，我們的毛利率符合我們對本季度的預期。正如您聽到我們分享的那樣，我們在本季度進行了兩項重大投資，即為客戶投資價值以及我們 - 正如羅德尼在他準備好的評論中提到的那樣，我們在這一年完全預期的供應鏈逆風。

Overall, we feel like we were right in line with what we expect it to be. I know we called out in our comments around the PPE inventory write-off, that really wasn't material enough to sort of be something that I think investors should be thinking about is going to be a factor in our expectations for the rest of the year. I think we shared in our original guidance for the year that we believe gross margin would be a headwind during the year as we made the investments in price and supply chain. The first quarter played out largely as we expected.

總的來說，我們覺得我們的預期是正確的。我知道我們在關於 PPE 庫存註銷的評論中指出，這真的不夠重要，我認為投資者應該考慮的事情將成為我們對其餘部分的預期的一個因素年。我認為我們在今年的原始指導中分享了我們認為，隨著我們對價格和供應鏈進行投資，我們認為今年的毛利率將是一個逆風。第一季度的表現基本符合我們的預期。

We don't call out all the puts and takes in the quarter. And things like COVID vaccines would have been a tailwind last year, that wouldn't have been a tailwind this year.

我們不會在本季度調用所有的看跌期權。去年，像 COVID 疫苗這樣的事情會是順風，今年不會是順風。

So I think there's a lot of extra moving parts in there. And what we try and do is call out the pieces that we've communicated previously so we're consistent and also give you a flavor for the major moving parts. But overall, we felt the quarter was very much in line with strategy, and we wouldn't be pointing to a change in that for the rest of the year.

所以我認為那裡有很多額外的活動部分。我們嘗試和做的是調出我們之前溝通過的部分，這樣我們就保持一致，也讓你對主要的活動部分有所了解。但總體而言，我們認為本季度非常符合戰略，我們不會指出在今年餘下的時間裡會發生變化。

I'll maybe just add one piece of additional color because I know it's kind of something I've seen as a sort of question floating around before the call started was, certainly, the gross margin outlook hasn't changed. That's not a factor in how we think our guidance looks for the rest of the year. We're very confident with how we think about the outlook for the rest of the year.

我可能會添加一個額外的顏色，因為我知道這是我在電話開始之前看到的一種問題，當然，毛利率前景沒有改變。這不是我們認為我們的指導如何看待今年剩餘時間的一個因素。我們對今年餘下時間的前景充滿信心。

I think that some of the factors to bear in mind when you think about the second half, I mentioned it in my prepared comments, but LIFO for the year is going to be about $150 million higher than budget and about $100 million higher than prior year spread across the 4 quarters. We do expect fuel margins will be a headwind for the rest of the year and directionally think of that as maybe a $50 million or so headwind as well.

我認為在考慮下半年時要記住的一些因素，我在準備好的評論中提到了，但今年的 LIFO 將比預算高出約 1.5 億美元，比上一年高出約 1 億美元分佈在 4 個季度。我們確實預計燃料利潤率將成為今年剩餘時間的逆風，並且定向認為這也可能是 5000 萬美元左右的逆風。

So I think about it more of the underlying trends that we shared during the quarter is something that we feel is right on track with our plan. But there are some unique factors that will influence the second half of the year. And from our perspective, those are generally going to be things that you won't have to cycle in 2023, but there are obviously headwinds in the rest of this year in terms of our overall financial outlook.

因此，我認為我們在本季度分享的更多潛在趨勢是我們認為符合我們計劃的正確方向。但也有一些獨特的因素會影響下半年。從我們的角度來看，這些通常是您在 2023 年不必循環的事情，但就我們的整體財務前景而言，今年剩餘時間顯然存在逆風。

The other thing I think it's always important to remember is we always look at gross margin in light of our OG&A cost as well. And obviously, our teams did an incredible job of managing OG&A costs. And we always will invest some of those OG&A savings in trying to extend the customer's budget, especially in an environment like this where it's important. And I think some of those reasons are the reasons why our customer counts have improved as well.

我認為始終要記住的另一件事是，我們總是根據 OG&A 成本來考慮毛利率。顯然，我們的團隊在管理 OG&A 成本方面做得非常出色。我們總是會投資一些 OG&A 節省的資金來嘗試擴大客戶的預算，尤其是在這樣一個重要的環境中。我認為其中一些原因是我們的客戶數量也有所提高的原因。

Our next question comes from Karen Short of Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自 Barclays 的 Karen Short。

I have a couple of questions. I just -- and they can all kind of tie into one. But the first is on your actual volume versus your comp. So as you look at your guidance, we know where CPI is and we know what your implied 2Q to 4Q guidance is. So it certainly implies demand destruction from a volume and tonnage perspective. So wondering if you could talk about that.

我有一些問題。我只是——它們都可以合二為一。但首先是你的實際音量與你的組合。因此，當您查看您的指導時，我們知道 CPI 在哪裡，我們知道您隱含的 2Q 到 4Q 指導是什麼。因此，從數量和噸位的角度來看，這肯定意味著需求的破壞。所以想知道你是否可以談論這個。

And then specifically on your full guide, obviously, we came back into the FIFO guide for operating profit for 2Q to 4Q. It looks like you'll be down about 6% on that operating profit number versus where you were at this quarter which is up around 16%. So wondering if you could triangulate those 2.

然後特別是在您的完整指南中，顯然，我們回到了 FIFO 指南，以獲取 2Q 到 4Q 的營業利潤。與本季度增長約 16% 的情況相比，您的營業利潤數字看起來將下降約 6%。所以想知道你是否可以對這兩個進行三角測量。

Sure. Thanks, Karen. Yes, I think the first part of the question would be, as I mentioned it a moment ago, around we look at the guidance for the rest of the year. Our overall outlook for inflation is that we do expect inflation is going to be higher for the rest of the year than we originally expected when we sort of entered 2022 and provided our original guidance.

當然。謝謝，凱倫。是的，我認為問題的第一部分是，正如我剛才提到的那樣，我們會在今年餘下的時間裡查看指導。我們對通脹的總體展望是，我們確實預計今年剩餘時間的通脹將高於我們在進入 2022 年並提供最初指導時的最初預期。

Having said that, it's important, I think, to remember that we don't have a perfect crystal ball, of course, like all of us are trying to figure out there are multiple scenarios that could play out. I think our central scenario though is that we think inflation will remain higher. But as we cycle about a 4% increase in inflation in the second half of last year compared to the first half of last year, absolute annual inflation, we may well actually start to see a more moderated number in the second half of the year. So we're currently assuming inflation in the second half as a headline rate maybe a couple of percentage points or so lower than the first half of the year.

話雖如此，我認為重要的是要記住我們沒有完美的水晶球，當然，就像我們所有人都在試圖弄清楚可能會出現多種情況一樣。我認為我們的核心情景是我們認為通脹將保持較高水平。但是，由於我們在去年下半年通脹率與去年上半年相比增長了約 4%，即絕對年度通脹率，我們很可能會在下半年開始看到一個更加溫和的數字。因此，我們目前假設下半年的通貨膨脹率可能比上半年低幾個百分點左右。

So we're actually -- if you think about our sales guidance, we are assuming that we see some momentum in our units because of the way we're thinking about inflation. Now of course, that outcome could be different and that will impact the outcome of the results that we report, but our overall assumption is based on that kind of high-level view, which we think takes into account all the different data points that we've been able to look at both internally and externally.

所以我們實際上 - 如果你考慮我們的銷售指導，我們假設我們看到我們的單位有一些動力，因為我們考慮通貨膨脹的方式。當然，現在結果可能會有所不同，這將影響我們報告的結果，但我們的總體假設是基於那種高層次的觀點，我們認為這種觀點考慮了我們所有不同的數據點'已經能夠看內部和外部。

And then from an operating profit perspective, as I mentioned a few moments ago, from really the way we think about the rest of the year, our overall EPS guidance, if you kind of look at the midpoint of our new range for the rest of the year, it would be flat to slightly down. I think the really key messages in that would be think about the, as I mentioned a moment ago, the LIFO charge will be having a major impact on that, both versus budget and versus prior year. And as I mentioned, whereas fuel would have been a tailwind in the first quarter, it will actually be a headwind for the rest of the year. So we think of the sort of supermarket business as being robust and relatively on track in terms of what we would have expected and continuing to build momentum. It's really around those other factors that are driving the lack of sort of carryforward of the momentum on year-over-year growth in the first quarter when you look at that relative to the rest of the year.

然後從營業利潤的角度來看，正如我剛才提到的那樣，從我們對今年剩餘時間的真正看法，我們的整體每股收益指導，如果你看看我們新範圍的中點在剩下的時間裡年內，將持平至小幅下降。正如我剛才提到的，我認為其中真正關鍵的信息是考慮 LIFO 收費將對此產生重大影響，無論是與預算相比還是與上一年相比。正如我所提到的，雖然燃料在第一季度會是一個順風，但它實際上將是今年剩餘時間的逆風。因此，我們認為這種超市業務是穩健的，並且在我們預期的情況下相對處於正軌，並繼續發展勢頭。與今年剩餘時間相比，第一季度同比增長勢頭缺乏某種結轉，這實際上是圍繞著那些其他因素造成的。

As well as the vaccine headwind, correct?

以及疫苗的逆風，對嗎？

Vaccine headwind would have been in the first quarter probably a factor, and then it would also be a factor in Q2 and Q3. But again, I wouldn't think of that as being a major headwind on what -- so that was probably a bigger factor in Q1 as any quarter. So I wouldn't think of the gross margin performance that we saw in the first quarter of the year as being dramatically different expectation in the remaining quarters based on the impact of vaccine and other factors.

疫苗逆風可能是第一季度的一個因素，然後它也將是第二季度和第三季度的一個因素。但同樣，我不認為這是一個主要的逆風 - 所以這可能是第一季度的一個更大的因素，就像任何一個季度一樣。因此，基於疫苗和其他因素的影響，我不會認為我們在今年第一季度看到的毛利率表現與剩餘季度的預期有很大不同。

Our next question comes from Rupesh Parikh from Oppenheimer & Co.

我們的下一個問題來自 Oppenheimer & Co. 的 Rupesh Parikh。

So I just want to go back to grocery market share. Just want to get a sense of how your markets are held up in the grocery category. And I guess related to that, it sounds like the general merchandise category had some headwinds. So just wondering if that contributed maybe to the weaker ID performance.

所以我只想回到雜貨市場份額。只是想了解您的市場在雜貨類別中的表現。我想與此相關，聽起來一般商品類別有一些不利因素。所以只是想知道這是否可能導致較弱的 ID 性能。

If you look at grocery market share for the -- overall, it's pretty much close to where we thought it would be. We would expect continued improvement throughout the year, which was reflected in the original guidance.

如果你看一下雜貨市場的份額——總體而言，它非常接近我們的預期。我們預計全年將繼續改善，這反映在最初的指導中。

Your comment on general merchandise is correct. Our general -- if you look at our identicals in total, without general merchandise, it would be pretty similar to where the fresh IDs were.

您對一般商品的評論是正確的。我們的將軍——如果你看一下我們的相同產品，沒有一般商品，它會與新 ID 的位置非常相似。

And the general merchandise, obviously, households are starting to change their behavior on shopping and it shows up there. And obviously, some of the savings and things that customers had from not being able to spend money on service as well is showing up there.

而一般商品，顯然，家庭開始改變他們的購物行為，並出現在那裡。顯然，客戶因無法在服務上花錢而獲得的一些節省和東西也出現了。

So we are making progress on market share overall and would expect to continue to make marked improvements as we go along in the year.

因此，我們在整體市場份額方面取得了進展，並有望在今年繼續取得顯著進步。

Great. And then maybe just one quick housekeeping question. I know last quarter, you gave quarterly cadence guidance. Is that still intact on the comp and EPS line? Or I don't know if there's any updated views there.

偉大的。然後也許只是一個快速的家務問題。我知道上個季度，你給出了季度節奏指導。這在comp和EPS線上仍然完好無損嗎？或者我不知道那裡是否有任何更新的視圖。

Sure. Yes. Just briefly, I would say, on the EPS side of things, I mentioned a moment ago, Rupesh, that I think if you look at the guidance for the back -- the last 3 quarters of the year, it would sort of predominantly be around the sort of flat to slightly down. I would think of that, if you look at the cadence last year, it would be relatively consistent if you think about the next 3 quarters. So I wouldn't call out any dramatic year-over-year variance to that overall.

當然。是的。簡單地說，在 EPS 方面，我剛才提到，Rupesh，我認為如果你看一下後面的指導——今年最後三個季度，它主要是周圍那種平地略降。我認為，如果您查看去年的節奏，如果您考慮接下來的 3 個季度，它會相對一致。因此，我不會指出總體上存在任何戲劇性的同比差異。

And then I think on a sales perspective, as we mentioned, we would expect the first half to be a little bit better than the second half in terms of sales. That's predicated on this belief though that inflation continues at heightened levels. But on a year-over-year basis, the back half would be potentially a few basis points lower because we're cycling 4% higher inflation in the second half of last year than the first half of last year.

然後我認為從銷售的角度來看，正如我們所提到的，我們預計上半年的銷售額會比下半年好一點。儘管通貨膨脹繼續處於較高水平，但這是基於這種信念。但與去年同期相比，後半部分可能會降低幾個基點，因為我們去年下半年的通脹率比去年上半年高出 4%。

Our next question comes from Edward Kelly of Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Edward Kelly。

I wanted to go back to the question on -- I want to go back to the question just on tonnage and underlying unit volume. Rodney, I think when we were sort of all looking at this quarter, I think we would all, on the investor side, agree that we probably thought your ID would be better given the trends that we saw in inflation. And I'm kind of curious as to what you are seeing in underlying tonnage. And then you talked about, I think I heard you right when you said that basket is down despite that backdrop. So I'm just kind of curious as to what you're seeing on like that side. And do you think any -- are you seeing anything that is being caused by changes in consumer behavior, right, whether that's sort of like channel shifting, seeking value, that type of stuff?

我想回到關於噸位和基本單位體積的問題。羅德尼，我想當我們都在看這個季度時，我想我們都會，在投資者方面，同意我們可能認為考慮到我們在通脹中看到的趨勢，你的 ID 會更好。我有點好奇你在潛在噸位上看到了什麼。然後你談到，我想我聽到你說儘管有這樣的背景，籃子還是掉了。所以我只是有點好奇你在那邊看到了什麼。你認為有沒有——你是否看到了由消費者行為變化引起的任何事情，對吧，是否有點像渠道轉移、尋求價值之類的東西？

Yes. If you look on the basket size, that's driven by units per basket. And what we're finding is customers are coming in more frequently before but they're not buying as many items on each shop. And that's what we're seeing.

是的。如果您查看籃子大小，那是由每個籃子的單位驅動的。我們發現，顧客之前光顧的頻率更高，但他們在每家商店購買的商品並沒有那麼多。這就是我們所看到的。

We're also seeing customers, especially customers that aren't as sensitive to their budget, upscaling with or buying bigger packs, especially earlier in the month when -- depending on when people were getting money. So we continue to see both of those dynamics. If you look at the fresh departments, the trends there would be better than the overall.

我們還看到客戶，尤其是對預算不那麼敏感的客戶，升級或購買更大的包裝，尤其是在本月早些時候——這取決於人們何時賺錢。因此，我們繼續看到這兩種動態。如果你看新鮮部門，那裡的趨勢會比整體要好。

The -- if you look at overall units, we -- for most of the CPG partners, we would be tracking pretty similar to where their unit changes are overall in the marketplace in -- if you look at our top 25.

- 如果您查看整體單位，我們 - 對於大多數 CPG 合作夥伴，如果您查看我們的前 25 名，我們將跟踪他們的單位變化在市場上的整體位置非常相似。

I don't know, Gary, anything you want to add to that? And I know you're pulling up some...

我不知道，加里，你想補充什麼嗎？我知道你正在拉一些...

Yes. Well, I think just to clarify maybe the comment we made, the total basket size is actually up. It's the number of units in the basket that are down. So if we look at our overall metrics, households are up, loyal households are up, visits have turned positive, basket size is up. But the number of items in the basket, as Rodney mentioned, is the item that I think customers are adapting behavior as they start to manage the inflationary environment. And that's obviously a focus area for us to use data personalization and different tools around rewards to really aim to continue to drive that up.

是的。好吧，我想只是為了澄清我們所做的評論，籃子的總大小實際上是增加了。這是籃子中下降的單位數量。因此，如果我們查看我們的整體指標，家庭人數增加，忠誠家庭人數增加，訪問量轉為正數，購物籃規模增加。但是，正如羅德尼所說，籃子中的物品數量是我認為客戶在開始管理通貨膨脹環境時正在適應行為的物品。這顯然是我們使用數據個性化和圍繞獎勵的不同工具來真正致力於繼續推動這一點的重點領域。

And as I mentioned, if you look at our second half guidance as we expect in our current assumption, inflation would be, on a year-over-year basis, maybe not as quite as high even though remaining at sustained levels, then our guidance reflects the expectation that we continue to make progress on that front.

正如我所提到的，如果您按照我們當前假設的預期查看我們的下半年指引，即使保持在持續水平，通貨膨脹率可能不會那麼高，即使保持在持續水平，那麼我們的指引反映了我們在這方面繼續取得進展的期望。

Okay. And then just a quick follow-up. I think that you said that you sort of expected the gross margin trend for the rest of the year to be similar to Q1. Did you mean the year-over-year decline? Or did you mean multiyear? Just kind of curious as to what you were talking about there.

好的。然後只是快速跟進。我認為您說過您預計今年剩餘時間的毛利率趨勢與第一季度相似。你的意思是同比下降嗎？還是你的意思是多年？只是有點好奇你在說什麼。

Yes. I wouldn't want to get into specific guidance because of the comment that Rodney mentioned around we do try and manage the business dynamically. I think what I was really saying, Ed, was it was specific to the current year. I'm really saying that when you think about Q1, I think there was some concern that the PPE write-down was somehow need to be reversed out and that would be the trend that we're seeing in terms of gross margin rate. So I think the guidance that we shared at the beginning of the year was we expected gross margin to be a headwind. We didn't expect the volatility to be as significant as we've seen in the past. And as I mentioned, the PPE is really one of a number of puts and takes. But because we called it out last year in the first quarter, we didn't want to not clearly mention it again in the current quarter, but I wouldn't see it as a major factor. And so it was related to Q1 was the -- that's the kind of directional shape of gross margin, which is, I think, consistent with what we shared when we gave our guidance for the year.

是的。我不想進入具體的指導，因為羅德尼提到的評論我們確實嘗試動態地管理業務。我想我真正想說的是，Ed，它是針對今年的。我真的是說，當您考慮第一季度時，我認為有人擔心 PPE 減記需要以某種方式逆轉，這將是我們在毛利率方面看到的趨勢。所以我認為我們在年初分享的指導是我們預計毛利率將成為逆風。我們沒想到波動會像我們過去看到的那樣嚴重。正如我所提到的，PPE 實際上是眾多選擇中的一種。但是因為我們在去年第一季度就提到了它，我們不想在本季度再次明確提及它，但我不認為這是一個主要因素。所以它與第一季度有關的是——這是毛利率的方向形狀，我認為，這與我們在給出年度指導時所分享的一致。

Our next question comes from Michael Montani from Evercore.

我們的下一個問題來自 Evercore 的 Michael Montani。

Just wanted to ask, first off, looking at food-at-home inflation, it looks like it was up just about double digits for your quarter calendarized. And if we adjusted that, given your gen merch mix a little bit, maybe it's a point or 2 below. But just wanted to see, is that kind of the right way to think about what you might have been able to pass through to the consumer given that PPI is so much ahead of those levels?

只是想問一下，首先，看看家庭食品通脹，看起來你的季度日曆化的通脹率只有兩位數。如果我們調整了這一點，考慮到你的 gen merch mix 一點點，也許它會低於 1 或 2 點。但只是想看看，鑑於 PPI 遠遠領先於這些水平，這種思考方式是否正確，可以傳遞給消費者？

Yes. I always think it's important to look at CPI and PPI together. And it's also the reason why we shared a little bit more details about Our Brands than normal because you have -- customers are doing their own behavior in terms of changing the way they shop.

是的。我一直認為將CPI和PPI放在一起很重要。這也是為什麼我們比平常分享更多關於我們品牌的細節的原因，因為你有 - 客戶在改變他們的購物方式方面正在做他們自己的行為。

So if you think about, in some cases, a national brand item may cost $3 and Our Brand might be $1 or $2. So that would show up and would cause our inflation rate not to be as high as what's in the marketplace.

因此，如果您考慮一下，在某些情況下，一個國家品牌商品可能需要 3 美元，而我們的品牌可能需要 1 美元或 2 美元。所以這會出現，並會導致我們的通貨膨脹率沒有市場上的那麼高。

I also think it's important to remind people that on -- when you look at Our Brands overall, our gross margin's about 600 basis points better than the national brand. And if you look at profit per item, it's similar or, in many cases, actually higher.

我還認為提醒人們這一點很重要——當你從整體上看我們的品牌時，我們的毛利率比國家品牌高出約 600 個基點。如果你看每件商品的利潤，它是相似的，或者在許多情況下，實際上更高。

So to me, I would look at those numbers as general directional things but not specifics to be able to compare directly just because customers' behavior is changing. And if you look at like in pork, as an example, customers aggressively moved to pork during the quarter. And some of that movement was at the expense of people not buying as much beef because it's a great value for the money, as an example.

所以對我來說，我會將這些數字視為一般方向性的東西，而不是能夠直接比較的細節，因為客戶的行為正在發生變化。以豬肉為例，客戶在本季度積極轉向豬肉。其中一些運動是以人們不買那麼多牛肉為代價的，因為它物超所值，舉個例子。

So you have -- within all the data, you have a lot of customer behavior changes. But I think it's helpful directionally, but not exactly.

所以你有 - 在所有數據中，你有很多客戶行為變化。但我認為它在方向上有幫助，但不完全是。

Okay. And then for a follow-up, if I could, was just around the $1 billion plus of gross cost savings. I was just wondering if that would be kind of metered out evenly throughout the course of the year and how it might compare to kind of inflationary pressures you might be seeing in wages and/or transportation with diesel at record highs.

好的。如果可以的話，如果可以的話，接下來的總成本節省大約是 10 億美元左右。我只是想知道這是否會在一年中均勻計量，以及它與您可能在工資和/或交通運輸中看到的通脹壓力相比如何，柴油處於創紀錄的高位。

Yes. The $1 billion of savings would certainly be sort of an ongoing flow of initiatives. So certainly think about it as being consistently sort of building from -- so we've got a certain number of benefits from last year that flow through, and then we're introducing new initiatives this year. So because we're on this 5-year journey, $1 billion of savings, it's very much a continual flow of new initiatives that are being implemented in the business to drive those efficiencies and savings.

是的。節省的 10 億美元肯定是一種持續的舉措。因此，當然可以將其視為始終如一的構建 - 所以我們從去年獲得了一定數量的好處，然後我們今年將推出新舉措。因此，因為我們正處於這 5 年的旅程中，節省了 10 億美元，這在很大程度上是在業務中實施的新舉措的持續流動，以推動這些效率和節省。

So I'd certainly think of it in general terms as being fairly consistently throughout the year. Now of course, there are a number of puts and takes in lines and we continue to invest in average hourly rates. I think we mentioned in the first quarter, there was a benefit from lower pension contributions during the first quarter. So I wouldn't think of the OG&A rate improvement that we saw in Q1 as being typical for the year. But we do expect to continue to see OG&A rate in the year being an improvement and a tailwind for the year.

所以我當然會認為它在一般意義上是全年相當一致的。當然，現在有許多看跌和看跌線，我們繼續投資於平均小時費率。我認為我們在第一季度提到過，第一季度較低的養老金繳款是有好處的。因此，我不認為我們在第一季度看到的 OG&A 費率提高是今年的典型情況。但我們確實預計今年的 OG&A 率將繼續提高，並成為今年的順風車。

Our next question comes from Michael Lasser of UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Michael Lasser。

In light of the perception that your food categories were up, call it, 5% in the quarter and Nielsen was up 6%, the mass merchants were comping and improving leverage up high single, double digits. There's a perception out there, Rodney, that Kroger lost market share during the period. Why would that have been the case? And you made a comment that you expect your market share trends to improve in the next couple of quarters. What do you expect will drive that improvement?

鑑於您的食品類別上升的看法，稱之為，本季度增長 5%，尼爾森增長 6%，大眾商家正在將槓桿率提高到個位數、兩位數。羅德尼，人們普遍認為克羅格在此期間失去了市場份額。為什麼會這樣？您發表評論說您預計您的市場份額趨勢將在未來幾個季度有所改善。您認為什麼會推動這種改進？

If you look, all of us, our quarters end at a little different time. So it's always difficult to be exactly comparison. And I know some of the competitors don't break out specific by category. And I know for us, obviously, general merchandise is a bigger part of our business than some of our traditional competitors, not as much as some of the big-box competitors.

如果你看，我們所有人，我們的宿舍結束的時間有點不同。所以總是很難準確比較。而且我知道一些競爭對手並沒有按類別細分。我知道，很明顯，與我們的一些傳統競爭對手相比，普通商品在我們業務中所佔的比重更大，不如一些大型競爭對手。

If you look at during the quarter, our trends improved as we went along during the quarter. As Gary mentioned, our household count went up, increased. Our loyal household count went up. And our visits in total also increased. And our trends improved as well. So those are the things that give us confidence in terms of the things that we're doing and the direction we're headed is continuing to move in the right direction.

如果您在本季度查看，隨著我們在本季度的發展，我們的趨勢有所改善。正如加里所說，我們的家庭人數增加了，增加了。我們忠誠的家庭人數增加了。我們的訪問量也增加了。我們的趨勢也有所改善。因此，這些事情讓我們對我們正在做的事情充滿信心，我們前進的方向正在繼續朝著正確的方向前進。

Yes. The only other thing maybe I would add, Rodney, is that the comments we made, Michael, about digital growth and the expectation that with the investments we're making in customer fulfillment centers, the announcement -- the exciting announcement that Rodney shared this morning around Boost membership launching across the whole of the company, we feel that the momentum that we're seeing starting to build in digital will also be an important component of that growth in the future as well.

是的。羅德尼，我唯一要補充的另一件事是，邁克爾，我們對數字增長的評論以及我們對客戶履行中心的投資的期望，宣布 - 羅德尼分享的令人興奮的宣布早上在整個公司推出 Boost 會員資格時，我們認為我們看到的數字化勢頭也將成為未來增長的重要組成部分。

And if I could add a quick clarifying question on that. The perception is also that over the next couple of quarters, economic pressure across a broader swath of consumers, not just those at the lowest income demographic, that pressure is going to increase. And that might push people to shop more at the dollar stores, might push them to shop more at the warehouse clubs, where the perception is that they may be able to stretch their budget a little further. So in response to that, what is Kroger going to need to do, invest more in price, change pack sizes and other actions that could impact its profitability to prevent customers from going elsewhere?

如果我可以對此添加一個快速澄清的問題。人們還認為，在接下來的幾個季度中，更廣泛消費者的經濟壓力，而不僅僅是那些收入最低的人群，這種壓力將會增加。這可能會促使人們更多地在美元商店購物，可能會促使他們更多地在倉庫俱樂部購物，人們認為他們可能能夠進一步擴大預算。因此，作為回應，克羅格需要做些什麼，在價格上進行更多投資，改變包裝尺寸和其他可能影響其盈利能力的行動，以防止客戶轉向其他地方？

Thanks, Michael. Yes, I think briefly, we see that as an opportunity actually for Kroger because what we tend to see in those more economically challenged times is that the customer that's less stressed, as you described them, actually views Kroger as a high-quality place to get more value compared to maybe shopping a larger number of stores, and we even see it with some of our own brand performance. Rodney mentioned the strong value and ingredients for cooking at home, but we also saw strength during the quarter in Private Selection and Meal Solutions. So we see that as an opportunity for us to really connect with that customer as they start to maybe determine the best place to shop for quality and value combined.

謝謝，邁克爾。是的，我簡單地想，我們認為這實際上對克羅格來說是一個機會，因為在那些經濟挑戰更大的時代，我們傾向於看到壓力較小的客戶，正如你所描述的那樣，實際上將克羅格視為一個高質量的地方與購買更多的商店相比，獲得更多的價值，我們甚至可以從我們自己的品牌表現中看到它。羅德尼提到了在家做飯的強大價值和成分，但我們在本季度也看到了私人選擇和膳食解決方案的實力。因此，我們認為這是我們真正與該客戶建立聯繫的機會，因為他們可能開始確定購買質量和價值相結合的最佳地點。

Our next question comes from Kate McShane of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Kate McShane。

I wondered if you could talk a little bit about how conversations are going with your vendor partners currently, especially in light of the ongoing inflation to the second half. Have you been able to push back with regards to some of the cost inflation? And will you be getting more aggressive in those conversations like some of your competitors have suggested?

我想知道您是否可以談談目前與您的供應商合作夥伴的對話情況，特別是考慮到下半年的持續通脹。您是否能夠在一些成本膨脹方面做出反擊？你會像一些競爭對手建議的那樣在這些對話中變得更加積極嗎？

It's an ongoing dialogue. And obviously, overall, we try to make sure that we have a partnership relationship. It's also one of the values in having Our Brands so it's such a strong component. So we understand true cost increases versus somebody just wanting to raise margins.

這是一個持續的對話。顯然，總的來說，我們試圖確保我們有合作關係。這也是擁有我們的品牌的價值之一，因此它是如此強大的組成部分。因此，我們理解真正的成本增加與只想提高利潤率的人相比。

In many cases, with the CPG partners, we're identifying areas where we can work together to take costs out so that we can reduce it. And like on backhauls is an area that we're making great progress on by using technology, both of our technologies and databases, to understand how to change.

在許多情況下，我們正在與 CPG 合作夥伴一起確定可以合作的領域，以降低成本，從而降低成本。就像回程一樣，我們正在通過使用技術（包括我們的技術和數據庫）來了解如何改變，從而取得了長足的進步。

I would say that we're going to always push back on any type of cost increase that's not justified. And we're going to also try to work together to figure out a way to reduce our combined costs whenever we can.

我想說的是，我們將始終抵制任何不合理的成本增加。我們還將嘗試共同努力，找出一種方法來盡可能降低我們的綜合成本。

I think it's a difficult answer to say how are we doing versus competition or competitors. I'm super proud of our procurement team. As Gary mentioned earlier, one of the big component on the cost saves is renegotiating both things not for resell and resell [both]. So we feel good about where we are, but it's an ongoing dialogue. And obviously, it's a little more difficult dialogue when you have such high inflation.

我認為很難回答我們與競爭對手或競爭對手的表現如何。我為我們的採購團隊感到非常自豪。正如 Gary 之前提到的，節省成本的一個重要組成部分是重新談判這兩件事，而不是轉售和轉售 [兩者]。所以我們對我們所處的位置感覺很好，但這是一個持續的對話。顯然，當通貨膨脹率如此之高時，對話會更加困難。

And if I could just ask an unrelated follow-up. Just with regards to the Boost rollout, are there any more details with regards to the timing of that? And I know there was higher retention and other metrics you cited, but was there also a comp lift impact from Boost during the quarter in those 3 test regions?

如果我可以問一個不相關的後續行動。就 Boost 的推出而言，是否有更多關於推出時間的細節？我知道你提到的留存率和其他指標更高，但是在這 3 個測試區域中，本季度 Boost 是否也產生了競爭提升影響？

Yes. If you look at the test regions, it would positively affect our identicals. And the thing that's most important to us is it causes that customer to be stickier to our overall ecosystem, not just on delivery. So -- and our strategy is that if a customer thinks food, we want them to think Kroger. So we feel good about where we are and it's continued in the right direction.

是的。如果您查看測試區域，它將對我們的相同點產生積極影響。對我們來說最重要的是它使客戶對我們的整體生態系統更加粘稠，而不僅僅是在交付時。所以——我們的策略是，如果顧客想到食物，我們希望他們想到克羅格。因此，我們對自己所處的位置感覺良好，並且繼續朝著正確的方向前進。

Our final question for today comes from Chuck Cerankosky from Northcoast Research.

我們今天的最後一個問題來自 Northcoast Research 的 Chuck Cerankosky。

Rodney, if you talk about your e-commerce sales, they were down 6% overall. Can you shed some light on the components of that because I don't think it reflects what's going on with the new CFCs and spokes. So where is the negative numbers coming from? And how are the -- how is the Ocado-based facilities performing?

羅德尼，如果你談論你的電子商務銷售額，它們總體下降了 6%。您能否闡明其中的組成部分，因為我認為它不能反映新的 CFC 和輻條的情況。那麼負數是從哪裡來的呢？以及基於 Ocado 的設施表現如何？

Yes. Thanks, Chuck. If you look at -- pickup would be the area where we would have the biggest decline. And what -- as I mentioned, what we're finding is that customer, as they get comfortable, they move back into stores. And the retention rate is better than the overall retention rate.

是的。謝謝，查克。如果你看 - 皮卡將是我們跌幅最大的領域。而且 - 正如我所提到的，我們發現的是客戶，當他們感到舒適時，他們會搬回商店。並且留存率優於整體留存率。

If you look at the sheds, the NPS scores continue to be outstanding. The retention rate and repeat purchase rate on the sheds is very strong. And they're continuing to move in the right direction.

如果你看一下棚子，NPS 分數仍然很出色。棚子的保留率和重複購買率非常強。他們正在繼續朝著正確的方向前進。

And if you look toward the end of the quarter in the recent few weeks, our performance on year-on-year for online has actually turned to positive.

如果你看一下最近幾週的季度末，我們在線上的同比表現實際上已經轉為正數。

So the first quarter was pretty similar to where we thought it would be because we were cycling some strong numbers early in the quarter, and the trend has moved back into the positive neighborhood. So thanks, Chuck.

因此，第一季度與我們認為的情況非常相似，因為我們在本季度初循環了一些強勁的數字，並且趨勢已經回到積極的附近。所以謝謝，查克。

And then on the increase in working capital dollars spent during the quarter, does a lot of that simply reflect inflation? Or are you -- is Kroger, in fact, getting more aggressive on forward buying or just trying to grab stuff when it's available?

然後關於本季度營運資金支出的增加，其中很多只是反映了通貨膨脹嗎？或者你是——事實上，克羅格是在遠期購買方面變得更加積極，還是只是在有貨時試圖搶購？

Chuck, yes, I think there's a couple of different factors just briefly in there. Overall, we've been on a plan for a number of years to continue to optimize working capital. So I wouldn't say it's a dramatic change in strategy. We're very focused on continuing to drive improvements there and have seen good tailwinds in our cash flow because of that.

Chuck，是的，我認為其中有幾個不同的因素。總體而言，我們多年來一直在計劃繼續優化營運資金。所以我不會說這是戰略上的巨大變化。我們非常專注於繼續推動那裡的改進，並因此在我們的現金流中看到了良好的順風。

This quarter, we would have seen an increase in inventory. Part of that would be to do with sort of starting to get back towards pre-COVID levels as the in-stock and supply chain improves. Nothing that would be concerning to us from a sell-through perspective, but we do think it's important to make sure we continue to improve the supply chain. And of course, inflation would have also impacted that number as well, but nothing out of the ordinary.

本季度，我們會看到庫存增加。部分原因是隨著庫存和供應鏈的改善，開始恢復到 COVID 之前的水平。從銷售的角度來看，這對我們來說沒有什麼關係，但我們確實認為確保我們繼續改善供應鏈很重要。當然，通貨膨脹也會影響這個數字，但沒有什麼不尋常的。

Thank you for -- to everyone for joining us today. I am incredibly proud of the way we are beginning in 2022, with a continued focus on our Leading With Fresh and Accelerating With Digital strategy.

謝謝你們——感謝今天加入我們的每一個人。我為我們在 2022 年開始的方式感到無比自豪，我們將繼續專注於我們的領先新鮮和加速數字戰略。

As always, I'd like to share a few comments with our associates listening in. First, obviously, thank you. The past several years have been challenging and weighed on all of us differently. While each of us react in a unique way, no one should have to struggle alone. That's why we offer a variety of resources, from in-person and virtual counseling sessions through our well-being assistant, to tools to help leaders of others foster a supportive environment. I would encourage each of us to take time to ensure we have the support systems we need in place. And if we don't, please ask for help. We are all our best advocates and know what truly we need. Thank you for everything you do for each other. Thank you for what you do for our customers every day. And thank you for what you do for our communities every day. I'm inspired every single day of the week by your amazing work that you do.

與往常一樣，我想與我們的同事分享一些評論。首先，很明顯，謝謝。過去幾年一直充滿挑戰，對我們所有人的影響也不同。雖然我們每個人都以獨特的方式做出反應，但沒有人應該獨自奮鬥。這就是為什麼我們提供各種資源，從通過我們的健康助理進行的面對面和虛擬諮詢會議，到幫助他人領導者營造支持性環境的工具。我會鼓勵我們每個人花時間來確保我們擁有我們需要的支持系統。如果我們不這樣做，請尋求幫助。我們都是我們最好的倡導者，並且知道我們真正需要什麼。感謝你們為彼此所做的一切。感謝您每天為我們的客戶所做的一切。感謝您每天為我們的社區所做的一切。我每週的每一天都受到你所做的驚人工作的啟發。

Thanks again for joining us today, and that concludes our first quarter earnings call.

再次感謝您今天加入我們，我們的第一季度財報電話會議到此結束。

Thank you for joining today's call. You may now disconnect.

感謝您加入今天的電話會議。您現在可以斷開連接。