克羅格 (KR) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to The Kroger Co., first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

早安，歡迎參加克羅格公司 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）

I'd now like to turn the conference over to Rob Quast, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁 Rob Quast。請繼續。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us for Kroger's first quarter 2025 earnings call. I am joined today by Kroger's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ron Sargent; and Chief Financial Officer, David Kennerley. 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.

早安.感謝您參加 Kroger 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的還有 Kroger 董事長兼執行長 Ron Sargent 和財務長 David Kennerley。在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的討論將包括前瞻性陳述。我們想提醒您，這些陳述只是預測，實際事件或結果可能會有重大差異。

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.

我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中詳細討論了我們認為可能持續對我們的業務產生重大影響的許多因素。

the Kroger Company assumes no obligation to update that information. After our prepared remarks, we look forward to taking your questions. 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.

克羅格公司不承擔更新該資訊的義務。在我們準備好發言之後，我們期待回答您的問題。為了盡可能涵蓋你們的廣泛主題，我們要求你們只提出一個問題，如果有必要的話，再問一個後續問題。

I will now turn the call over to Ron.

現在我將電話轉給羅恩。

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. Before jumping into the results, I wanted to share a few thoughts since I last spoke to you in March. After nearly four months as CEO, I've been very impressed with the many talented associates I've met across the company.

謝謝你，羅布。大家早安。感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議。在討論結果之前，我想分享一下自三月上次與您交談以來的一些想法。在擔任執行長近四個月後，我對公司各處遇到的許多才華橫溢的同事印象深刻。

Kroger has a strong bench of experienced operators and dedicated associates who can move our company forward. After spending my career in retail, one thing is clear. Retail always starts with the customer. It's pretty simple. Our strategies, our focus on our resources should be dedicated to how we can make the biggest impact on serving our customers.

克羅格擁有一群經驗豐富的操作員和敬業的員工，他們可以推動我們公司向前發展。在我的零售業生涯結束後，有一件事是清楚的。零售總是從顧客開始。這很簡單。我們的策略、我們的資源重點應該致力於如何為客戶服務發揮最大的作用。

Grounded in these principles, my priorities in this role are to position Kroger for long-term growth. Accelerate top line sales and run great stores. We can do this by better focusing on our core business and by creating a growth culture in the company.

基於這些原則，我擔任這項職務的首要任務是讓克羅格實現長期成長。加速銷售並經營優質商店。我們可以透過更好地專注於我們的核心業務並在公司內創建成長文化來實現這一目標。

Kroger has a long runway with many opportunities ahead and I'm grateful to be part of the team as we transition to our next phase of growth. In the past few months, we've made a number of changes to move faster and put increased focus on our customer.

克羅格的未來之路充滿機遇，我很高興能夠成為團隊的一員，幫助我們邁向下一階段的成長。在過去的幾個月裡，我們做出了許多改變，以便更快地採取行動並更加關注我們的客戶。

We're directing investments toward projects that will grow our core business, including plans to accelerate new store openings. We are reassessing our capital allocation strategy to make sure we are spending our capital on projects that offer the highest returns. We are reviewing our non-core assets.

我們正在將投資轉向能夠發展我們核心業務的項目，包括加速新店開業的計劃。我們正在重新評估我們的資本配置策略，以確保我們將資本花在能帶來最高回報的項目上。我們正在審查我們的非核心資產。

We're aggressively looking for ways to reduce costs throughout the company, and we expect to reinvest those cost savings directly into lower prices and additional store hours for our associates so that they can better serve customers. Finally, we have restructured our leadership team to ensure we have the right talent in place.

我們正在積極尋找降低整個公司成本的方法，並希望將節省的成本直接投資於降低價格和增加員工的營業時間，以便他們可以更好地為客戶服務。最後，我們重組了領導團隊，以確保我們擁有合適的人才。

We created a new e-commerce business unit, aligning all areas of the online customer experience under [Yael Cosset], our Chief Digital Officer. We continue to elevate great leaders across the company by appointing Joe Kelly is our Senior Vice President of Retail Divisions as well as new division presidents and King Supers, Food 4 Less and Texas where we consolidated two divisions just last week. These changes put talented executives and roles where they can support our stores and improve the customer experience.

我們創建了一個新的電子商務業務部門，在首席數位長 [Yael Cosset] 的領導下整合線上客戶體驗的所有領域。我們繼續在公司範圍內提拔優秀領導者，任命喬·凱利 (Joe Kelly) 為零售部門高級副總裁，並任命新的部門總裁和 King Supers、Food 4 Less 和 Texas（我們上週剛剛合併了這兩個部門）。這些變化將優秀的主管和職位安排到能夠支援我們商店並改善客戶體驗的位置。

We are making meaningful changes to the business to create a culture that benefits our customers and our associates while improving long-term shareholder value. In the first quarter, we are beginning to see the benefits of many of these changes.

我們正在對業務進行有意義的變革，以創造一種有利於我們的客戶和員工同時提高長期股東價值的文化。在第一季度，我們開始看到許多此類變化帶來的好處。

This morning, we announced solid first quarter results with strong sales in pharmacy, e-commerce and fresh. Kroger identical sales, excluding fuel and adjustment items, increased 3.2%. And adjusted net earnings per diluted share was $1.49 in the first quarter, which was an increase of 4%. Now let's take a closer look at the quarter. Strong performance in fresh categories supported our identical sales without fuel results.

今天上午，我們公佈了穩健的第一季業績，藥局、電子商務和生鮮商品的銷售強勁。克羅格的相同銷售額（不包括燃料和調整項目）增加了 3.2%。第一季調整後每股攤薄淨收益為 1.49 美元，成長 4%。現在讓我們仔細看看本季。新鮮品類的強勁表現支撐了我們不含燃料的相同銷售業績。

Fresh identical sales were better than center store sales. We know our customers want healthier options, and we are well positioned to deliver them across our ash departments. Turning to Our Brands. As more customers serve for value, we are excited about the potential for the Our Brands business. We are growing sales by offering high-quality products to customers at all budget levels.

新鮮同類產品的銷售量優於中心商店的銷售量。我們知道我們的客戶想要更健康的選擇，我們有能力透過我們的灰燼部門為他們提供這些選擇。轉向我們的品牌。隨著越來越多的客戶選擇有價值的服務，我們對「我們的品牌」業務的潛力感到興奮。我們透過向各個預算水準的客戶提供高品質的產品來增加銷售額。

This quarter, Our Brands grew faster than national brands for the seventh consecutive quarter. Simple Truth and Private Selection led our sales growth, highlighting that customers want premium products while also spending less. Our Brands is also creating new products that support customers' healthier eating habits. For example, earlier this year, we identified protein as a major customer trend. And soon, Simple Truth will introduce 80 new protein products to our assortment.

本季，我們的品牌連續第七個季度成長速度超過國家品牌。Simple Truth 和 Private Selection 引領了我們的銷售成長，凸顯了客戶想要優質產品但又想減少開支。我們的品牌也正在創造支持顧客更健康飲食習慣的新產品。例如，今年早些時候，我們將蛋白質確定為主要的客戶趨勢。很快，Simple Truth 將在我們的產品系列中推出 80 種新的蛋白質產品。

Targeted directly at this important trend, these products include everything from bars and powders to shakes all from a natural and organic brand that customers trust. This is just one way that Kroger and Our Brands are innovating to stay ahead of what our customers want. E-commerce continues to be a key part of our business with 15% growth in the first quarter, driven by strong demand in delivery.

這些產品直接針對這一重要趨勢，包括從棒狀、粉狀到奶昔的所有產品，均來自客戶信賴的天然有機品牌。這只是 Kroger 和 Our Brands 為滿足客戶需求而不斷創新的一種方式。電子商務仍然是我們業務的重要組成部分，受配送需求強勁的推動，第一季電子商務成長了 15%。

To keep improving the customer experience, we are working to deliver more accurate orders faster and reduced pickup wait times. These improvements are attracting new households to e-commerce and giving our current households more reasons to shop with us.

為了持續改善客戶體驗，我們正在努力更快地提供更準確的訂單並減少取貨等待時間。這些改進吸引了新的家庭加入電子商務，也為現有的家庭提供了更多與我們購物的理由。

As our e-commerce business grows, it represents a bigger impact on our results. Our teams are committed to growing both e-commerce sales and improving profitability. During the first quarter, we made good progress. and delivered our best profit improvement yet on a quarter-over-quarter basis. To continue driving improvements, our team is reviewing all aspects of our strategy and operations to improve the customer experience, as well as the financial performance.

隨著我們的電子商務業務的成長，它對我們的業績產生了更大的影響。我們的團隊致力於增加電子商務銷售額並提高獲利能力。第一季度，我們取得了良好的進展，並實現了迄今為止季度環比最好的利潤成長。為了繼續推動改進，我們的團隊正在審查我們的策略和營運的各個方面，以改善客戶體驗和財務表現。

David will share more on this topic later. We know that our best customers shop with us through both e-commerce and in stores, which makes it important for us to continue building and running great stores. Today, we are on track to complete 30 major storing projects in 2025.

David 稍後會分享更多關於這個主題的內容。我們知道，我們最好的客戶透過電子商務和實體店向我們購物，因此，繼續打造和經營優秀的商店對我們來說非常重要。今天，我們預計在 2025 年完成 30 個主要儲存項目。

And looking forward, we expect to accelerate new store openings in 2026 and beyond in high-growth geographies, growing our overall square footage and adding new jobs. As I mentioned earlier, we're simplifying our business and reviewing areas that will not be meaningful to our future growth.

展望未來，我們預計在 2026 年及以後在高成長地區加速開設新店，擴大我們的整體營業面積並創造新的工作機會。正如我之前提到的，我們正在簡化業務並審查對我們未來成長沒有意義的領域。

Unfortunately, today, not all of our stores are delivering the sustainable results we need. It's also important to note we paused our annual store review during the merger process. To position our company for future success this morning, we announced plans to close approximately 60 stores over the next 18 months.

不幸的是，今天並非所有商店都能實現我們所需的永續成果。值得注意的是，我們在合併過程中暫停了年度商店審查。為了讓我們的公司在未來獲得成功，我們今天上午宣布了在未來 18 個月內關閉約 60 家商店的計劃。

We don't take these decisions lightly, but this will make the company more efficient, and Kroger will offer roles in other stores to all associates currently employed at affected stores. To recap, our top priorities are clear.

我們不會輕易做出這些決定，但這將使公司更加高效，而且 Kroger 將為目前在受影響商店工作的所有員工提供其他商店的職位。總而言之，我們的首要任務很明確。

We're going to move with speed. We're going to concentrate on our core business, and we're going to run great stores. This is how we'll position Kroger for long-term performance. Before David gets into more detail on our financial results, I'd like to talk a little bit about our broader operating environment. Customers continue to spend cautiously in an uncertain economic environment.

我們將快速前進。我們將專注於我們的核心業務，並經營優秀的商店。這就是我們對 Kroger 的長期表現的定位。在大衛詳細介紹我們的財務表現之前，我想先談談我們更廣泛的經營環境。在不確定的經濟環境下，消費者繼續謹慎消費。

Many customers want more value, and as a result, they're buying more promotional products and more Our Brands products. They're also eating more meals at home. Kroger is well positioned to support our customers' changing shopping habits.

許多客戶希望獲得更多價值，因此，他們購買更多的促銷產品和更多我們的品牌產品。他們在家吃飯的次數也增加。克羅格已做好準備，支持顧客不斷變化的購物習慣。

We offer compelling promotions and fuel rewards, outstanding Our Brands products, and personalized promotions that offer families better savings on the products they use the most. We're simplifying our promotions to make it easier for customers to save and to see clear value at the shelf.

我們提供引人注目的促銷和燃油獎勵、卓越的 Our Brands 產品以及個人化促銷，讓家庭在最常用的產品上獲得更大的節省。我們正在簡化促銷活動，以便顧客更容易省錢，並清楚地看到貨架上的價值。

In fact, we have lowered prices on more than 2,000 additional products so far this year. As part of our work to keep prices low, we're also watching the changing environment around tariffs. Our business model is flexible to respond to those kinds of shifts. And as a domestic food retailer, we expect a smaller business impact than some of our competitors. Where we do see potential tariff impact, we are proactively looking for ways to avoid raising prices for our customers, and we consider price changes as a last resort.

事實上，今年到目前為止，我們已經降低了 2,000 多種其他產品的價格。作為維持​​低價工作的一部分，我們也關注關稅環境的變化。我們的商業模式非常靈活，可以應付這些變化。作為國內食品零售商，我們預期業務受到的影響將比一些競爭對手小。當我們確實看到潛在的關稅影響時，我們正在積極尋找避免提高客戶價格的方法，並且我們將價格變動視為最後的手段。

Tariffs have not had a material impact on our business so far. And given what we know today, we do not expect them to going forward. I'd like to spend a moment talking about our associates. Our associates are the backbone of our company and are the people who create a great customer experience. One of our top operational priorities is improving in-stock levels, and we improved in-stock rates in every division this quarter.

到目前為止，關稅尚未對我們的業務產生重大影響。而根據我們目前所了解的情況，我們並不認為他們會繼續這樣做。我想花點時間談談我們的同事。我們的員工是公司的骨幹，也是創造卓越顧客體驗的人。我們的首要營運重點之一是提高庫存水平，本季我們提高了每個部門的庫存率。

I appreciate our associates' hard work every day to make this happen. We continue to improve our associates wages and benefits while investing in their development and well-being. These investments include hourly pay plus health care and pensions as well as technology that makes work easier in our stores, including a virtual AI assistant that is improving associate productivity and engagement.

我感謝我們的同事們每天為實現這一目標所付出的辛勤努力。我們不斷提高員工的薪資和福利，同時投資他們的發展和福祉。這些投資包括小時工資、醫療保健和退休金，以及使我們商店的工作更輕鬆的技術，包括提高員工生產力和參與度的虛擬人工智慧助理。

This well-rounded approach is producing results with both store and company retention rates reaching record levels this quarter. And when our associates stay longer, they learn more, take on additional responsibilities, and deliver a better customer experience, which leads to better sales.

這種全面的方法正在產生效果，本季商店和公司的保留率都達到了創紀錄的水平。當我們的員工工作時間更長時，他們會學到更多東西，承擔更多的責任，並提供更好的客戶體驗，從而帶來更好的銷售。

With that, I'm happy to welcome David Kennerley, Kroger's Chief Financial Officer to our earnings call today. We're excited to have David with us, and I'm confident he will help us accelerate our growth and improve our capabilities in a number of areas.

我很高興歡迎 Kroger 財務長 David Kennerley 參加我們今天的財報電話會議。我們很高興大衛能加入我們，我相信他將幫助我們加速發展並提高我們在許多領域的能力。

As part of this role, I've asked David to lead initiatives across several areas, including cost optimization, efficiency and real estate, so we can put more investment in our stores as well as our customer experience. Now I'll turn it over to David, who will review our financial results in more detail.

作為這一職位的一部分，我要求大衛領導多個領域的計劃，包括成本優化、效率和房地產，以便我們可以在我們的商店和客戶體驗上投入更多資金。現在我將把時間交給大衛，他將更詳細地審查我們的財務結果。

David?

戴維？

Thank you, Ron, and good morning, everyone. It's an honor to be here today for the first time as Kroger's Chief Financial Officer. Over the past few months, I've had the opportunity to meet teams all over Kroger and I've been impressed by the breadth and depth of talent in this great organization.

謝謝你，羅恩，大家早安。今天，我很榮幸能夠以克羅格財務長的身份第一次來到這裡。在過去的幾個月裡，我有機會與克羅格各地的團隊會面，這個偉大組織的人才廣度和深度給我留下了深刻的印象。

My immediate focus is to build upon Kroger's existing momentum, leveraging our collection of unique assets and financial strength to accelerate our performance. To achieve this, I'll be concentrating initially on a few key priorities.

我的當務之急是鞏固克羅格現有的發展勢頭，利用我們獨特的資產和財務實力來加速我們的業績。為了實現這一目標，我將首先集中精力於幾個關鍵優先事項。

First, capital allocation. We'll be highly disciplined in how we deploy capital, ensuring we invest in projects that generate strong returns with clear objective of improving ROIC over time.

第一，資金配置。我們將嚴格控制資本配置，確保投資於能夠產生豐厚回報的項目，並明確目標是隨著時間的推移提高投資報酬率。

Second, cost optimization. We will focus on optimizing our cost structure, ensuring it aligns with and supports our long-term financial targets and drives operational efficiency. We're going to modernize operations and ways of working across the board from corporate to our stores and supply chain to work smarter and more efficiently.

第二，成本優化。我們將專注於優化成本結構，確保其符合並支持我們的長期財務目標並提高營運效率。我們將全面實現從公司到商店和供應鏈的營運和工作方式的現代化，以更聰明、更有效率地開展工作。

Next, improving e-commerce profitability. While we've seen positive momentum here, my objective is to accelerate this improvement. As Ron said, we plan to review all aspects of our business to drive greater efficiency within our e-commerce cost structure and support growth for higher-margin revenue. Finally, growing market share. Kroger's collection of assets positions us well to win and grow share.

其次，提升電商獲利能力。雖然我們已經看到了積極的勢頭，但我的目標是加速這種改善。正如羅恩所說，我們計劃審查業務的各個方面，以提高電子商務成本結構的效率，並支持更高利潤收入的成長。最後，市佔率不斷擴大。克羅格的資產組合使我們有機會贏得並擴大市場份額。

My focus will be on ensuring we prioritize our resources to drive profitable market share growth, including an acceleration of storing projects and more competitive pricing. Kroger is a world-class retailer today, and we are well positioned for long-term growth.

我的重點是確保我們優先利用資源來推動獲利市場份額的成長，包括加速儲存項目和更具競爭力的定價。克羅格如今是一家世界級的零售商，我們為長期成長做好了準備。

My objective as CFO is to ensure we appropriately allocate our resources to where we have the best opportunity to grow and win while delivering strong financial returns. I'll now walk through our financial results for the quarter. We achieved identical sales without fuel growth of 3.2%, excluding adjustment items.

作為財務官，我的目標是確保我們將資源合理地分配到最有發展和獲勝機會的地方，同時實現強勁的財務回報。我現在將介紹本季的財務表現。不計調整項目，我們的銷售額在不含燃料的情況下實現了 3.2% 的成長。

Our sales growth was led by strong pharmacy, e-commerce and fresh sales. We are encouraged by organic script growth, including growth in non-GLP-1 prescriptions. Over recent quarters, we've seen improvement in grocery volumes, particularly in the perimeter of the store, which contributed to our sales growth this quarter.

我們的銷售成長主要得益於強勁的藥局、電子商務和生鮮銷售。我們對有機處方成長感到鼓舞，包括非 GLP-1 處方的成長。最近幾個季度，我們看到食品雜貨銷售有所改善，特別是在商店週邊，這有助於我們本季的銷售成長。

Volume improvement remains a key priority for us, and we expect sequential improvement throughout the year. We saw inflation slightly below 2% in the first quarter, in line with our expectations at the beginning of the year.

提高產量仍然是我們的首要任務，我們預計全年產量將持續改善。我們看到第一季的通膨率略低於2%，符合我們年初的預期。

Our FIFO gross margin rate, excluding rent, depreciation and amortization, fuel and adjustment items, increased 79 basis points in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. The improvement in rate was primarily attributable to the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy, lower shrink and lower supply chain costs, partially offset by the mix effect from growth in pharmacy sales, which has lower margins.

第一季度，我們的先進先出 (FIFO) 毛利率（不包括租金、折舊和攤提、燃料和調整項目）與去年同期相比增加了 79 個基點。利率的增加主要歸因於克羅格專業藥房的出售、損耗的減少和供應鏈成本的降低，但被利潤率較低的藥房銷售成長的混合效應部分抵消。

After excluding the effect from the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy, our FIFO gross margin rate improved by 33 basis points. The operating, general and administrative rate, excluding fuel and adjustment items, increased 63 basis points in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. The increase in rate was primarily attributable to the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy and an accelerated contribution to a multiemployer pension plan, partially offset by improved productivity.

在排除出售 Kroger Specialty Pharmacy 的影響後，我們的 FIFO 毛利率提高了 33 個基點。第一季度，不包括燃料和調整項目的營運、一般及管理費率與去年同期相比增加了 63 個基點。費率的增長主要歸因於克羅格專業藥房的出售以及對多雇主退休金計劃的加速繳款，但被生產率的提高部分抵消。

Consistent with our approach to managing future obligations, we made a strategic pension contribution this quarter. This allows us to prefund future requirements and importantly, help secure long-term benefits for our associates.

按照我們管理未來義務的方法，我們本季做出了策略性退休金貢獻。這使我們能夠預先籌措未來的需求，更重要的是，幫助我們的員工獲得長期利益。

Multi-employer pension contributions drove a 29 basis point increase in our OG&A rate in the quarter. After adjusting for the effect from the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy and the multi-employer pension contributions at OG&A rate was relatively flat on an underlying basis.

多雇主退休金繳款導致本季我們的 OG&A 費率上漲了 29 個基點。在調整了出售 Kroger Specialty Pharmacy 和多雇主退休金繳款的影響後，OG&A 費率在基本基礎上相對持平。

As I mentioned earlier, cost optimization is one of my top priorities. We will look for new ways to modernize work and operate more efficiently, not only to fund investments in our customer experience but also to deliver on our financial commitments.

正如我之前提到的，成本優化是我的首要任務之一。我們將尋找新方法來實現工作現代化和更有效率的運營，不僅為客戶體驗投資提供資金，也兌現我們的財務承諾。

Looking out for the balance of the year, we expect both our FIFO gross margin rate and OG&A rate on an underlying basis to remain relatively flat as we balance price and wage investments with margin enhancement efforts.

展望今年的餘額，我們預計我們的 FIFO 毛利率和 OG&A 利率在基本基礎上將保持相對平穩，因為我們在價格和工資投資與提高利潤率的努力之間取得平衡。

Our adjusted FIFO operating profit was $1.5 billion, and adjusted EPS was $1.49 in Q1. Fuel is an important part of Kroger's strategy and offers an important way to build loyalty with customers through the fuel rewards in our Kroger Plus program.

我們第一季調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤為 15 億美元，調整後的每股收益為 1.49 美元。燃料是 Kroger 策略的重要組成部分，並透過我們的 Kroger Plus 計劃中的燃料獎勵為建立客戶忠誠度提供了重要方式。

Fuel results were behind expectations this quarter and a headwind to our results. Fuel sales were lower this quarter compared to last year, attributable to lower average retail price per gallon and fewer gallons sold. While gallons sold declined compared to last year, our gallon sales continue to outpace the industry. Fuel profitability was also behind the same period last year as a result of fewer gallons sold. We expect fuel will be a headwind to our results for the remainder of the year.

本季燃料業績不如預期，對我們的業績造成不利影響。本季燃料銷量與去年同期相比有所下降，原因是每加侖平均零售價較低，且銷量減少。儘管與去年相比，我們的加侖銷量有所下降，但我們的加侖銷量仍然超過行業平均水平。由於燃油銷量減少，燃料獲利能力也落後於去年同期。我們預計燃料將成為今年剩餘時間內業績的阻力。

As Ron shared earlier, our e-commerce business continued its strong performance. We grew e-commerce sales by 15% and increased our rate of profit improvement from our previous record improvement in the fourth quarter of 2024. We're pleased with our continued progress and confident we're on the right path, but our clear goal is to accelerate this momentum.

正如 Ron 之前分享的，我們的電子商務業務繼續保持強勁表現。我們的電子商務銷售額成長了 15%，利潤率也比 2024 年第四季創下的歷史最高水準有所提高。我們對持續取得的進展感到高興，並相信我們正走在正確的道路上，但我們的明確目標是加速這一勢頭。

To that end, our new e-commerce structure unifies all teams contributing to our e-commerce experience with a clear mandate to enhance our e-commerce operations for both improved profitability and a superior customer experience. Their efforts will center on deploying new technology, improving density in our fulfillment operations and accelerating the growth of our retail media platform.

為此，我們新的電子商務結構將所有為我們的電子商務體驗做出貢獻的團隊統一起來，並明確要求加強我們的電子商務運營，以提高盈利能力並提供卓越的客戶體驗。他們的努力將集中在部署新技術、提高我們的履行業務密度以及加速我們的零售媒體平台的成長。

We expect these initiatives to be significant drivers of our e-commerce acceleration. I'd also like to provide an update on recent developments concerning our contract with Ocado. Last week, Ocado drew down the entire [152] million from its letter of credit under our existing agreement. As mentioned earlier by Ron, we're undertaking a comprehensive review of our e-commerce operations and reviewing all aspects of the business to drive growth by improving the customer experience while improving profitability. I'd like to take a moment to provide a brief update on associate and labor relations.

我們預期這些舉措將成為我們電子商務加速發展的重要推手。我還想提供有關我們與 Ocado 合約的最新進展。上週，Ocado 根據我們現有的協議從其信用狀中提取了全部 [1.52] 億美元。正如 Ron 之前提到的，我們正在對我們的電子商務營運進行全面審查，並審查業務的各個方面，以透過改善客戶體驗同時提高獲利能力來推動成長。我想花點時間簡單介紹一下員工和勞工關係的最新情況。

We made significant progress on agreements this quarter. Specifically, we ratified new labor agreements with more than 23,000 associates. Since Q1 closed, we have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement for store associates in our Mid-Atlantic division and reached a fully recommended settlement for associates in Seattle. In total, this covers approximately 16,000 associates. Kroger is working to reach an agreement with the UFCW for store associates at approximately 80 King Super store locations in Denver Metro, Pueblo and Colorado Springs.

本季我們在協議方面取得了重大進展。具體來說，我們與超過 23,000 名員工批准了新的勞動協定。自第一季結束以來，我們已批准了針對中大西洋地區店員的新集體談判協議，並為西雅圖店員達成了全面建議的和解協議。總計約有 16,000 名員工。克羅格正在努力與 UFCW 達成協議，為丹佛大都會區、普韋布洛和科羅拉多斯普林斯的約 80 家 King Super 商店提供店員服務。

Associates at these stores chose to strike for 14 days during the first quarter, and negotiations are ongoing. We respect our associates right to collectively bargain. As Ron said earlier, we continue to meaningfully improve wages and benefits.

這些門市的員工在第一季選擇罷工14天，目前談判仍在進行中。我們尊重員工集體談判的權利。正如羅恩之前所說，我們繼續大幅提高薪資和福利。

The company's investment in associate wages has increased the average hourly rate to more than $19.50. That figure grows to more than $25 with benefits like health care and pensions factored in that many of our competitors do not offer.

公司對員工薪資的投資使員工平均時薪提升至19.50美元以上。如果算上醫療保健和退休金等許多競爭對手不提供的福利，平均時薪將增加至25美元以上。

We are proud to be a retailer, which offers fair wages and comprehensive benefits. Kroger's currently every labor negotiation is to provide employees with stability and advancement opportunities while working to reach a fair and balanced agreement that both rewards our associates and keep groceries affordable for the millions of families we serve.

我們很自豪能夠成為一家提供公平工資和全面福利的零售商。克羅格目前的每一次勞資談判都是為了給員工提供穩定和晉升的機會，同時努力達成公平、均衡的協議，既能獎勵我們的員工，又能讓我們服務的數百萬家庭能夠負擔得起食品雜貨。

I'd now like to turn to capital allocation and financial strategy. Kroger generated strong adjusted free cash flow this quarter, driven by our operating results. Free cash flow is important to our model, providing liquidity to our operations and allowing us to maintain a strong balance sheet.

現在我想談談資本配置和財務策略。受經營業績的推動，Kroger 本季實現了強勁的調整後自由現金流。自由現金流對我們的模式很重要，它為我們的營運提供流動性，並使我們能夠保持強勁的資產負債表。

At the end of the first quarter, Kroger's net total debt to adjusted EBITDA was 1.69 compared to our net total debt to adjusted EBITDA target ratio range of 2.3 to 2.5. Our strong free cash flow and balance sheet provide us flexibility to invest in our business and other opportunities to enhance shareholder value.

截至第一季末，克羅格淨總負債與調整後EBITDA比率為1.69，而我們淨總債務與調整後EBITDA之比的目標範圍為2.3至2.5。我們強勁的自由現金流和資產負債表為我們提供了靈活性，可以投資自身業務並掌握其他提升股東價值的機會。

Our capital allocation priorities remain consistent and are designed to deliver total shareholder return of 8% to 11% over time. We are focused on investing in projects that will maximize return on invested capital over time while remaining committed to maintaining our current investment-grade rating, growing our dividend subject to board approval and returning excess capital to shareholders. A key priority for Kroger is to improve ROIC.

我們的資本配置重點保持一致，旨在隨著時間的推移實現 8% 至 11% 的股東總回報。我們專注於投資那些能夠隨著時間的推移最大化投資資本回報的項目，同時繼續致力於維持我們目前的投資級評級、在董事會批准的情況下增加股息以及向股東返還多餘的資本。克羅格的首要任務是提高投資資本報酬率。

We expect to do this by improving asset utilization and reallocating capital towards higher-return projects which will drive long-term shareholder value. As Ron mentioned earlier, we have announced plans today to close roughly 60 underperforming stores across the country in an effort to optimize our store network. At the same time, we are actively investing for growth in new store projects.

我們希望透過提高資產利用率和將資本重新分配到更高回報的項目來實現這一目標，從而推動長期股東價值。正如羅恩之前提到的，我們今天宣布了關閉全國約 60 家業績不佳的門市的計劃，以優化我們的門市網路。同時，我們正在積極投資新店項目以促進成長。

We expect to complete 30 major storing projects in 2025, focusing our investments in high-growth areas. We will continue to prioritize new store growth and expect these to be a meaningful contributor to our long-term growth model.

我們預計到 2025 年將完成 30 個主要儲存項目，並將投資重點放在高成長領域。我們將繼續優先考慮新店的成長，並期望它們能夠對我們的長期成長模式做出有意義的貢獻。

We're delivering on our commitment to return excess capital to shareholders. We expect our $5 billion ASR program to be completed by no later than the third fiscal quarter of 2025. The ASR is being completed under Kroger's $7.5 billion share repurchase authorization. After completion of the ASR program, Kroger expects to resume open market share repurchases under the remaining $2.5 billion authorization. Kroger expects to complete these open market share repurchases by the end of the fiscal year, which is contemplated in full year guidance.

我們正在履行向股東返還多餘資本的承諾。我們預計，我們的 50 億美元 ASR 計畫將不遲於 2025 年第三財季完成。這項 ASR 是在 Kroger 75 億美元股票回購授權下完成的。ASR 計畫完成後，Kroger 預計將根據剩餘的 25 億美元授權恢復公開市場股票回購。克羅格預計將在本財年結束前完成這些公開市場股票回購，這在全年指引中有所預期。

I would now like to provide some additional detail on our outlook for the rest of the year. We are pleased with our first quarter sales, which reflects strength in pharmacy, e-commerce and fresh. As a result, we are raising our identical sales without fuel guidance to a new range of 2.25% to 3.25%.

現在，我想就今年剩餘時間的展望提供一些額外的細節。我們對第一季的銷售情況感到滿意，這反映了藥局、電子商務和生鮮業務的強勁表現。因此，我們將不含燃料的相同銷售額預期提高至 2.25% 至 3.25% 的新範圍。

We expect second quarter identical sales without fuel to be roughly at the midpoint of our full year guidance range. With respect to the store closures discussed earlier, we anticipate these will occur over the next 18 months.

我們預計，不含燃料的第二季銷售額將大致達到我們全年指引範圍的中間值。關於先前討論的商店關閉，我們預計這些將在未來 18 個月內發生。

There is a modest financial benefit to closing these stores. However, we intend to reinvest the efficiencies back into the customer experience. And as a result, this will not impact our full year guidance. While first quarter sales and profitability exceeded our expectations, the macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, and as a result, other elements of our guidance remain unchanged. As such, we are reaffirming our full year guidance for net operating profit and adjusted earnings per share.

關閉這些商店可以帶來一定的經濟效益。然而，我們打算將效率重新投入到客戶體驗中。因此，這不會影響我們的全年指導。雖然第一季的銷售額和獲利能力超出了我們的預期，但宏觀經濟環境仍然不確定，因此，我們指引的其他要素保持不變。因此，我們重申全年淨營業利潤和調整後每股收益的預期。

I will now turn the call back to Ron.

我現在將電話轉回給羅恩。

Thanks, David. We're off to a solid start in 2025, and we are optimistic about the rest of the year. While the broader environment continues to be uncertain, we're focused on serving our customers with great stores. Kroger is operating from a position of strength. Our strategy is flexible enough to allow us to navigate this changing environment.

謝謝，大衛。2025 年我們已經有一個好的開端，我們對今年剩餘的時間充滿樂觀。儘管整體環境仍然不確定，但我們仍專注於透過優質的商店為客戶服務。克羅格憑藉其強大的實力開展業務。我們的策略足夠靈活，可以讓我們適應不斷變化的環境。

We are narrowing our priorities and we are moving with speed to deliver customers an even better experience. We are confident that by staying true to these priorities, we will generate long-term growth and attractive shareholder returns. Before we open it up for questions, I wanted to provide a brief update on the ongoing CEO search. The Board has a search committee in place and is working with a nationally recognized search firm. The Board is fully engaged, but we have no specific updates at this time.

我們正在縮小優先事項，並迅速採取行動，為客戶提供更好的體驗。我們相信，透過堅持這些優先事項，我們將實現長期成長並為股東帶來可觀的回報。在我們開始提問之前，我想簡要介紹一下正在進行的執行長搜尋工作的最新情況。董事會已設立搜索委員會，並與全國知名的搜尋公司合作。董事會已全力投入工作，但目前尚無具體更新消息。

We'll now open it up for questions.

我們現在開始回答問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Ed Kelly, Wells Fargo

艾德凱利，富國銀行

Hi, good morning, everyone, Ron and David, welcome.

大家好，早安，歡迎羅恩和大衛。

I wanted to start just with a question around pricing and your value perception with customers. I think there's -- it sounds like an increased focus around trying to improve the value perception I was curious if you can maybe talk about how you're thinking about price gaps, the plan here going forward, what you're looking to accomplish? And then most importantly, can you do all this in a margin-neutral sort of way going forward?

我想先問一個有關定價以及您對客戶的價值認知的問題。我認為——這聽起來像是在努力提高價值觀念，我很好奇您是否可以談談您如何看待價格差距、未來的計劃以及您希望實現的目標？然後最重要的是，你能否以一種利潤中立的方式完成所有這些工作？

Sure. Let me take that one, David, I don't know if you have anything to add. But overall, when you look at our competitive pricing environment, it remains very rational. As we mentioned in the comments, we do intend to continue to invest in lower prices. In fact, we lowered prices on an extra 2,000 items during the quarter.

當然。讓我來回答這個問題，大衛，我不知道你是否還有什麼要補充的。但總體而言，當你觀察我們的競爭性定價環境時，它仍然非常合理。正如我們在評論中提到的，我們確實打算繼續投資以降低價格。事實上，本季我們又降低了 2,000 種商品的價格。

But this is much like we've done in prior years also. We're also working to make sure that our promotional offers are simpler. They're easier to access by all customers. And those promotional offers have to offer great value as well. I can't comment on others, but I do believe that we were more competitive in Q1 than in Q4 versus our EDLP competitors.

但這與我們前幾年所做的非常相似。我們也致力於確保我們的促銷優惠更加簡單。所有客戶都可以更輕鬆地存取它們。而這些促銷優惠也必須具有很大的價值。我無法對其他人發表評論，但我確實相信，與我們的 EDLP 競爭對手相比，我們在第一季比在第四季度更具競爭力。

I think the positive news is that these pricing investments resulted in better sales, better gross margin and happier customers. So I think this would be probably a good example of us continuing to invest in pricing while expanding our gross margin rate.

我認為積極的消息是這些定價投資帶來了更好的銷售、更好的毛利率和更滿意的客戶。所以我認為這可能是我們在提高毛利率的同時繼續投資定價的一個很好的例子。

Yeah. Just maybe a couple of things to add, Ron. I think the other thing that we're focused on is making prices easier to get. So rather than a customer having to get out their phone to get a digital coupon in store, trying to make customer experience in store much easier for them to access the good prices that Kroger has. And then just on the gross margin comment.

是的。也許還有幾件事需要補充，羅恩。我認為我們關注的另一件事是讓價格更容易獲得。因此，顧客不必拿出手機在店內獲取數位優惠券，而是嘗試讓顧客在店內體驗更加輕鬆，以便他們能夠享受 Kroger 提供的優惠價格。然後僅討論毛利率評論。

I think this quarter is a good example. We've got decent gross margin performance. And as we look to improve our price perception through the balance of this year and beyond. We expect to do this on a margin-neutral basis.

我認為本季就是一個很好的例子。我們的毛利率表現不錯。我們希望透過今年及以後的平衡來改善我們的價格認知。我們希望在利潤中性的基礎上做到這一點。

Great. And then just maybe a quick follow-up. It looks to be a bit more of a focus on e-com profitability and improving the impact on the P&L there. Could you just maybe provide a little bit more color around the road map the size of the opportunity? I'm not sure how big the losses are at the moment in e-com, but any color there that you could share?

偉大的。然後可能只是快速的跟進。它似乎更加關注電子商務的盈利能力以及改善其對損益的影響。您能否更詳細地介紹一下這一機遇的規模和路線圖？我不確定目前電子商務的損失有多大，但您能分享一下具體情況嗎？

Sure, Ed. Let me try to provide a little more color. We have made good progress on e-commerce top line and bottom line during the quarter. As we mentioned in the notes, we combined all of the elements of our e-commerce business under Yael Cosset. Yael is doing a great job.

當然，艾德。讓我再多講講。本季度，我們在電子商務營收和利潤方面都取得了良好的進展。正如我們在註釋中提到的那樣，我們將電子商務業務的所有元素都整合到了 Yael Cosset 的領導下。Yael 做得很好。

This allows us a lot better focus on our e-commerce business than we've had in the past. It also very clearly allows us to have ownership of the business. We're taking a look at every single aspect of our e-commerce strategy as well as our e-commerce operations. We're looking at every market, every element, and we're working on a plan to address the performance in each one of those. I think the good news is that we are seeing continued growth in the business, up 15% this quarter.

這讓我們比過去更加專注於我們的電子商務業務。這也非常明確地賦予了我們企業所有權。我們正在審視我們的電子商務策略以及電子商務營運的各個方面。我們正在關注每一個市場、每一個要素，並正在製定計劃來解決每個市場的表現。我認為好消息是我們看到業務持續成長，本季成長了 15%。

Households and e-commerce are growing. Our customers are embracing the whole digital model of our business, and we are seeing improvements in profitability at an increasing rate. But to be clear, on the profitability, we're not profitable at this point, and we must become profitable in your commerce business, and we've got a lot of work to do. We will keep you updated throughout the year, but we don't disclose specific profitability by sub-business segment.

家庭和電子商務正在成長。我們的客戶正在接受我們業務的整個數位化模式，我們也看到獲利能力正在以越來越快的速度提高。但要明確的是，就盈利能力而言，我們目前還沒有盈利，我們必須在你們的商業業務上實現盈利，我們還有很多工作要做。我們將全年向您提供最新信息，但我們不會披露各子業務部門的具體盈利能力。

John Heinbockel, Guggenheim.

古根漢美術館的約翰·海因博克爾。

So I want to start with Ron, what do you -- how do you look at what is non-core? And that could be non-retail, it could be retail, I guess, it could be at stores, obviously, the 60 stores, it could be retail divisions, I suppose. How do you look at that? And then on capital allocation, right, high-return projects where do remodels sit in that prioritization relative to new stores?

所以我想先問羅恩，你如何看待非核心？我想，這可能是非零售的，也可能是零售的，也可能是在商店，顯然，這 60 家商店，可能是零售部門。您怎麼看待這個？然後在資本配置方面，高回報項目相對於新店而言，改造項目的優先順序如何？

Yeah. First of all, let me talk to core versus non-core. I mean, the core of the things that exists in our company that are dedicated to serving our customers. And it certainly includes stores. It would certainly include e-commerce.

是的。首先，讓我談談核心與非核心。我的意思是，我們公司的核心業務就是致力於為客戶服務。當然也包括商店。它肯定會包括電子商務。

It would certainly include all the alternative revenue streams that those generate. That's how I would define core for the Kroger company. And I think that's what we need to focus on going forward.

它肯定會包括這些所產生的所有替代收入來源。這就是我對克羅格公司核心的定義。我認為這正是我們今後需要關注的重點。

And John, let me just cover the capital allocation comment. Listen, as we think about where we spend capital, One of the reasons we've talked about investing in storing projects is that these projects typically offer higher returns than our average rate of return. And I would say remodels sit somewhere in the middle of our average return rate.

約翰，讓我簡單談談資本配置的評論。聽著，當我們思考在哪裡花費資本時，我們談論投資儲存項目的原因之一是這些項目通常提供比我們的平均回報率更高的回報。我想說改造的報酬率處於我們平均報酬率的中間位置。

All right. And then maybe as a follow-up, right, cost optimization, right? So I think you've had eight years in a row of $1 billion of cost out. How are you attacking that -- this differently, things you might be looking at processes versus what you've done over the past couple of years?

好的。然後也許作為後續行動，對吧，成本優化，對吧？所以我認為你已經連續八年花了 10 億美元的成本。您如何應對這個問題——您可能會以不同的方式看待這些問題，與過去幾年所做的事情相比，您可能會關注哪些流程？

Yeah. I think obviously, the advantage that Ron and I have is that it's bringing a fresh set of eyes to the business. And I think my conclusion from my first few months, I don't know, Ron feels the same is, listen, I think we've got a really good foundation. And so I see this as operating from a position of strength. And I see this is about going from good to great.

是的。我認為，顯然，羅恩和我的優勢在於為業務帶來了全新的視角。我認為我從頭幾個月得出的結論是，我不知道，羅恩也有同樣的感覺，聽著，我認為我們已經有一個非常好的基礎。因此，我認為這是從實力角度出發的行動。我認為這是從優秀到卓越的轉變。

I think there are a lot of areas where we can improve from a cost perspective, whether that be on the direct costs, so our cost of goods sold, whether that be on what I call indirect costs or goods not for resale, whether that be on the G&A line and our corporate expenses. And I think we are looking to tackle this in a number of different ways than we've looked at in the past.

我認為從成本角度來看，我們可以在許多方面進行改進，無論是直接成本，即我們的銷售成本，還是我所說的間接成本或非轉售商品，無論是一般及行政費用還是我們的公司費用。我認為我們正在尋求多種不同於過去的方式來解決這個問題。

I think the other thing that will also contribute towards better cost performance is what I call kind of ways of working and process improvement. And I think there's a lot of opportunity here to kind of work smarter, more efficiently, more tech-enabled and we've already got some good proof points on that, but we're going to do more of that kind of work. So I think that road map, John, I think we've got some things that we're going to look to get some early wins on the board.

我認為另一個有助於提高成本效益的因素是我所說的工作方式和流程改善。我認為這裡面有很多機會可以實現更聰明、更有效率、更具技術含量的工作，而且我們已經獲得了一些很好的證據，但我們會做更多這樣的工作。所以我認為，約翰，根據路線圖，我們已經有了一些事情要做，我們將尋求在董事會上取得一些早期的勝利。

But I think this is a pretty significant medium-term opportunity.

但我認為這是一個非常重要的中期機會。

Robert Ohmes, Bank of America.

美國銀行的羅伯特‧歐姆斯 (Robert Ohmes)。

Oh hey, good morning, David and Ron. Thanks for taking my question.

哦，嘿，早安，大衛和羅恩。感謝您回答我的問題。

I was hoping you guys could parse out more the sort of tailwinds to ID sales that you saw in the first quarter. and how we should think about some of those things for the rest of the year. I think some of the tailwinds there was inflation, I think, obviously, in the first quarter.

我希望你們能夠更多地分析第一季看到的 ID 銷售順風因素，以及我們應該如何看待今年剩餘時間的一些事情。我認為，第一季出現的一些順風因素顯然是通貨膨脹。

Can you parse out how much of that was driven by fresh and what the inflation outlook is like I think also the GLP-1 tailwind, can you remind us what that tailwind is? And does that continue?

您能否分析其中有多少是由新事物推動的，以及通膨前景如何？我認為還有 GLP-1 的順風，您能提醒我們那順風是什麼嗎？這種情況還會持續嗎？

Do you think for the rest of the year? And then I think you guys did make some comment on volume, like owned brands volume is pretty strong. Is national brands volume negative for you guys? And is that a trend that continues as well?

您認為今年剩餘的時間會是如何？然後我認為你們確實對銷量發表了一些評論，例如自有品牌的銷量相當強勁。國家品牌的銷售對你們來說是否有負面影響？這種趨勢還會持續下去嗎？

Yeah. Let me start this. I'll give you some headlines and David can fill in the blanks. As we said, identical sales were really driven by pharmacy. They were driven by fresh categories around the perimeter of our store, e-commerce as well as Our Brands and Our Brands continue to grow faster than the national brands.

是的。讓我開始吧。我會給你一些標題，然後大衛可以填補空白。正如我們所說，相同的銷售實際上是由藥局推動的。它們受到我們商店週邊的新鮮類別、電子商務以及我們的品牌的推動，我們的品牌繼續比國家品牌更快成長。

I think our identical sales improvement also reflects some of the continued sales momentum in our core grocery business. We saw that beginning in Q4, and that continued in Q1. And finally, we should give some credit to the divisions.

我認為我們相同的銷售成長也反映了我們核心雜貨業務持續的銷售動能。我們從第四季度開始就看到了這種情況，並且這種情況在第一季持續存在。最後，我們應該對這些部門給予一些讚揚。

I mean there was really strong execution on the part of our stores team to better serve our customers and all of those things certainly help drive identical as well. And given the increase in our identical guidance, we expect to see a continued improvement in grocery volumes throughout the year.

我的意思是，我們的商店團隊確實執行力很強，能夠更好地服務我們的客戶，而所有這些當然也有助於推動相同的發展。鑑於我們相同的指導方針的增加，我們預計全年食品雜貨銷售將繼續改善。

And David, I don't know if you want to--

大衛，我不知道你是否想——

Yeah, a couple of things to add. So just on the inflation outlook. So we saw inflation just under 2% for the quarter. We guided to 1.5% to 2.5% for the year.

是的，有幾點要補充。僅就通膨前景而言。因此，我們看到本季的通貨膨脹率略低於 2%。我們預計今年的成長率為 1.5% 至 2.5%。

So we're well within the guidance range and absent any major disruption, we expect to continue to be in that range. And then just on pharmacy, just a couple of points. I think important to note that ESI had a very minimal impact to the quarter, less than 10 basis points, and we continue to see good growth from GLP-1s.

因此，我們完全處於指導範圍內，如果沒有任何重大中斷，我們預計將繼續處於該範圍內。然後就藥房而言，僅談幾點。我認為值得注意的是，ESI 對本季的影響非常小，不到 10 個基點，而且我們繼續看到 GLP-1 的良好成長。

That's really helpful. And just a quick follow-up would be 100,000-plus customer versus low-income customer. Anything you can share on what you're seeing there?

這真的很有幫助。簡單來說，十萬多客戶與低收入客戶之間的對比。您可以分享一下您在那裡看到的情況嗎？

What we're seeing is different shopping behaviors and different shopping patterns. For example, we are seeing both, I think, shopping more at Kroger stores and grocery stores compared to eating away. They're making for frequent trips to the store. The average basket is less. When you look at the spend in total, I think it's been very stable.

我們看到的是不同的購物行為和不同的購物模式。例如，我認為，我們發現，人們在 Kroger 商店和雜貨店購物的次數比在外用餐的次數還多。他們經常去商店。平均籃子較少。當你看總支出時，我認為它非常穩定。

One factor is kind of interesting is that inflation has been higher for food away from home or restaurants, inflation has been high for 27 consecutive months versus food consumed at home. I think both in high and low income levels, they're navigating a significant uncertainty. I think consumer confidence is down.

一個有趣的因素是，外食或餐廳的通膨率較高，與在家消費的食物相比，通膨率已連續 27 個月處於高位。我認為無論高收入或低收入水平，他們都面臨著巨大的不確定性。我認為消費者信心下降了。

Customers are looking for value. And I think when you look at how we respond to that, we're always looking for ways to deal with the environment and bring value to our customers and whether that's Our Brands, whether it's having the right promotions, having the right promotional pricing.

顧客尋求的是價值。我認為，當你看到我們如何應對這個問題時，我們總是在尋找方法來應對環境並為我們的客戶帶來價值，無論是我們的品牌，還是正確的促銷，正確的促銷價格。

We are kind of seeing a shift into larger pack sizes and increased use of coupons. We're seeing some discretionary spend. It's a little softer in areas like snacks and adult beverages, pet general merchandise categories.

我們看到人們開始轉向更大包裝尺寸和增加優惠券的使用。我們看到了一些可自由支配的支出。零食及成人飲料、寵物日用百貨類等領域表現稍弱。

So I think in terms of the consumer, we expect the consumer to remain cautious throughout the year. And we're responding to that with simple promotions, coupons, lower prices and a lot of owned brand choices.

因此我認為就消費者而言，我們預計消費者全年都會保持謹慎。我們對此採取了簡單的促銷、優惠券、降低價格和大量自有品牌選擇等措施。

Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的西蒙古特曼。

Hey guys, good morning.

大家好，早安。

Follow-up on sales and market share. Curious if you -- when you look at market share, how you viewed the performance in the quarter, realize that the national data we see is not perfect because it's national, but it did look like you inflected in the first quarter. You mentioned the ESI was pretty minimal. So curious how you view it, what would you attribute to the inflection and was it e-commerce and was it broad based?

追蹤銷售和市場份額。我很好奇——當您查看市場份額時，您如何看待本季度的表現，您是否意識到我們看到的全國數據並不完美，因為它是全國性的，但看起來您在第一季確實有所變化。您提到 ESI 非常小。所以很好奇您是如何看待它的，您認為是什麼導致了這種轉變，是電子商務嗎？還是基礎廣泛？

Well, good morning, Simeon, and I think I've known you long enough to -- for you to understand that no good retailer is ever happy with their market share. It's really a critical metric in any retail business, and the goal has got to be to improve market share.

嗯，早安，西緬，我想我認識你的時間夠長了——你應該明白，沒有哪個好的零售商會對自己的市場份額感到滿意。這對於任何零售業務來說都是一個關鍵指標，目標就是提高市場佔有率。

The biggest driver of market share for us relates to opening new stores. We have seen very modest store growth over the last several years during the merger process. We did see significant improvements in Q1 and we saw market share gains in markets where we have added stores.

對我們來說，市佔率的最大驅動力在於開設新店。在過去幾年的合併過程中，我們看到商店數量增長非常緩慢。我們確實在第一季看到了顯著的改善，並且在我們增加門市的市場中，我們的市佔率有所成長。

Again, I don't want to discount the other driver in market share gain, and that's in-store experience. customer service getting better, competitive pricing getting better, simpler promotions, in-store conditions, and we're starting to see some progress there.

再次強調，我不想低估市佔率成長的另一個驅動因素，那就是店內體驗。客戶服務越來越好，競爭性定價越來越好，促銷活動越來越簡單，店內條件越來越好，我們開始看到一些進展。

And then finally, when you're growing your e-commerce business at 15%, that will help your market share as well as accelerated growth in our Kroger Brands portfolio as well.

最後，當您的電子商務業務成長 15% 時，這將有助於提高您的市場份額，並加速我們的 Kroger Brands 產品組合的成長。

I don't know, anything else you want to covered.

我不知道您還想討論什麼。

You covered it all.

你把一切都講清楚了。

Okay. A follow-up, different topic, e-commerce. I don't know if it's too early, but can you tell us -- if you look at the investments that this company has made, do you think you need to step them up in order to scale quicker or accelerate growth or they'll be funded.

好的。後續，不同的主題，電子商務。我不知道現在是否為時過早，但您能告訴我們——如果您看看這家公司所做的投資，您是否認為需要加強投資力度以便更快地擴大規模或加速成長，否則他們會獲得資金。

And you don't think that's a question. And then connected to it, I'm trying to understand the way you position the Ocado pulling down the revolver and then talking about how you need to evaluate what this looks like.

但你不認為這是一個問題。然後與之相關，我試圖了解您將 Ocado 拉下左輪手槍的方式，然後討論您需要如何評估它的樣子。

So thinking about how you deal with e-commerce over the next several years, could there be another big step-up in investment to allow you to reduce cost to serve and accelerate speed? Or do you think you have the foundation in place today?

那麼，考慮一下未來幾年你們如何處理電子商務，是否會再次大幅增加投資，以降低服務成本並加快速度？還是您認為今天的基礎已經打好了？

Well, I think we have a terrific foundation in place in our e-commerce business, and we have invested heavily in our e-commerce business over the last several years. We are -- I think, offering a better customer experience. We're improving things like wait times. We're delivering faster. The number of households is growing, particularly in the delivery side.

嗯，我認為我們的電子商務業務已經打下了良好的基礎，而且我們在過去幾年中對電子商務業務進行了大量的投資。我認為，我們正在提供更好的客戶體驗。我們正在改善等待時間等問題。我們送貨速度更快。家庭數量正在成長，特別是在配送方面。

And the nice thing about sales, it improves your density for your delivery route. So there's a lot of goodness coming. But I think it's a little early to say exactly what we're going to decide on each one of these. But the investments that we've made have been helpful. But going forward, we're going to look at every investment that we have made or will be making.

銷售的好處在於，它可以提高您的配送路線的密度。因此，將會有很多好事發生。但我認為現在就說我們將對每一個問題做出什麼決定還為時過早。但我們所做的投資是有幫助的。但展望未來，我們將審視我們已經做出或將要做出的每項投資。

I don't know, you want to talk about Ocado?

我不知道，你想談談 Ocado 嗎？

Let me cover the Ocado question. So the Ocado contract had a clause in it on the seventh anniversary they were able to draw down the remaining balance on the letter of credit that had been provided, and they chose to do that. So I think it's a contractual thing and nothing more.

讓我來回答一下 Ocado 的問題。因此，Ocado 合約中有一項條款，在第七週年時，他們可以提取已提供的信用證的剩餘餘額，他們選擇這樣做。所以我認為這只是合約問題，僅此而已。

Paul Lejuez, Citibank.

花旗銀行的 Paul Lejuez。

Thanks. Good morning, Paul.

謝謝。早安，保羅。

Thanks guys. Can you talk a little bit more about the our brand portfolio, the growth you saw in that segment of the business versus the rest of the store and how the gap between the two are trending. And then I'm also curious if you could talk about any regional differences that you might have seen this past quarter, whether any certain regions stand out is getting more or less promotional or rational however you want to frame it?

謝謝大家。您能否再多談談我們的品牌組合、您看到的該業務部門相對於商店其他部門的成長情況以及兩者之間的差距趨勢如何。然後，我還想知道您是否可以談談您在上個季度可能看到的任何區域差異，是否有任何特定區域脫穎而出，無論您想如何構建它，它是否獲得了更多或更少的促銷或理性？

Yeah, I can start with Our Brands. As we noted, we had another strong quarter in Our Brands. I believe -- and I'm an optimist to understand that, but I believe there's a big opportunity for Our Brands products that could accelerate this even further in the years ahead. The quality is terrific. It creates great value to our customers.

是的，我可以從我們的品牌開始。正如我們所指出的，我們的品牌又度過了一個強勁的季度。我相信—我是一個樂觀主義者，能夠理解這一點，但我相信我們的品牌產品有很大機會在未來幾年進一步加速這一進程。品質非常好。它為我們的客戶創造了巨大的價值。

It allows us to lead the pack, I think, in product innovation, and I referenced the Simple Truth protein line. But I think that's a great example of that. People are eating healthier. So we're going to jump on that trend. I think high protein products also ties into customers using GLP-1 medications, -- and the best part about Our Brands is that it differentiates us from our competitors.

我認為，它使我們在產品創新方面處於領先地位，我提到了 Simple Truth 蛋白質系列。但我認為這是一個很好的例子。人們的飲食越來越健康。所以我們要順應這股趨勢。我認為高蛋白產品也與使用 GLP-1 藥物的客戶有關——而我們品牌的最大優點是它使我們有別於競爭對手。

There's only one place you can get Kroger brand or Simple Truth or Natural Select, all of it, just at Kroger. In terms of regional differences, I really can't point to anything that jumps out at me that specifically different. I think we saw kind of good performance across the chain.

只有一個地方可以買到 Kroger 品牌、Simple Truth 或 Natural Select，而且全部都是 Kroger。就地區差異而言，我真的無法指出任何讓我特別驚訝的不同之處。我認為我們看到了整個連鎖店的良好表現。

I mean maybe the only thing you highlighted is we show better share performance in those markets where we were building new stores.

我的意思是，也許您唯一強調的一點是，我們在那些正在開設新店的市場中表現出了更好的份額。

And I think this was asked earlier, but the higher income consumer, can you talk about the performance with your 100,000-plus customer. I'm not sure if you quantified where you're seeing the greater growth?

我認為這個問題之前已經問過了，但是對於高收入消費者，您能否談談您 100,000 多位客戶的表現。我不確定您是否量化了您看到的更大成長領域？

I don't know that we did quantify specifically.

我不知道我們是否進行了具體量化。

I think nothing other than to say that the higher income consumer continues to behave what we would call kind of rationally. I don't think any big disconnects versus previous quarters. Continue to see premium wines, that kind of stuff, sort of increased spend on fresh, normal trends. I don't think anything unusual to note on the higher-income consumer.

我認為，高收入消費者的行為仍然保持著我們所說的理性。我認為與前幾季相比並沒有什麼大的脫節。繼續關注優質葡萄酒等產品，增加新鮮、正常趨勢的支出。我認為高收入消費者並沒有什麼不尋常的事。

Michael Lasser, UBS.

瑞銀集團的麥可拉瑟。

Good morning. Thank you so much Ron.

早安.非常感謝你，羅恩。

Thank you so much for taking my question. If we put a picture of what Kroger is experiencing together, perhaps there's a case where the growth in e-commerce as well as the growth in pharmacy are cannibalizing the center of the store.

非常感謝您回答我的問題。如果我們將克羅格所經歷的情況放在一起，也許電子商務的成長以及藥局的成長正在蠶食商店的中心。

If this continues, is there a point at which the net result of this creates an overall challenge on ID sales? And to what degree is Kroger planning for that potential outcome today in the event that it happens in the future.

如果這種情況持續下去，最終是否會對身分證銷售造成整體挑戰？如果將來真的發生這種情況，克羅格目前在多大程度上為這種潛在結果做好了規劃？

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah. I don't know that we spend a lot of time thinking about that. In fact, we're seeing improved grocery center store trends. We saw that certainly in the first quarter, and we expect to see that through to continue every quarter this year. I don't know there's a specific strategy around that other than running great stores and taking great care of our customers.

是的。我不知道我們是否花了很多時間思考這個問題。事實上，我們看到了雜貨店中心商店趨勢的改善。我們在第一季就看到了這種情況，我們預計今年每季這種情況都會持續下去。我不知道除了經營優秀的商店和悉心照顧我們的顧客之外，還有其他具體的策略。

I think we'll benefit whether it's e-commerce, whether it's pharmacy or whether it's the walk-in shopper.

我認為，無論是電子商務、藥局或實體店購物，我們都將從中受益。

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

我不知道大衛，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Nothing to add. I agree.

沒什麼好補充的。我同意。

Thank you very much. And my follow-up question is, you stepped up price investments on the 2,000 items yet what sounds like the selling margin was positive. So where are you finding the offsets within the selling margins to make additional price investments even as your gross margin -- FIFO gross margin is positive.

非常感謝。我的後續問題是，您加大了對這 2,000 件商品的價格投資，但聽起來銷售利潤率為正。那麼，即使您的毛利率——FIFO 毛利率為正，您如何找到銷售利潤中的抵銷金額來進行額外的價格投資？

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah, let me take that one, Michael. So listen, I think we've got a number of levers that helped us with our gross margins. And I think these are the kind of things that we're going to try to do going forward. So our brand's mix obviously helps with that. and we also saw good performance from a sourcing savings perspective.

是的，讓我來接手這個，麥可。所以聽著，我認為我們有許多手段可以幫助我們提高毛利率。我認為這些都是我們今後要努力去做的事。因此，我們的品牌組合顯然有助於實現這一點。而且從採購節約的角度來看，我們也看到了良好的表現。

So I think that's just a couple of examples of a positive contribution to our gross margin. I think we're going to have to -- that's how we're going to deal with this going forward. So we want to -- so I'd expect sort of a flat gross margin expectation for balance of the year as we look to balance those price investments with those positive contributors.

所以我認為這只是對我們的毛利率做出積極貢獻的幾個例子。我認為我們必須這樣做——這就是我們今後處理這個問題的方法。因此，我們希望——因此我預計今年的毛利率將保持平穩，因為我們希望平衡這些價格投資和這些積極貢獻者。

Leah Jordan, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的利亞喬丹 (Leah Jordan)。

Thank you. Good morning. See if you could provide more detail on the growth trends in retail media. How has engagement from partners trended, given the dynamic macro backdrop. And just how should we think about the relative impact of profit as we move through the year versus what you realized in the first quarter?

謝謝。早安.看看您是否可以提供有關零售媒體成長趨勢的更多詳細資訊。在動態的宏觀背景下，合作夥伴的參與趨勢如何。那麼，我們該如何看待全年獲利與第一季獲利的相對影響呢？

Let me take that one. So I think a couple of things. So first of all, I mean, we really like our offering in retail media. We've got a great suite of products that we see good engagement from brands on. And I think what we feel really good about that we think is differentiated for Kroger is our ability to do what we call kind of closed-loop measurement, which is not only obviously understanding where we spend, but really tracking the measurement through to understand how that directly impacts sales and also customer behavior.

讓我來拿那個。所以我想到了幾點。首先，我們真的很喜歡我們在零售媒體上提供的產品。我們擁有一系列出色的產品，並且受到各大品牌的積極青睞。我認為，我們真正感到高興的是，我們認為 Kroger 的差異化在於我們能夠進行所謂的閉環測量，這不僅顯然可以了解我們的支出方向，而且可以真正跟踪測量結果，以了解其如何直接影響銷售和客戶行為。

So we think we've got a good product. And certainly, as you know, having spent -- I spent a long time on the brand side, brands are wanting to understand how to get the best returns for their dollars. And so for me, that is a very, very powerful set of tools.

所以我們認為我們得到了一個好產品。當然，正如你所知，我在品牌方面花了很長時間，品牌都希望了解如何讓他們的錢獲得最大的回報。所以對我來說，這是一套非常非常強大的工具。

Now I think what we talked about in Q4, we talked about some spend sort of pullback in CPG spending. We did see continued sort of similar trends in Q1 where CPGs are being cautious with their spending.

現在我認為我們在第四季度討論過的內容是 CPG 支出的某種程度的回落。我們確實看到第一季繼續出現類似的趨勢，即快速消費品企業在支出方面持謹慎態度。

But I want to reinforce that the business continues to grow at a healthy rate. and we do expect to continue to see healthy growth in the business through the balance of the year.

但我想強調的是，業務將繼續以健康的速度成長。我們確實預計，今年餘下時間業務將繼續保持健康成長。

That's very helpful. I just want to have one follow-up on shrink. I mean it continues to be a tailwind for several quarters and called out again this quarter. Could you talk about the magnitude of the impact to gross margin this quarter? What's the key driver for the shrink improvement?

這非常有幫助。我只是想跟進一下心理醫生的狀況。我的意思是，它在接下來的幾個季度繼續發揮順風作用，並在本季再次發出呼籲。能談談本季對毛利率的影響程度嗎？收縮改善的關鍵驅動因素是什麼？

And how much more opportunity do you see as we go throughout the year?

而您認為，隨著全年的推進，我們還將面臨多少機會？

So let me -- I'll take that one. So let me talk about shrink. Yeah, you're right. We've seen good progress, and we've seen good progress across both fresh and we've seen good progress on center store. And I think what we really attribute this to is we've made some investments in some AI-enabled technology and deployed new processes around that technology as well and that's really allowing us to much -- have much better visibility of the inventory we've got in store, Best Buy dates and allows us, therefore, to be much more sophisticated in the ordering that we're making.

那麼讓我——我會選擇這個。那麼讓我來談談收縮。是的，你說得對。我們看到了良好的進展，我們看到了新事物和中心商店的良好進展。我認為，我們真正將此歸因於我們對一些人工智慧技術進行了一些投資，並圍繞該技術部署了新的流程，這確實讓我們能夠更好地了解店內庫存、百思買日期，因此，我們可以更精細地進行訂購。

So our expectation is we're going to continue to see good shrink performance through the balance of the year, and we'll continue to make investments in this space provided we will continue to see the good returns that we're seeing.

因此，我們預計在今年餘下時間裡我們將繼續看到良好的收縮表現，並且我們將繼續在該領域進行投資，前提是我們將繼續看到我們所看到的良好回報。

And just one addition is sales help shrink and more hours in stores help shrink and more focused employees help shrink. So I think there's a lot of things going on to improve our shrink results.

還有一個好處是，銷售額會減少，商店營業時間增加會減少，而更專注的員工也會減少。所以我認為有很多事情可以改善我們的收縮結果。

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer.

魯佩什·帕里克，奧本海默。

Thanks for taking my question. So I guess I just want to start with Express Scripts. So I was curious how that ramp is going versus expectations? And then related to Express Scripts, just curious if you're actually building in benefits for the remaining quarters on the top line?

感謝您回答我的問題。所以我想我只想從 Express Scripts 開始。所以我很好奇這個成長與預期相比如何？然後與 Express Scripts 相關，我只是好奇您是否真的在為剩餘季度的收入建立福利？

Yeah, Rupesh, let me take that one. So as we said, ESI had a very minimal impact on the quarter, so less than 10 basis point impact on sales. The reason we didn't include it in the guide for the year is because we knew it would be difficult to predict because you've got these big commercial contracts, the timing of which they sort of come back on stream is difficult to predict. So I'd say we're on track. But specifically, the guide for the balance of the year continues to exclude ESI.

是的，魯佩什，讓我來接手這個。正如我們所說，ESI 對本季的影響非常小，對銷售額的影響不到 10 個基點。我們之所以沒有將其納入年度指南，是因為我們知道這很難預測，因為你已經簽訂了這些大型商業合同，它們何時恢復生產很難預測。所以我想說我們正走在正確的軌道上。但具體來說，今年的餘額指南仍然排除了 ESI。

Okay. Great. And then maybe just one follow-up. Just on trends. Just curious on quarter to date in terms of what you guys are seeing so far?

好的。偉大的。然後可能只需要一個後續行動。僅關注趨勢。我只是好奇到目前為止你們對本季的情況有何看法？

Yeah. I would say that the -- we're happy with the way the quarter started and it's in line with the guidance that we communicated in the preprepared remarks.

是的。我想說的是——我們對本季的開局感到滿意，這符合我們在預先準備好的評論中傳達的指導。

Chuck Cerankosky, Northcoast Research.

查克·塞蘭科斯基（Chuck Cerankosky），Northcoast Research。

Good morning everyone. In looking at your storing strategy and investments in stores, could you give us sort of an overall view of what you're doing there in terms of what you're closing, where you're closing, where you're opening, what type of formats are you favoring? And in the context of other competitors changing their stores, not the least of which are the drug chains, and also the use of pharmacy and fuel in this strategy.

大家早安。在審視您的儲存策略和門市投資時，您能否向我們總體介紹一下您在關閉哪些門市、在哪裡關閉門市、在哪裡開門店以及您青睞哪種形式的門市等方面所做的工作？而在其他競爭對手改變門市的情況下，其中最重要的是藥局連鎖店，以及藥局和燃料店也採用了這個策略。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Sure. Let me start on store closures as we noted, we plan to close roughly 60 stores, and we'll do that over the next 18 months. We usually evaluate individual store performance on an annual basis, and we continue to do that, but we deferred closing any stores due to the merger process.

當然。讓我先談談關閉商店的問題，正如我們所指出的，我們計劃關閉大約 60 家商店，我們將在未來 18 個月內完成這項任務。我們通常每年評估單一商店的業績，並且我們會繼續這樣做，但由於合併過程，我們推遲了關閉任何商店。

So we see this as an opportunity to move these closed store sales to other stores, and we think that should improve profitability. There's really minimal financial impact on company results as a result of the store closures.

因此，我們認為這是一個將這些關閉的商店的銷售轉移到其他商店的機會，我們認為這應該會提高盈利能力。關閉商店對公司業績的財務影響確實很小。

The geography is spread really around the country. It's kind of one's and two's by division. And all the associates who are affected will be offered jobs in their other stores. And I'm not sure I got the second point of the--

地理位置確實遍佈全國各地。這就像是透過除法得出的一和二。所有受影響的員工將被安排在其他商店工作。我不確定我是否理解了第二點——

Yeah, it was about the strategy, how we think about opening new stores.

是的，這是關於策略，我們如何考慮開設新店。

Yeah. I mean I think, obviously, new store openings are the biggest driver of market share gains and we're continuing to look at that. And I think we will be investing to accelerate store openings going forward. We don't have a number to share with you this morning, but it will be north of the 30 that we opened this year.

是的。我的意思是，我認為，顯然，新店開業是市佔率成長的最大驅動力，我們將繼續關注這一點。我認為我們將進行投資以加速未來的開店速度。今天早上我們還沒有具體數字可以與大家分享，但今年開設的門市數量將超過 30 家。

Could you comment on the geography of those openings and the format you're favoring?

您能否評論一下這些開幕式的地理位置以及您所青睞的形式？

Yeah. As you know, it takes a while to open a big Kroger store. And we're looking at geography across the country. There's no specific area. We are probably going to favor areas of the country that are growing faster than others.

是的。眾所周知，開一家大型的 Kroger 商店需要一段時間。我們正在關注全國各地的地理狀況。沒有特定區域。我們可能會青睞那些比其他地區發展更快的地區。

We're going to look at where we have competitive opportunities or growth within cities that we operate in. But it's really scattered around the country and there'll be a variety of store formats, although the marketplace store is a terrific format, and many of them will be marketplace stores.

我們將研究在我們運營的城市中哪些地方有競爭機會或成長空間。但它確實分散在全國各地，並且會有各種各樣的商店形式，儘管市場商店是一種很棒的形式，其中許多都是市場商店。

Kelly Bania, BMO.

凱利·巴尼亞（Kelly Bania），BMO。

Good morning. Thanks for taking our question. Wondering if we could go back to digital sales and the nice acceleration there sequentially. I was just curious if you have any specific strategies or factors that you would attribute that to?

早安.感謝您回答我們的問題。想知道我們是否可以回到數位銷售並隨之實現良好的加速。我只是好奇您是否有任何具體的策略或因素可以歸因於此？

And also in that, you noted strong demand in delivery. And I was wondering if you could clarify how much of that is more same-day kind of Instacart driven delivery versus Ocado enabled delivery. And I just want to make sure if there's any consideration with respect to Ocado and any broader changes?

此外，您也注意到交付方面的需求強勁。我想知道您是否可以澄清一下，其中有多少是 Instacart 驅動的當日送達，有多少是 Ocado 支持的當日送達。我只是想確認是否有關於 Ocado 和任何更廣泛的變化的考慮？

Just want to make sure I understood that commentary clearly.

只是想確保我清楚地理解了該評論。

Yeah. I don't know if I can point to any specific strategy. And if I had a specific strategy, I probably wouldn't announce that publicly. But I think it is good growth really across the board. I think it's in all geography.

是的。我不知道我是否可以指出任何具體的策略。如果我有具體的策略，我可能不會公開宣布。但我認為，總體而言，這確實是良好的成長。我認為它存在於所有地理區域。

It relates to the entire assortment of our product line. And they always say retail is detail, and this is really basically about chopping wood and doing all the little things. I think before we consolidated everything under Yael, there were a lot of different parts of our business that we're trying to optimize. That doesn't work unless you have kind of one owner.

它涉及我們整個產品線。人們總是說零售就是細節，而這其實就是砍柴和做所有小事。我認為，在我們將一切整合到 Yael 旗下之前，我們正在嘗試優化業務的許多不同部分。除非你有一個所有者，否則這是行不通的。

And I think structurally, that really helped our business because somebody's got responsibility for not only the top line in total, but the bottom line in total and every line on the income statement in between.

我認為從結構上來說，這確實對我們的業務有幫助，因為有人不僅要負責整體收入，還要負責整體收入以及損益表中的每一行。

Yeah. Maybe, Kelly, let me add a couple of things to Ron's comments. I mean, really, our metrics on e-commerce were pretty good across the board. I mean we grew households, we grew order volume, orders per household grew. So I think we saw a number of the metrics that are important to e-commerce, continue or really saw favorable performance.

是的。凱利，也許，讓我對羅恩的評論補充幾點。我的意思是，實際上，我們在電子商務方面的指標總體來說都相當不錯。我的意思是，我們的家庭數量增加了，訂單量也增加了，每個家庭的訂單量也增加了。因此，我認為我們看到了許多對電子商務很重要的指標，這些指標繼續或確實看到了良好的表現。

So I thought we were very pleased with that. On the Ocado thing, just to clarify, just on your other question, listen, it's a contractual thing. We had a clause in the contract that said on the seventh anniversary of the signing of the contract. They were able to draw down the remainder of the letter of credit and an Ocado chose to do that.

所以我認為我們對此非常滿意。關於 Ocado 的事情，我只是想澄清一下，關於你的另一個問題，聽著，這是一個合約問題。我們合約裡有一條條款，說的是合約簽訂七週年。他們能夠提取信用證的剩餘部分，而 Ocado 也選擇這樣做。

Scott Marks, Jefferies.

史考特馬克斯，傑富瑞。

Hey, good morning. Thanks so much for taking our questions. I wanted to just ask, you made some commentary around Our Brands kind of outperforming the national brands for, I believe, it was the seventh quarter in a row.

嘿，早安。非常感謝您回答我們的問題。我只是想問一下，您是否對我們的品牌表現優於國家品牌做出了一些評論，我相信這是連續第七個季度。

Have you seen any change in strategy from your branded suppliers, whether it be promotional or otherwise?

您是否發現品牌供應商的策略有任何變化，無論是促銷還是其他方面？

I'm not the merchant here, but I think the answer is really not. I think the selling strategies of our suppliers continue like they have been for several quarters. We're not seeing them being more aggressive on pricing or promotion I think it's kind of a bit of a steady state with most of our CPG partners.

我不是這裡的商人，但我認為答案是否定的。我認為我們的供應商的銷售策略將像過去幾個季度一樣繼續下去。我們並沒有看到他們在定價或促銷方面採取更積極的舉措，我認為我們的大多數 CPG 合作夥伴都處於穩定的狀態。

Got it. And then just as a follow-up, in light of some of the political backdrop ban on some artificial food dyes and other potential regulatory changes down the pipe. Wondering if you thought about how that might impact the center store part of your business, especially. And any kind of discussions with some of those branded suppliers.

知道了。然後作為後續行動，鑑於一些政治背景，禁止某些人工食用色素以及其他潛在的監管變化。想知道您是否考慮過這可能會對您業務的中心商店部分產生什麼影響。以及與一些品牌供應商進行的任何形式的討論。

I think there's certainly a trend going on in Washington to eliminate anything artificial and particular in the area of dyes. I mean, I think many CPGs are reformulating their products to address that and deal with that. And certainly, we're all over that for Kroger brands and Our Brands.

我認為華盛頓確實存在一種趨勢，即消除染料領域中的所有人工和特殊物質。我的意思是，我認為許多 CPG 正在重新制定其產品以解決這個問題。當然，我們對 Kroger 品牌和我們的品牌都非常重視。

I think from a regulatory standpoint, I think we're spending a little more time on tariffs than we are on kind of artificial food ingredients, although our customers are looking to eat healthier and buy healthier products. And I think we are trying to respond to that.

我認為從監管的角度來看，我們在關稅上花費的時間比在人工食品成分上花費的時間要多一些，儘管我們的客戶希望吃得更健康，購買更健康的產品。我認為我們正在努力對此作出回應。

But in terms of tariffs and the question hasn't come up, but we've really seen very minimal impact from tariffs. And where we do see impacts in areas like, I don't know, produce flours. We are working very hard to mitigate that impact, and we're pushing back on any suppliers who would like to pass along the additional cost. We're looking at some of the country of origin stuff, and we're even discontinuing some items where it doesn't make sense for our customers.

但就關稅而言，這個問題還沒有出現，但我們確實看到關稅的影響非常小。我們確實看到了對某些地區的影響，例如生產麵粉。我們正在努力減輕這種影響，並拒絕任何想要轉嫁額外成本的供應商。我們正在審查一些產品的原產國，甚至停止生產一些對我們的客戶來說沒有意義的商品。

Thank you. I'll now turn it back to Ron for any further remarks.

謝謝。現在我將把話題轉回給羅恩，請他發表進一步的評論。

Well, thanks, everybody. I appreciate all the questions today. As you know, before we conclude our earnings call, we'd like to share a couple of comments with our associates listening in. To them, I say thank you. I thank you for all your efforts, which made our strong quarter possible.

好的，謝謝大家。我感謝今天提出的所有問題。如您所知，在結束收益電話會議之前，我們想與我們的同事分享一些評論。我向他們表示感謝。我感謝你們所做的一切努力，使得我們本季取得了良好的業績。

We still have a lot of work to do, and we appreciate your continued commitment to running great stores and taking great care of our customers. So thanks, everybody, for joining us on the call this morning. We look forward to speaking with all of you again soon and we hope to see you all in our stores.

我們還有很多工作要做，我們感謝您繼續致力於經營優秀的商店並關心我們的客戶。所以，感謝大家今天早上參加我們的電話會議。我們期待很快能再次與大家交談，並希望在我們的商店見到大家。

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

感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。現在您可以斷開線路了。