克羅格 (KR) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Kroger Co. second-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Rob Quast, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

早安，歡迎參加 Kroger Co. 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。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 second-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 年第二季財報電話會議。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. The Kroger Company assumes no obligation to update that information.

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。克羅格公司不承擔更新該資訊的義務。

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. I will now turn the call over to Ron.

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。現在我將電話轉給羅恩。

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. We're happy to report another quarter of strong results, which demonstrates the clear and measurable progress we're making on our key priorities to simplify the organization, to improve the customer experience and to focus on work that creates the most value. Today, I want to talk about what we've accomplished, the proof points we see in our quarterly results and how our priorities are positioning Kroger for sustained long-term growth.

謝謝你，羅布。大家早安。感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議。我們很高興地報告本季又取得了強勁的業績，這表明我們在簡化組織、改善客戶體驗和專注於創造最大價值的工作等關鍵優先事項上取得了明確且可衡量的進展。今天，我想談談我們所取得的成就、我們在季度業績中看到的證明點以及我們的優先事項如何幫助克羅格實現長期持續成長。

Over the last several months, we've made good progress to position the company for future success. A key part of that success is a strong leadership team. And during the quarter, we continued to upgrade our team. We promoted a tough division president to lead our brands, one of our key growth initiatives. We hired a new Head of Product sourcing who will help us lower our cost of goods sold and close the gap with the industry's best-in-class.

在過去的幾個月裡，我們為公司未來的成功做好了準備，並取得了良好的進展。成功的關鍵因素之一是強大的領導團隊。本季度，我們繼續升級我們的團隊。我們提拔了一位強勢的部門總裁來領導我們的品牌，這是我們的關鍵成長舉措之一。我們聘請了一位新的產品採購主管，他將幫助我們降低銷售成本並縮小與業內一流企業的差距。

We're welcome to new General Counsel, and we continue to elevate strong retail leaders across the company, including several new division presidents. As we continue to build our leadership team, we're also looking at our costs, especially those expenses that don't directly support our priorities or deliver value to our shareholders.

我們歡迎新任總法律顧問，並將繼續在公司範圍內提拔強大的零售領導者，包括幾位新任部門總裁。在我們繼續建立領導團隊的同時，我們也在關注成本，特別是那些不直接支持我們的優先事項或為股東帶來價值的開支。

As we shared last quarter, we've begun closing approximately 60 unprofitable stores. Last month, we also reduced our corporate administrative team by nearly 1,000 associates. While these decisions are difficult, they are also necessary for the company's long-term success.

正如我們上個季度所分享的，我們已經開始關閉大約 60 家無利可圖的商店。上個月，我們也將公司行政團隊裁減了近 1,000 名員工。雖然這些決定很困難，但對於公司的長期成功也是必要的。

Additionally, in order to create greater focus and simplify our business, we're reviewing all noncore assets to determine their ongoing contribution and role within the company. And finally, we recently put an issue behind us by reaching a legal settlement with C&S Wholesale Grocers.

此外，為了更加集中精力並簡化業務，我們正在審查所有非核心資產，以確定它們在公司內的持續貢獻和角色。最後，我們最近與 C&S Wholesale Grocers 達成了法律和解，從而解決了這個問題。

We are pleased to resolve the claims so that we can remain focused on serving our customers and running great stores. Our efforts to create greater focus are showing up in today's second quarter results. Identical sales without fuel grew 3.4%, which was ahead of our expectations.

我們很高興解決索賠問題，以便我們能夠繼續專注於為客戶提供服務和經營優秀的商店。我們為提高關注度所做的努力在今天的第二季業績中得到了體現。不含燃料的相同銷售額成長了 3.4%，超出了我們的預期。

This is our sixth consecutive quarter of identical sales without fuel improvement. Sales growth was led by pharmacy e-commerce and fresh categories. We know that fresh products are important to our customers, specifically in meat and produce.

這是我們連續第六個季度在燃料改進的情況下實現銷售額持平。銷售額的成長主要由藥局電商和生鮮品類推動。我們知道新鮮產品對我們的客戶很重要，特別是肉類和農產品。

These categories continue to outpace center store sales and reflect the growing demand for healthier options. Our sales growth in fresh category shows that we're making strong progress in the categories our customers care most about.

這些類別的銷售額持續超過中心商店的銷售額，反映出人們對更健康選擇的需求日益增長。新鮮品類的銷售成長顯示我們在客戶最關心的品類上取得了強勁進展。

Improving grocery volume is also important to us. We're making strategic price investments, which led to another quarter of sequential improvement. In fact, since the beginning of the year, we've lowered prices on more than 3,500 incremental products across our stores which is improving our price spreads against our major competitors. As we lower prices for our customers, we're committed to doing so in a way that keeps our gross margins stable. We're making our promotions simpler and have continued to reduce complex promotional offers.

提高食品雜貨銷售對我們來說也很重要。我們正在進行策略性價格投資，這將帶來另一個季度的連續改善。事實上，自今年年初以來，我們已經降低了所有門市 3,500 多種增量產品的價格，從而擴大了我們與主要競爭對手的價差。當我們為客戶降低價格時，我們致力於保持毛利率穩定。我們正在簡化我們的促銷活動，並繼續減少複雜的促銷活動。

Additionally, we are making it easier for nondigital customers to take advantage of all the value Kroger offers by reintroducing paper coupons in every store. Our customers are recognizing these changes, and they're giving us credit for them.

此外，我們還在每家商店重新引入紙質優惠券，讓非數位客戶更容易享受 Kroger 提供的所有價值。我們的客戶認識到了這些變化，並給予我們讚揚。

We know this because customer price perception improved in nearly every division this quarter, and we saw another quarter of sequential improvement in share. Beyond the price of the shelf, families are also looking for quality and value. Our brands products had another strong quarter with sales growth again outpacing national brands.

我們之所以知道這一點，是因為本季幾乎每個部門的客戶價格認知都有所改善，而且我們看到市場份額連續一個季度有所提高。除了貨架價格之外，家庭還關注品質和價值。我們品牌的產品又度過了一個強勁的季度，銷售成長再次超過了國家品牌。

Our brands offer unique products with high quality and represent a point of differentiation for Kroger. Simple Truth and Private Selection brands again led our growth. Looking ahead, we see our brands as a critical strategic asset, helping us grow sales and build loyalty with customers. E-commerce. E-commerce also continues to be an important and growing part of our business.

我們的品牌提供獨特的高品質產品，是 Kroger 的差異化優勢。Simple Truth 和 Private Selection 品牌再次引領了我們的成長。展望未來，我們將品牌視為重要的策略資產，幫助我們增加銷售額並建立客戶忠誠度。電子商務。電子商務也繼續成為我們業務中重要且不斷成長的一部分。

Sales were strong in the second quarter with 16% growth led by good performance and delivery. We continue to make progress on improving profitability, and we saw improvements in both pickup and delivery profitability on a quarter-over-quarter basis.

第二季銷售表現強勁，在良好的性能和交付的帶動下成長了 16%。我們在提高盈利能力方面繼續取得進展，並且我們看到提貨和送貨盈利能力均比上一季度有所提高。

E-com remains a top priority for us. Running great stores is also critical to our future and our store teams are delivering on the basics, being in stock, showing clean and uncluttered isles and making shopping easier for our customers. Our internal composite scores, which track key metrics like in-stock levels, fresh product quality and customer service are showing consistent quarter-over-quarter improvement.

電子商務仍然是我們的首要任務。經營優秀的商店對我們的未來也至關重要，我們的商店團隊正在提供基本服務，備有庫存，展示乾淨整潔的貨架，讓顧客更輕鬆地購物。我們的內部綜合評分追蹤庫存水準、新鮮產品品質和客戶服務等關鍵指標，顯示逐季持續改善。

And as we are improving our store and e-commerce shopping experiences, we're also taking meaningful steps to reduce our cost structure. In the second quarter, we were pleased with our OG&A rate improvement, and we'll continue to aggressively look for ways to reduce costs throughout the company.

在我們改善商店和電子商務購物體驗的同時，我們也在採取有意義的措施來降低成本結構。在第二季度，我們對 OG&A 費率的改善感到滿意，我們將繼續積極尋找降低整個公司成本的方法。

We believe that many cost opportunities remain. So to summarize, we've made strong progress so far this year, and we also know that we have a lot more work to do. Looking ahead, we're focused on investments that will grow our core business.

我們相信，仍存在許多成本機會。總而言之，今年到目前為止我們已經取得了長足的進步，但我們也知道還有很多工作要做。展望未來，我們將專注於能夠發展核心業務的投資。

The first of these is new stores. We're on track to deliver 30 major storing projects in 2025, and we are accelerating new store projects with more efficient layouts and faster construction time lines. In 2026, we expect to increase store openings by 30%, helping us grow both in-store and online sales faster. While we are growing our physical footprint, we're also modernizing our business to operate more efficiently and serve customers better. Artificial intelligence is one of the key tools to help us get there.

其中第一項是開設新店。我們預計在 2025 年交付 30 個主要儲存項目，並且我們正在透過更有效率的佈局和更快的施工時間表加速新店項目的建設。到 2026 年，我們預計門市開設數量將增加 30%，從而幫助我們更快地實現店內和線上銷售額的成長。在擴大實體業務的同時，我們也在實現業務現代化，以提高營運效率並更好地服務客戶。人工智慧是幫助我們實現這一目標的關鍵工具之一。

Accelerating our AI efforts is a natural step for Kroger given our long history of leadership and data and machine learning. Where we've implemented AI in different parts of the organization, we're seeing results with more competitive pricing, shrink improvements and faster fulfillment, which enables two-hour pickup for customers.

鑑於我們在領導力、數據和機器學習方面的悠久歷史，加快人工智慧發展對 Kroger 來說是自然而然的一步。我們在組織的不同部門實施人工智慧後，看到了更具競爭力的定價、收縮改進和更快的履行速度，這使得客戶能夠在兩小時內提貨。

These are just a few examples of what AI is doing to help us better serve our customers with more and bigger opportunities ahead to both support our associates and improve the customer experience. E-commerce will also continue to have a meaningful and growing impact on our financial results, which is why we announced a thorough strategic review last quarter. We are progressing with two key objectives in mind.

這些只是人工智慧幫助我們更好地服務客戶的幾個例子，未來我們將有更多更大的機會來支援我們的員工並改善客戶體驗。電子商務也將繼續對我們的財務業績產生重大且不斷增長的影響，這就是我們在上個季度宣布進行全面策略審查的原因。我們正朝著兩個主要目標前進。

First, we will improve the customer experience by using our stores to deliver groceries faster. Stores are our most important asset, and when we use our stores to fulfill online orders, the inventory is closer to customers and the last mile delivery costs are lower.

首先，我們將利用我們的商店更快地運送雜貨來改善客戶體驗。商店是我們最重要的資產，當我們使用商店來完成線上訂單時，庫存更接近客戶，最後一英里的運輸成本更低。

As demand for convenience grows, we can leverage our store footprint to reach new customer segments and expand rapid delivery capabilities without significant capital investments, which leads to our second objective, improving profitability and reducing our cost to serve.

隨著對便利性的需求不斷增長，我們可以利用我們的門市覆蓋範圍來接觸新的客戶群，並擴大快速交付能力，而無需進行大量的資本投資，從而實現我們的第二個目標，即提高盈利能力並降低服務成本。

We're examining all aspects of our business to drive greater efficiency, including a full site-by-site analysis of our Kroger automated fulfillment network. Where we have seen strong demand in high-density areas, these facilities deliver better results than those facilities where density is lower and customer adoption has been slower.

我們正在審查業務的各個方面以提高效率，包括對我們的 Kroger 自動履行網路進行全面的逐個站點分析。我們發現高密度地區的需求強勁，這些設施比密度較低且客戶採用速度較慢的設施表現更好。

We continue to evaluate all options across all facilities to improve profitability while continuing to provide a great customer experience. We expect to share an update on our strategic review during the third quarter. We're confident that the outcome of our work will lead to both stronger e-com capabilities and a clear path toward profitability.

我們將繼續評估所有設施的所有選擇，以提高獲利能力，同時繼續提供良好的客戶體驗。我們預計將在第三季分享我們的策略評估的最新進展。我們相信，我們工作的成果將帶來更強大的電子商務能力和清晰的獲利之路。

Finally, we're starting the foundational work to refresh our go-to-market strategy. This involves a deep dive into customer data and a rigorous assessment of our competitive positioning. This important work will set us up for even stronger performance in the future.

最後，我們開始進行基礎工作來更新我們的市場進入策略。這涉及深入研究客戶數據和嚴格評估我們的競爭定位。這項重要的工作將為我們未來更出色的表現奠定基礎。

Now I'll turn it over to David, who will review our financial results in more detail. David?

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。戴維？

Thank you, Ron, and good morning, everyone. This quarter, Kroger delivered strong results, which reflect continued progress in our core grocery business and robust growth in e-commerce and pharmacy. Momentum in our core grocery business is being driven by improved execution as well as a disciplined approach to price investments.

謝謝你，羅恩，大家早安。本季度，克羅格取得了強勁的業績，這反映了我們核心雜貨業務的持續進步以及電子商務和藥局的強勁成長。我們核心食品雜貨業務的成長動力來自於執行力的提升以及對價格投資的嚴謹態度。

By reducing the complexity of our promotions and investing more in everyday prices, we are sharpening our price perception with customers driving volume improvements while responsibly managing our margins. I'll now walk through our financial results for the second quarter.

透過降低促銷活動的複雜性並增加對日常價格的投入，我們正在提高客戶對價格的認知，從而推動銷售的成長，同時負責任地管理我們的利潤率。我現在將介紹我們第二季的財務表現。

We achieved identical sales without fuel growth of 3.4%. Our sales growth was led by strong pharmacy, e-commerce and fresh results. We are encouraged by the continued improvement in grocery volumes, particularly in the perimeter of the store.

我們實現了不含燃料的相同銷售額成長 3.4%。我們的銷售成長得益於強勁的藥局、電子商務和新成果。我們對食品雜貨銷售的持續改善感到鼓舞，特別是在商店週邊。

Food inflation was slightly lower in the second quarter compared to the first quarter but continues to trend in line with our original expectations from the beginning of the year. Our pharmacy business delivered another strong quarter, driven by core pharmacy scripts and growth in GLP-1s.

第二季的食品通膨率與第一季相比略有下降，但趨勢仍與我們年初的預期一致。在核心藥局處方和 GLP-1 成長的推動下，我們的藥局業務又取得了強勁的季度業績。

Although strong growth in pharmacy sales impacts our margin rate, it drives positive gross profit dollar growth and improves our overall operating profit. This quarter, we've been pleased to welcome more ESI customers back into our stores.

儘管藥局銷售額的強勁成長影響了我們的利潤率，但它推動了毛利的正成長並提高了我們的整體營業利潤。本季度，我們很高興歡迎更多 ESI 客戶重返我們的商店。

We continue to expect that the full return of the business will take time and in Q2, ESI had a roughly 15 basis point positive impact on our ID sales. We continue to keep a close watch on the changing tariff environment. As a domestic food retailer, we expect a smaller impact than some of our competitors.

我們仍然預期業務的全面恢復將需要時間，並且在第二季度，ESI 對我們的 ID 銷售產生了約 15 個基點的正面影響。我們將繼續密切關注不斷變化的關稅環境。作為國內食品零售商，我們預計受到的影響會比一些競爭對手小。

We continue to be proactive to address exposure where we do have it, and our approach remains to raise prices as a last resort to ensure that we keep prices as low as possible for our customers. Tariffs have not had a material impact on our business thus far and as of now, do not expect them to going forward. Our FIFO gross margin rate, excluding rent, depreciation and amortization, fuel and adjustment items, increased 39 basis points in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

我們將繼續積極主動地解決確實存在的風險，我們的做法仍然是將提高價格作為最後的手段，以確保我們為客戶提供盡可能低的價格。到目前為止，關稅尚未對我們的業務產生重大影響，截至目前，預計未來也不會產生重大影響。我們的 FIFO 毛利率（不包括租金、折舊和攤提、燃料和調整項目）在第二季度與去年同期相比增加了 39 個基點。

The improvement in rate was primarily attributable to the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy, lower supply chain costs and lower shrink partially offset by the mix effect from growth in pharmacy sales, which has lower margins and price investments. After excluding the effect from the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy, our FIFO gross margin rate decreased 9 basis points, largely in line with our expectations to remain margin neutral.

利率的提高主要歸因於克羅格專業藥房的出售、供應鏈成本的降低和損耗的減少，但被利潤率和價格投資較低的藥房銷售增長的混合效應部分抵消。在排除出售 Kroger Specialty Pharmacy 的影響後，我們的 FIFO 毛利率下降了 9 個基點，基本上符合我們維持利潤率中立的預期。

The slight reduction in our FIFO gross margin rate was primarily due to pharmacy mix with good progress on rate in the rest of the business. We have many levers to improve our gross margin rate over time and we will continue to use those to balance incremental price investments that improve our value perception with customers.

我們的 FIFO 毛利率略有下降，主要是因為藥局組合以及其他業務的利率取得了良好的進展。我們有許多手段可以逐漸提高我們的毛利率，我們將繼續利用這些手段來平衡增量價格投資，從而提高客戶對我們價值的認知。

We expect our gross margin rate for the full year on an underlying basis to be relatively flat as we balance the impact of pharmacy mix, margin enhancement initiatives and price investments. The operating, general and administrative rate, excluding fuel and adjustment items, decreased 5 basis points in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

由於我們平衡了藥局組合、利潤率提升措施和價格投資的影響，我們預計全年基本毛利率將相對穩定。第二季度，不包括燃料和調整項目在內的營運、一般及管理費用與去年同期相比下降了 5 個基點。

The decrease in rate was primarily attributable to improved productivity and a favorable comparison to prior year, which included certain nonrecurring charges, partially offset by the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy. After adjusting for the effect from the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy, our adjusted OG&A rate significantly improved, decreasing 41 basis points on an underlying basis.

費率下降主要歸因於生產力的提高以及與前一年相比的有利表現，其中包括某些非經常性費用，但部分被 Kroger Specialty Pharmacy 的出售所抵消。在調整了 Kroger Specialty Pharmacy 出售的影響後，我們的調整後 OG&A 率顯著改善，基本上下降了 41 個基點。

Cost optimization is one of our top priorities and driving productivity has long been a core competency of this company. We will continue to build on that strong track record by identifying new and innovative ways to deliver cost savings across our business, and our teams are actively pursuing opportunities across multiple areas.

成本優化是我們的首要任務之一，提高生產力一直是本公司的核心競爭力。我們將繼續鞏固這一良好業績，尋找新的創新方式來節省整個業務的成本，我們的團隊正在積極尋求多個領域的機會。

One of the areas we're prioritizing is sourcing. We see significant opportunities to optimize our costs across both cost of goods sold and goods not for resale. We also have a significant and continuing opportunity to modernize work across the enterprise, making us more agile and efficient and leading to a more streamlined operating model going forward.

我們優先考慮的領域之一是採購。我們看到了在銷售商品成本和非轉售商品方面優化成本的巨大機會。我們也擁有一個重大且持續的機會來實現整個企業工作的現代化，使我們更加靈活和高效，並在未來實現更精簡的營運模式。

Our adjusted FIFO operating profit in the quarter was $1.1 billion. Adjusted EPS was $1.04, reflecting 12% growth compared to last year and our strongest growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2023. Fuel is an important part of Kroger's strategy and offers an additional way to build loyalty with customers through the fuel rewards in our Kroger Plus program.

本季我們調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤為 11 億美元。調整後每股收益為 1.04 美元，較去年同期成長 12%，創下 2023 年第四季以來的最高成長率。燃料是 Kroger 策略的重要組成部分，並透過我們的 Kroger Plus 計劃中的燃料獎勵提供了另一種建立客戶忠誠度的方式。

Fuel sales were lower this quarter compared to last year, attributable to a decrease in the average retail price per gallon, and fewer gallons sold. Fuel profitability was also behind the same period last year, and we expect gallons sold to remain lower on a year-over-year basis for the remainder of 2025.

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下降，以及銷量減少。燃料獲利能力也落後於去年同期，我們預計 2025 年剩餘時間內的燃油銷售仍將年減。

Our e-commerce business delivered 16% growth this quarter, driven by an increase in both household and order frequency. This growth was led by delivery with orders fulfilled from both our stores and centralized fulfillment centers.

本季度，我們的電子商務業務實現了 16% 的成長，這得益於家庭數量和訂單頻率的增加。這一增長主要得益於我們商店和集中配送中心配送的訂單。

We are seeing a clear trend of customers opting for faster delivery times, an area where we are well positioned based on our conveniently located store network, coupled with our delivery partner, Instacart. Today, we can offer delivery in under two hours from 97% of our stores. This capability is resonating with our customers, and we continue to see more orders placed in these short windows.

我們看到一個明顯的趨勢，即客戶選擇更快的送貨時間，我們憑藉位置便利的商店網路以及我們的送貨合作夥伴 Instacart 在這一領域佔據有利地位。如今，我們 97% 的門市均可在兩小時內送貨上門。這種能力引起了我們客戶的共鳴，我們繼續看到在這些短暫的時間內下了更多的訂單。

This digital momentum directly fuels our Retail Media business, which had a strong quarter and is a key contributor to profitability. While we're encouraged by the performance in the quarter, we believe we have an opportunity to meaningfully accelerate our growth.

這種數位化勢頭直接推動了我們的零售媒體業務，本季表現強勁，是獲利能力的關鍵貢獻者。雖然我們對本季的表現感到鼓舞，但我們相信我們有機會大幅加快我們的成長。

To support this, we're actively reviewing the operating model and how we engage with retail media clients to ensure we are strategically positioned to maximize growth in this area of our business. I'd like to take a moment to provide a brief update on associate and labor relations. We made significant progress on agreements this quarter, which provides certainty for our associates and our business.

為了支持這一點，我們正在積極審查營運模式以及我們與零售媒體客戶的互動方式，以確保我們在策略上處於有利地位，能夠最大限度地實現這一業務領域的成長。我想花點時間簡單介紹一下員工和勞工關係的最新情況。本季我們在協議方面取得了重大進展，這為我們的員工和業務提供了確定性。

In total, we ratified new labor agreements covering approximately 54,000 associates. We continue to meaningfully improve wages and benefits, and we value our strong working relationships with our unions. By working together, we're better able to support associates and improve the experience we provide customers. These collective efforts have helped us build a more stable workforce with improved retention rates, which in turn drives a better customer experience. I'd now like to turn to capital allocation and financial strategy.

總體而言，我們批准了涉及約 54,000 名員工的新勞動協定。我們持續大幅提高薪資和福利，並重視與工會建立牢固的工作關係。透過合作，我們能夠更好地支持員工並改善我們為客戶提供的體驗。這些共同的努力幫助我們建立了一支更穩定的員工隊伍，提高了員工留任率，從而帶來了更好的客戶體驗。現在我想談談資本配置和財務策略。

Kroger delivered strong adjusted free cash flow this quarter, which reflects the strength of our operating performance. Free cash flow is important to our model, providing liquidity for our operations and strengthening our balance sheet at quarter end, our net total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio was 1.63, which is below our target ratio range of 2.3 to 2.5. This provides us with significant financial flexibility to pursue growth investments and other opportunities to enhance shareholder value. We expect to return to our target leverage ratio over time.

克羅格本季實現了強勁的調整後自由現金流，反映了我們強勁的經營業績。自由現金流對我們的模式至關重要，它為我們的營運提供了流動性，並在季度末增強了我們的資產負債表。我們的淨總負債與調整後EBITDA的比率為1.63，低於我們2.3至2.5的目標比率範圍。這為我們提供了顯著的財務靈活性，以進行成長型投資和其他提升股東價值的機會。我們預計隨著時間的推移，槓桿率將恢復到目標水準。

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.

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、增加股息（需經董事會批准）並將多餘的資本返還給股東。

In the second quarter, we raised our quarterly dividend by 9%, reflecting the strength of our free cash flow and our commitment to returning capital to shareholders. Our quarterly dividend has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 13% since its reinstatement in 2006, and this marked the 19th consecutive year of dividend increases. Dividend increases are just one component of our broader total shareholder return strategy, and we plan to continue returning capital to shareholders through share repurchases.

在第二季度，我們將季度股息提高了 9%，這反映了我們強勁的自由現金流以及我們向股東返還資本的承諾。自 2006 年恢復以來，我們的季度股息以 13% 的複合年增長率增長，這是連續第 19 年增加股息。增加股利只是我們更廣泛的股東總回報策略的一個組成部分，我們計劃繼續透過股票回購向股東返還資本。

We expect our $5 billion ESI program to be completed in the third fiscal quarter of 2025. The ESI is being completed under Kroger's $7.5 billion share repurchase authorization. After completion of the ESI program, we expect to resume open market share repurchases under the remaining $2.5 billion authorization.

我們預計 50 億美元的 ESI 計畫將於 2025 財年第三季完成。ESI 是在 Kroger 75 億美元股票回購授權下完成的。ESI 計畫完成後，我們預計將根據剩餘的 25 億美元授權恢復公開市場股票回購。

We expect to complete these open market share repurchases by the end of the fiscal year, which is contemplated in full year guidance. A key priority for Kroger is to improve ROIC, which includes reallocating capital towards higher return projects such as new storing.

我們預計在本財年結束前完成這些公開市場股票回購，這已在全年指引中預期。克羅格的首要任務是提高投資報酬率，包括將資本重新分配給新倉儲等回報更高的項目。

We are pleased with the progress we are making on these projects and are on track to complete 30 this year. As Ron mentioned earlier, we plan to accelerate these storing projects beyond 2025 and expect them to be an increasing contributor to our growth with a 30% increase expected in 2026, positioning us for sustained expansion and market share growth.

我們對這些專案的進展感到滿意，今年預計將完成 30 個專案。正如 Ron 之前提到的，我們計劃在 2025 年後加速這些儲存項目，並預計它們將對我們的成長做出越來越大的貢獻，預計 2026 年將成長 30%，這為我們持續擴張和市場份額成長奠定了基礎。

I would now like to provide some additional detail on our outlook for the rest of the year. We are pleased with our second quarter results, which reflect continued momentum in our business. Sales have been strong, led by e-commerce, pharmacy and fresh, and we are encouraged by the improvement in grocery volumes.

現在，我想就今年剩餘時間的展望提供一些額外的細節。我們對第二季的業績感到滿意，這反映出我們的業務持續保持良好勢頭。在電子商務、藥局和生鮮商品的帶動下，銷售表現強勁，食品雜貨銷售的提升也令我們感到鼓舞。

As a result, we are raising our identical sales without fuel guidance to a new range of 2.7% to 3.4%. For Q3, we expect identical sales without fuel to be slightly below the midpoint of our full year range. We are also raising the lower end of our adjusted FIFO net operating profit and net earnings per diluted share guidance to new ranges of $4.8 billion to $4.9 billion and $4.70 to $4.80, respectively. I will now turn the call back to Ron.

因此，我們將不含燃料的相同銷售額成長預期提高至 2.7% 至 3.4% 的新範圍。對於第三季度，我們預計不含燃料的相同銷售額將略低於全年預期的中點。我們也將調整後的 FIFO 淨營業利潤和每股攤薄淨收益指引的下限分別提高至 48 億美元至 49 億美元和 4.70 美元至 4.80 美元的新範圍。我現在將電話轉回給羅恩。

Thanks, David. The team continues to make progress in running great stores. We are more focused on our core business and our customers. We're moving with speed, and we're simplifying the company. We are executing better in our stores, and we are seeing it in the results both our quarterly financial results and our customer metrics.

謝謝，大衛。該團隊在經營優質商店方面不斷取得進步。我們更加專注於我們的核心業務和我們的客戶。我們正在快速發展，並正在簡化公司。我們的商店營運得越來越好，這一點從我們的季度財務業績和客戶指標中都可以看出來。

Our customers are telling us they like lower prices and simpler promotions. They care about quality and value, and they appreciate better store conditions and better service. Our work is far from finished, but I'm proud of the team and the progress they're making. Before we move into Q&A, I'd like to comment briefly on the CEO search. There is no specific news to share at this time but the Board remains actively engaged in the process.

我們的客戶告訴我們，他們喜歡更低的價格和更簡單的促銷。他們關心品質和價值，並欣賞更好的店鋪條件和更好的服務。我們的工作還遠未完成，但我為團隊和他們所取得的進步感到自豪。在我們進入問答環節之前，我想簡單評論一下執行長的搜尋。目前尚無具體消息可分享，但董事會仍積極參與此進程。

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）

Leah Jordan, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的利亞喬丹 (Leah Jordan)。

Morning, Leah.

早上好，利亞。

Thank you. Good morning. Thanks for all the comments today. I mean the biggest call out for me that was new is it seems like you plan to use your stores a bit more for e-commerce fulfillment. Can you help us understand how you plan to implement that? Any color on timing and cost how much capacity do you have in your stores today? And then will you have to rework at the back of the stores? And how are you thinking about labor?

謝謝。早安.感謝今天的所有評論。我的意思是，對我來說最大的新鮮事是，你似乎計劃更多地利用你的商店來實現電子商務。您能幫助我們了解您計劃如何實現這一目標嗎？關於時間和成本，您目前的商店產能是多少？然後你是否需要在商店後面重新工作？您對於勞動力有什麼看法？

And I guess, ultimately, how does this balance with your CFC network today as well? Thank you.

我想，最終，這與您今天的 CFC 網路如何保持平衡？謝謝。

Sure. Let me start with that. I mean we're using our stores very heavily now to fulfill e-commerce orders every day. So it's really not much of a change in that regard. We are taking a hard look at some of our automated facilities.

當然。讓我從那開始。我的意思是，我們現在每天都在大量使用我們的商店來完成電子商務訂單。因此從這方面來看，其實並沒有太大的變化。我們正在仔細審查我們的一些自動化設施。

But we had a very strong quarter in both e-commerce sales as well as profitability. And significantly, this quarter was the first time that the delivery sales passed store pickup sales. So I think that indicates that delivery is really important to our customers. In terms of the strategic review, we're nearly complete. We plan to update you in the third quarter.

但本季我們的電子商務銷售額和獲利能力都非常強勁。值得注意的是，本季送貨銷售額首次超過店內取貨銷售額。所以我認為這表明交付對我們的客戶來說非常重要。就戰略評估而言，我們已經接近完成。我們計劃在第三季向您更新資訊。

And to be clear, we feel like e-commerce is incredibly important to our customers. It's also important to our business. We understand that the path to profitability is also equally important. But in terms of reworking stores, there's not much that we need to do. I mean we're doing it now.

需要明確的是，我們認為電子商務對我們的客戶來說極為重要。這對我們的業務也很重要。我們明白，獲利之路也同樣重要。但就改造商店而言，我們需要做的事情並不多。我的意思是我們現在正在做這件事。

We're delivering the bulk of our e-commerce is done by stores today, and we adjust volumes all the time. I think new store openings will help us as well. But really not a lot of work. We think it's kind of an asset-light delivery possibility, and it also allows us to get deliveries to customers within a couple of hours time and if they want to pay for it, even earlier than that.

目前，我們的電子商務大部分業務都是透過商店完成的，而且我們會隨時調整業務量。我認為新店的開設也會對我們有幫助。但實際上並沒有太多的工作。我們認為這是一種輕資產交付的可能性，它還使我們能夠在幾個小時內將貨物交付給客戶，如果他們願意付款，甚至可以更早。

That's very helpful. And then I wanted to switch and ask about price investments. You called out lower prices on, I think, 3,500 products, and that's a step-up from 2,000, I think you said last quarter. And I know you've changed in how you're presenting some of these promotions to be far as well. But just has anything changed in the competitive environment?

這非常有幫助。然後我想轉而詢問價格投資。您曾表示要降低 3,500 種產品的價格，比上個季度的 2,000 種產品增加。我也知道你們在展示這些促銷活動的方式上也做了一些改變。但競爭環境到底發生了什麼樣的變化？

How do you view your today? Is that 3,500 the end of the line? And are you still make these investments in a margin-neutral way at this point?

你如何看待自己的今天？3,500 是終點了嗎？現在您仍以保證金中性的方式進行這些投資？

Yeah. Let me answer that one. The competitive backdrop on pricing remains very rational out there. Our priorities currently are to really simplify our pricing strategy. We do want to lower prices. We have done that with the 3,500. We'll continue to do that. Any cost increases, we've tried to absorb them as much as possible. Occasionally, the tariffs will have an impact on some of our pricing. But pricing in general is very rational.

是的。讓我來回答這個問題。定價競爭背景仍然非常理性。我們目前的首要任務是真正簡化我們的定價策略。我們確實想降低價格。我們已經對 3,500 人實施了這項措施。我們將繼續這樣做。對於任何成本增加，我們都盡可能地吸收。有時，關稅會對我們的部分定價產生影響。但整體定價非常合理。

We're going to continue to do it, and we are reducing our spreads versus our competition. We did that in Q2, and I think we'll continue to do that in Q3. But when you look at pricing, we're a different model than some of our competitors, but when you look at promotional pricing we're very, very competitive with everybody out there.

我們將繼續這樣做，並減少與競爭對手的價差。我們在第二季度做到了這一點，我認為我們會在第三季度繼續這樣做。但是，從定價來看，我們與一些競爭對手的模式不同，但從促銷價格來看，我們與其他所有公司相比都非常具有競爭力。

Yeah, it's David. Just one more thing to add just on the margins. Obviously, doing this in a responsible way is an important priority for us. we feel we were able to do that in Q2, balancing investments we want to make with a range of cost-saving initiatives, and I'd expect us to be able to continue to do that through the balance of the year.

是的，他是大衛。只需在邊緣處添加一點內容。顯然，以負責任的方式做到這一點對我們來說是重要的優先事項。我們認為我們能夠在第二季度做到這一點，透過一系列節約成本的舉措來平衡我們想要進行的投資，我希望我們能夠在今年餘下的時間裡繼續做到這一點。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer.

魯佩什·帕里克，奧本海默。

Good morning and thanks for taking my question. So just going back to your ID sales momentum, now two consecutive quarters above 3%. How does your team feel about sustaining close to that level of momentum going forward?

早上好，感謝您回答我的問題。回到您的 ID 銷售勢頭，現在已經連續兩個季度超過 3%。您的團隊對於未來繼續保持這種勢頭有何感想？

Rupesh, it's David. Let me take that one. I mean we're very happy with the ID sales performance that we've seen so far this year. Good growth from multiple different areas of the business. Obviously, we've updated the guidance range, which obviously we feel confident about our ability to deliver that.

魯佩什，我是大衛。讓我來拿那個。我的意思是，我們對今年迄今為止看到的 ID 銷售業績非常滿意。業務的多個不同領域均實現了良好的成長。顯然，我們已經更新了指導範圍，我們顯然對實現這一目標的能力充滿信心。

I think maybe just the one thing that is important to know is, the first half of the year was definitely our easiest from a year-over-year comparison perspective. So as we get into the back half of the year, the comparisons do get a little harder, that's reflected, obviously, in the guidance. And if you look at the two-year stacks on our ID sales for the balance of the year, we expect to deliver very healthy and continuing to improve two-year stacks.

我認為也許唯一需要知道的重要一點是，從同比角度來看，今年上半年絕對是我們最輕鬆的半年。因此，當我們進入下半年時，比較確實變得有點困難，這顯然反映在指導中。如果你看一下我們今年剩餘時間的 ID 銷售中的兩年期堆棧，我們預計兩年期堆疊將非常健康並且持續改善。

Rupesh, the only thing I would add is that I think our customers are responding to simpler promotions, lower prices, better service, cleaner, less cluttered stores. And to also give credit where its due, our merchants and marketing team are offering promotions that customers are responding to. And the divisions and the store associates are executing very well. So we're trying to make less busy work and more customer work.

魯佩什，我唯一想補充的是，我認為我們的客戶對更簡單的促銷、更低的價格、更好的服務、更乾淨、更整潔的商店有反應。為了給予應有的讚揚，我們的商家和行銷團隊正在提供客戶回應的促銷活動。各部門和店員的表現都非常好。因此，我們正在努力減少繁忙的工作，並增加客戶服務。

Great. And then maybe my one follow-up question, just on Retail Media. The comment here appears more positive retail needed this quarter versus recent quarters. So is my understanding correct? And what do you think is driving that improved performance?

偉大的。然後也許我的一個後續問題是關於零售媒體的。與最近幾季相比，本季的零售需求似乎更加積極。那我的理解正確嗎？您認為是什麼推動了業績的提升？

Yeah. Rupesh, I'd come back to the fact that we've just got a really good offering. I mean we really like the offering that we've got here. We really think it gives the clients that use our retail media assets, the ability to do things that others cannot do. And I think customers are responding to that.

是的。魯佩什，我想說的是，我們剛剛得到了一個非常好的產品。我的意思是我們真的很喜歡這裡提供的產品。我們確實認為它為使用我們的零售媒體資產的客戶提供了做其他人無法做到的事情的能力。我認為客戶正在對此做出回應。

So we feel good about the growth that we're seeing. It is a little bit more positive. We did see a slight acceleration in that business this quarter relative to last quarter. We still think this is a very meaningful opportunity for us. We are tweaking some things in the way that we talk to clients about this, which gives us confidence that this can be a continued growth driver for us both in the balance of the year and also into next.

因此，我們對所看到的成長感到滿意。這有點積極。與上一季相比，本季我們確實看到該業務略有加速。我們仍然認為這對我們來說是一個非常有意義的機會。我們正在調整與客戶討論此事的方式，這讓我們有信心，這可以成為我們在今年餘下時間以及明年持續成長的動力。

Great thank you I'll pass it along.

非常感謝，我會傳達的。

Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的西蒙古特曼。

Good morning, Simeon.

早上好，西緬。

Hey, good morning, Ron and David. Good morning. Good morning. Hey, so if you take the 1st to 2nd quarter comp, so it got a little bit better sequentially.

嘿，早上好，羅恩和大衛。早安.早安.嘿，如果你把第一季與第二季進行比較，那麼情況會逐季好轉一些。

And the press, the slide deck said that there was some sequential improvement in volume. I think it still implies that maybe its volume is not positive, but it improved quarter to quarter. Can you explain which one moved more? Was it ticket growth or volume growth sequentially, or was it about the same to get to the 34?

媒體和幻燈片都顯示銷量有改善。我認為這仍然意味著它的數量可能不是積極的，但它逐季度都有所改善。你能解釋哪一個動得更多嗎？是票數增長還是數量連續增長，還是達到 34 的水平大致相同？

Here's the way I'd TRY and, I'd TRY and explain that one. So I think a a couple of things. So, we saw the Kind of inflation number quarter on quarter was actually slightly more moderate in the 2nd quarter than we'd seen in the 1st. And our and our units improved. So, I think it, it's pretty balanced, but it was more of a unit improvement than it was an inflation improvement.

這是我嘗試的方法，我會嘗試解釋這一點。所以我想到幾件事。因此，我們看到第二季的通膨數字環比實際上比第一季略微溫和。我們和我們的部隊也得到了進步。所以，我認為，它是相當平衡的，但它更多的是一種單位改進，而不是通貨膨脹的改進。

And just to kind of add a little color commentary there and with the grocery units have certainly improved for the last several quarters and at this point we're almost flat year over year.

只是為了增加一點色彩評論，雜貨部門在過去幾季確實有所改善，目前我們的同比幾乎持平。

Got it. Okay. And related to that, and then I'll put the follow up. It sounds like then the back half, even though inflation does look like it's picking up a little bit, it's the comparison, which I think they're tougher by about 100 basis points. Why the back half doesn't get even stronger. So that's the follow up to that question. The other question, Ron, I wanted to ask.

知道了。好的。與此相關，然後我會進行後續跟進。聽起來，儘管通貨膨脹看起來確實在後半段有所上升，但相比之下，我認為它們的漲幅要大一些，約為 100 個基點。為什麼後半部沒有變得更強。這就是該問題的後續內容。羅恩，我想問另一個問題。

The not the e-commerce strategic review, but it sounds like there's a lot of evaluation of everything in the business going on. I wanted to ask about the value proposition and if there is a debate around the pricing architecture and whether there is a debate around even moving to like a strict EDLP pricing architecture.

這不是電子商務策略評估，但聽起來對業務中正在進行的一切都進行了大量評估。我想問一下價值主張，以及是否存在圍繞定價架構的爭論，以及是否存在圍繞轉向嚴格的 EDLP 定價架構的爭論。

Yeah, there, there's no debate about moving to an EDLP pricing architecture. I mean, Kroger, is a retailer that for many years has been a promotional retailer. Our customers respond to that. Our customers come to us for that. So I don't think there's going to be a dramatic change. On the other hand, you look at white shelf, or white tag shelf prices, and you want to narrow that spread on the everyday, price items. So I don't think there's just a fundamental shift in our pricing strategy, but we're going to be sharper and we're going to be more focused and we're going to be simpler.

是的，關於轉向 EDLP 定價架構沒有任何爭議。我的意思是，Kroger 是一家多年來一直從事促銷零售的零售商。我們的客戶對此做出了回應。我們的客戶就是為此來找我們的。所以我不認為會發生巨大的變化。另一方面，你查看白色貨架或白色標籤貨架價格，並希望縮小日常價格商品的價差。因此，我認為我們的定價策略不會發生根本性的轉變，但我們會更敏銳、更專注、更簡單。

Yeah, let me, and then let me just, simply come back to the question on, ID sales through the balance of the year. And listen, you rightly point out that we cycle, stronger results in the second half of the year. I mean, that is a big factor, and definitely an important one as we reflected on both our plans for the balance of the year and of course, where we set the guidance.

是的，讓我，然後讓我簡單地回到關於今年餘額的 ID 銷售額的問題。聽著，您正確地指出，我們的周期在下半年會取得更強勁的業績。我的意思是，這是一個很大的因素，而且絕對是一個重要的因素，因為我們既反思了今年的平衡計劃，當然也反思了我們設定的指導方針。

We feel comfortable about where we've, set the range. And our priority remains, as we've said, is improving grocery volumes whilst being responsible in the price investments that we're making, managing margins, and that's the delicate balancing act that we've got to, continue through the balance of the year.

我們對於自己設定的範圍感到滿意。正如我們所說，我們的首要任務仍然是提高食品雜貨銷量，同時負責任地進行價格投資，管理利潤率，這是我們在今年餘下時間必須繼續進行的微妙的平衡行為。

Thanks. Good luck. Thanks, Damien.

謝謝。祝你好運。謝謝，達米安。

Michael Lasser, UBS.

瑞銀集團的麥可拉瑟。

Good morning, Michael. Good morning.

早上好，麥可。早安.

Thank you so much. Good morning. Thank you so much for taking my question. With each passing day, it does seem like you have more and more players across the industry who are looking to the core grocery sector to grab either wallet here or drive other elements of their business and use that as a funding mechanism to harvest other portions of the profit pool across retail, which could put downward pressure on the profit pool within the grocery sector.

太感謝了。早安.非常感謝您回答我的問題。隨著時間的推移，似乎有越來越多的業內參與者將目光投向核心食品雜貨領域，希望從中撈取利益或推動其他業務要素，並將其作為一種融資機制，以獲取零售業其他部分的利潤，這可能會對食品雜貨業的利潤池造成下行壓力。

It seems like your message, Ron, here is listening, we still have a lot of room for internal improvement in repositioning our assets. How much further can you drive improvement from these actions while maintaining a margin rate that's been around 3.1% for the last few years.

羅恩，看來你的資訊我聽著呢，我們在重新配置資產方面仍有很大的內部改進空間。在維持過去幾年3.1%左右的利潤率的同時，你還能透過這些措施推動多少改善？

With each passing day, the, it does seem like you have more and more players across the industry who are looking to the core grocery sector. To grab either wallet share or drive other elements of their business and use that as a funding mechanism to harvest other portions of the profit pool across retail, which could put downward pressure on the profit pool within the grocery sector.

隨著時間的推移，似乎有越來越多的業內參與者將目光投向核心食品雜貨領域。搶佔錢包份額或推動其業務的其他要素，並將其用作融資機制來收穫零售業利潤池的其他部分，這可能會對雜貨業的利潤池造成下行壓力。

It seems like your message, Ronnie is, listen, we still have a lot of room. For internal improvement and repositioning our assets, how much further can you drive improvement from these actions while maintaining a margin rate that's been around 3.1% for the last few years?

羅尼，你的意思是，聽著，我們還有很大的空間。對於內部改善和重新定位我們的資產，在維持過去幾年約 3.1% 的利潤率的同時，您還能透過這些行動推動多大的改善？

Michael, I think the short answer is much further. I mean we've got lots of opportunities to improve our margin rate. I mean I can go through kind of a long list of those, if you would like. But certainly, we've got opportunities on pricing. We've got opportunities on our brands, e-commerce, certainly, sourcing is a big opportunity that we're working really hard on.

邁克爾，我認為簡短的回答是更進一步。我的意思是我們有很多機會來提高我們的利潤率。我的意思是，如果您願意的話，我可以列出一長串清單。但可以肯定的是，我們在定價方面有機會。我們的品牌、電子商務都有機會，當然，採購也是我們努力爭取的一個巨大機會。

I get what you're saying about competitors, but the food industry, it's always competitive in terms of the pricing environment out there. I think our competition continues to be very, very rational. All retailers are dealing with kind of similar issues. And our focus is simplifying and focusing on the things that matter most to our customers. I don't know, David, do you want to add a comment here?

我明白您所說的競爭對手，但就定價環境而言，食品業的競爭總是激烈的。我認為我們的競爭仍然非常非常理性。所有零售商都面臨類似的問題。我們的重點是簡化並專注於對客戶最重要的事情。我不知道，大衛，你想在這裡添加評論嗎？

Yeah, maybe just to reinforce the point about the cost opportunity that we think we have. Michael, we think -- Ron has already mentioned sourcing. I think we believe that we've got a very significant opportunity on cost of goods sold as well as on goods not for resale. We've made some people reorganizations in that area to help us really get after it. We think there's continued opportunity in our OG&A.

是的，也許只是為了強調我們認為我們擁有的成本機會。邁克爾，我們認為——羅恩已經提到了採購。我認為，我們相信，我們在銷售商品成本以及非轉售商品方面擁有非常重要的機會。我們對該地區的一些人員進行了重組，以幫助我們真正實現這一目標。我們認為我們的 OG&A 領域仍然存在機會。

And we also think what I would -- there is kind of big opportunities around what I would call sort of modernizing the operating model. So I think as we think about what is undeniably a very competitive environment, what we're very, very focused on is finding the fuel to help us manage that and invest back into the business. And I think we feel that we've got quite a long runway on that across the coming months and years.

我們也認為，我所說的現代化營運模式存在著巨大的機會。因此，我認為，當我們思考無可否認的競爭非常激烈的環境時，我們非常非常關注的是找到動力來幫助我們管理這種環境並重新投資於業務。我認為，在未來的幾個月和幾年裡，我們在這方面還有很長的路要走。

Understood. My follow-up question is, can you unpack the back half guidance a little bit more. You raised the ID outlook, you lowered your tax rate. You took up the low end of both your operating profit outlook and as well as your EPS outlook. So what changes from a margin or below the line perspective have you made to help us frame how we should be thinking about the second half of the year?

明白了。我的後續問題是，您能否進一步解釋後半部的指導。你提高了身分證前景，你降低了稅率。您的營業利潤預期和每股收益預期均處於低端。那麼，從利潤率或線下角度來看，您做了哪些改變來幫助我們規劃下半年的計畫？

Yeah. So Listen, I think on IDs, we've already talked about. I think we've got much tougher comparisons as we get into the back half of the year, improving grocery volumes. So I think we feel good about where we've set the range on that. I think if I understand your question, it's more around the sort of profit puts and takes.

是的。所以聽著，我認為關於身分證，我們已經討論過了。我認為，隨著我們進入下半年，食品雜貨銷售量不斷提高，我們的比較將變得更加困難。所以我認為我們對我們設定的範圍感到滿意。我想如果我理解你的問題的話，它更多的是關於利潤的投入和產出。

So I think a few things that we've got going on that. Number one, listen, it's undeniable. We still have a consumer environment that is still pretty uncertain. And whilst we have not yet seen what I would call sort of consumer sentiment translate necessarily into action, that remains an area that we continue to watch very, very carefully. I think the second thing is that our pharmacy business, we expect it to continue to grow ahead of the rates of the rest of the business.

所以我認為我們已經做了一些事情。首先，聽著，這是不可否認的。我們的消費環境仍然相當不確定。雖然我們還沒有看到我所說的消費者情緒必然轉化為行動，但我們仍會繼續非常密切地關注這一領域。我認為第二件事是我們的藥房業務，我們預計它的成長速度將繼續領先其他業務。

And whilst that will give us dollars, it does create pressure on mix. The third thing is really around fuel headwinds. We expect that, obviously, it's not in our IDs, but it is in our profit number. We expect that to create a headwind for us the balance of the year as it has done so far year-to-date. We're working very hard, as we said, to offset all of those things with as much sort of cost and efficiency initiatives as we can.

雖然這會給我們帶來收益，但確實會給組合帶來壓力。第三件事其實是有關燃料逆風。我們預計，顯然，它不在我們的 ID 中，但它在我們的利潤數字中。我們預計，這將給我們今年的剩餘時間帶來不利影響，就像今年迄今為止的情況一樣。正如我們所說，我們正在努力透過盡可能多的成本和效率措施來抵消所有這些因素。

The tax rate you called out, it's very, very marginal. We had a couple of things really kind of move around mainly on state taxes. And candidly, it's -- we're talking decimal points that move that. And so that was the reason that we felt confident enough to kind of raise the floor on the profit guidance but did not change the top end despite the improved ID sales.

您所提到的稅率非常非常低。我們對某些事情確實做出了一些調整，主要是在州稅方面。坦白說，我們正在談論移動的小數點。因此，儘管 ID 銷量有所提高，但我們仍有足夠的信心提高利潤預期的下限，而沒有改變最高預期。

Understood. Thank you very much and good luck.

明白了。非常感謝，祝你好運。

Thanks, Michael.

謝謝，麥可。

Seth Sigman, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的塞思‧西格曼。

Ahead. Hey, good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking the question. I wanted to ask about e-commerce and follow-up there. The growth that continues to accelerate, is there a way to think about the incrementality of what you're seeing there, thinking about new customers versus existing customers?

前方。嘿，大家早安。感謝您回答這個問題。我想詢問有關電子商務和後續事宜。成長持續加速，有沒有辦法思考您所看到的增量，思考新客戶與現有客戶？

Because you're also obviously seeing non e-commerce is improve as well? And then I guess a related question is just thinking about the shorter delivery windows. What are you seeing -- what is the consumer looking for as they look for that quicker delivery? Thank you.

因為您也明顯看到非電子商務也在改善？然後我想一個相關的問題就是考慮更短的交貨窗口。您看到了什麼—消費者在尋求更快的送貨服務時尋找什麼？謝謝。

Yeah. I'll start, David, feel free to add in. But consumer is looking for kind of the things they look for when they shop our stores, but more. I mean they want product to be fresh. They want it to be price right.

是的。我先開始，大衛，請隨意添加。但消費者在我們商店購物時尋找的東西並不僅限於此，還有更多。我的意思是他們希望產品是新鮮的。他們希望價格合理。

They want the orders complete and they wanted to delivered fast. I think a few years ago, we might have said next-day delivery on food items works just fine. I think today, the customer is looking for speed and they're willing to pay for it. So I think we've tried to adjust kind of how we do business to how the consumer wants us to do business.

他們希望訂單完整且能夠快速交付。我想幾年前，我們可能會說食物隔天送達就很好了。我認為如今客戶追求的是速度並且他們願意為此付費。所以我認為我們已經嘗試根據消費者的期望來調整我們的經營方式。

I'm not sure if I can really say much more. But I think more and more people are willing to pay for incredibly fast service within two hours.

我不確定我是否還能說更多。但我認為越來越多的人願意為兩小時內超快的服務付費。

Yeah. Maybe let me take the sort of comment around incrementality. I think a couple of things here. So number one, we're adding new households. I mean that's really, really important because those new households and new households to Kroger.

是的。也許讓我來談談有關增量的評論。我想到了一些事情。首先，我們正在增加新家庭。我的意思是，這真的非常重要，因為這些新家庭和新家庭對克羅格來說都是如此。

And we're also growing order volumes with consumers that are already shopping with us. And one of the things that our data tells us, and I think this is why it is really, really important is, if people enter our ecosystem through e-commerce, they then shop the entire ecosystem and they become more valuable customers to us overall.

而且，我們已經向消費者增加了訂單量。我們的數據告訴我們的一件事，我認為這也是它非常非常重要的原因，那就是如果人們透過電子商務進入我們的生態系統，那麼他們就會在整個生態系統中購物，並且總體上成為我們更有價值的客戶。

So I think that gives us a good sense of there is incrementality there. Of course, you get some switching. Some people will drop out of a store and order online, but people are generally shopping multiple different ways through the Kroger ecosystem.

所以我認為這讓我們很好地意識到那裡存在著增量。當然，你會得到一些轉變。有些人會放棄商店而選擇在線訂購，但人們通常會透過 Kroger 生態系統以多種不同的方式購物。

Okay, thank you for that. That's helpful. And then I wanted to follow up on the pharmacy performance in the quarter. To what extent do you think the script share gains are translating into improvements in other parts of the business, obviously, with ID is accelerating. And then how are you thinking about vaccines for the second half of the year just given there has been a lot of noise there.

好的，謝謝你。這很有幫助。然後我想跟進本季的藥局業績。您認為劇本份額的成長在多大程度上轉化為業務其他部分的改善？顯然，ID 正在加速發展。那麼，鑑於目前存在許多爭議，您如何看待下半年的疫苗問題？

Yeah. So let me take that one. Listen, on vaccines, listen, I think, obviously, there's some sort of delays in the approvals. I think we'll see that normalize as we get through the sort of later into the year. So I think it's just a delay more than anything.

是的。所以讓我來選擇這個。聽著，關於疫苗，聽著，我認為，顯然，審批出現了一些延遲。我認為，隨著我們度過今年稍後的時期，我們會看到這種情況恢復正常。所以我認為這只是一種拖延而已。

So we expect that to pick up. Listen, I come back to the sort of ecosystem comment, which is that when people shop in pharmacy, when they're in the store, it does provide incrementality to the rest of the business. We don't disclose that metric, but we feel great about when somebody walks in and fulfills that prescription or whether they're doing a regular shopping trip. We've given them the option to do those things within a Kroger store or online.

因此我們預計這一數字將會回升。聽著，我回到生態系統的評論，那就是當人們在藥局購物時，當他們在商店裡時，它確實為其他業務提供了增量。我們不會透露該指標，但當有人走進來並完成處方或進行常規購物時，我們會感到很高興。我們為他們提供了在 Kroger 商店或網上進行這些操作的選擇。

Okay, thank you both.

好的，謝謝你們兩位。

Paul Lejuez, Citigroup.

花旗集團的保羅‧勒胡埃斯 (Paul Lejuez)。

Morning, Paul.

早安，保羅。

Hey, thanks guys. Curious if you could talk about performance by different income segments where you're seeing stronger versus weaker results? Also if there are any call outs regionally? And then I just want to go back to the inflation versus unit discussion. If you could share what your assumptions are for the second half and if you do expect units to turn positive at some point?

嘿，謝謝大家。好奇您是否可以談談不同收入部分的表現，您看到的結果分別是強勢還是弱勢？另外，是否有任何區域性呼叫？然後我只想回到通貨膨脹與單位的討論。您能否分享一下下半年的假設，以及您是否預計單位數量在某個時候會轉為正值？

Okay. Let me kind of walk through several of those here. First of all, we're seeing overall retail food spend has been very stable. I think customers probably cutting back in other areas, but spending on retail food has been kind of flattish. I think the cutting back is probably on discretionary visits, our discretionary purchases and restaurant visits.

好的。讓我在這裡簡單介紹一下其中的幾個。首先，我們看到整體零售食品支出非常穩定。我認為顧客可能會在其他方面削減開支，但在零售食品上的支出一直比較穩定。我認為削減的可能是非必要的訪問、非必要的購買和用餐次數。

But I think at the same time, customers are feeling pretty stressed about the economy. They're doing things to save money. And when you look at income cohorts, low and middle-income households are really looking for deals. They're using coupons more. They're making smaller but more frequent trips and they're buying more private label products.

但我認為同時，顧客對經濟狀況感到非常緊張。他們正在做一些事情來省錢。當你觀察收入群體時，你會發現低收入和中等收入家庭真正尋求的是優惠。他們更多地使用優惠券。他們的出行次數雖然少，但更頻繁，而且購買的自有品牌產品也更多。

They're also eating out less. When you look at the higher income households, while they're also concerned about the economy and food prices, they're still spending. And they're splurging on some of the premium products. When you look at the growth in our brands, Private Selection and Simple Truth, where premium products are leading the way. They also are buying larger pack sizes.

他們外出用餐的次數也減少了。當你看到高收入家庭時，雖然他們也擔心經濟和食品價格，但他們仍在消費。他們還在一些高端產品上花費巨資。從我們品牌 Private Selection 和 Simple Truth 的成長來看，優質產品處於領先地位。他們也購買更大包裝的尺寸。

I think they're also interested in value for serving. So in both groups, we're seeing less of the maybe discretionary spending. We're seeing some declines in snack categories, adult beverages. So looking ahead, I think we think that the consumer is going to remain cautious. Consumer sentiment continues to be low historically and customers continue to be sensitive about food pricing.

我認為他們也對服務價值感興趣。因此，在這兩個群體中，我們看到可自由支配的支出都在減少。我們發現零食類別和成人飲料的銷量有所下降。因此展望未來，我認為消費者將保持謹慎。消費者信心持續處於歷史低位，消費者對食品價格持續敏感。

And I think in terms of regional basis, I don't know that there's really been a lot of differences across Kroger in terms of regional differences in that pattern. I think it's kind of a bit of a tale of two cities. And in terms of inflation, our internal assumption is 1.5% to 2.5%. And as David said, we were lower than the midpoint, I think, this past quarter. We don't expect it to be beyond our range.

我認為，從區域角度來看，我不知道克羅格各公司在區域差異方面是否有很大差異。我認為這有點像兩個城市的故事。就通貨膨脹而言，我們的內部假設是1.5％至2.5％。正如大衛所說，我認為，上個季度我們的業績低於中點。我們不希望它超出我們的範圍。

Thomas Palmer, JP Morgan

摩根大通的托馬斯·帕爾默

Hi and thanks for the question. Maybe to start out, I just wanted to follow up on Leah's question on price investments. You did note FIFO gross margin, excluding fuel and specialty pharma was down around 9 basis points year-over-year in the quarter. How are you thinking about the trajectory of FIFO gross margin ex fuel as we look toward the second half of the year?

你好，謝謝你的提問。首先，我只是想跟進 Leah 關於價格投資的問題。您確實注意到，本季不包括燃料和特種製藥的 FIFO 毛利率年減了約 9 個基點。展望下半年，您如何看待燃料除外的先進先出 (FIFO) 毛利率的走勢？

Yeah. Let me take that one. What we've said is we're expecting for the full year that number to be relatively flat. So that should give you sufficient to be able to work out the assumption for the balance of the year. And I think, listen, what we're trying to do with that is -- and as I said, I think we've done a good job of that through the first half is balance, obviously, wanting to offer great prices to our consumers with obviously a whole range of multiple different margin initiatives that we've got going on.

是的。讓我來拿那個。我們所說的是，我們預計全年這一數字將相對持平。因此，這應該足以讓您能夠計算今年餘額的假設。我認為，聽著，我們正在嘗試做的是——正如我所說的，我認為我們在上半年在這方面做得很好，顯然是平衡，希望透過我們正在進行的一系列不同的利潤計劃為我們的消費者提供優惠的價格。

The important thing, I think, just to note, is that if you look at the second quarter and strip out kind of pharmacy, the impact from pharmacy mix, our gross margins on the core business, were really pretty healthy, and we feel good about where they are.

我認為，需要注意的重要一點是，如果你看一下第二季度並剔除藥房類型，藥房組合對我們核心業務的毛利率的影響確實非常健康，我們對目前的狀況感到滿意。

I know there's not yet a significant update on the CEO search. But I did want to ask on this. I mean, one, any, I guess, traits that you're looking for in a CEO? And then second, there seem to be a lot of different initiatives already under review absent a permanent CEO. Are there areas that you're holding off on reviewing or making decisions on until the seat is filled?

我知道執行長搜尋工作目前還沒有重大進展。但我確實想問這個問題。我的意思是，我想問一下，您希望 CEO 具備哪些特質？其次，由於缺乏常任首席執行官，似乎已經有很多不同的舉措正在接受審查。是否有一些領域您打算等到職位填補完畢後再進行審查或做出決定？

Short answer to that is no. We're moving forward aggressively in virtually all areas of the business to position the company for success over the long term. In terms of what -- and I don't want to speak to the search committee, but there's probably no surprises here. You're looking for critical experiences in people's backgrounds. I think you're looking for competencies in terms of expertise of things they've done.

簡短的回答是「不」。我們正在幾乎所有業務領域積極推進，為公司的長期成功做好準備。至於什麼——我不想和搜索委員會說話，但這裡可能沒有什麼意外。您正在尋找人們背景中的關鍵經驗。我認為您正在尋找他們所做事情的專業知識方面的能力。

You're looking at personal attributes around leadership and style and people skills. So there's really no surprise there. But it's a unique company and the scale is large. And that's why I think that they're being very careful and very cautious. But I remain confident they're going to find an outstanding leader for Kroger.

您正在關注的是領導力、風格和人際交往技巧的個人特質。所以這確實不足為奇。但它是一家獨特的公司，而且規模很大。這就是為什麼我認為他們非常小心和謹慎。但我仍然相信他們會為克羅格找到一位傑出的領導者。

In the meantime, I'm trying to help our talented team in any way I can. But no, we're going full speed ahead in virtually every area of the business to kind of position us for longer-term success? Okay, thank you.

同時，我正在盡我所能幫助我們才華橫溢的團隊。但不，我們幾乎在業務的每個領域都全速前進，為我們的長期成功做好準備？好的，謝謝。

Ed Kelly, Wells Fargo

艾德凱利，富國銀行

Morning, Ed.

早上好，艾德。

Yeah, hi, good morning, guys. Nice quarter.

是的，大家早安。不錯的季度。

Thank you.

謝謝。

I guess first thing, higher than expected -- I mean, I think, higher than expected this quarter, given what you accrued in Q1. If you extrapolate that for the full year, it's like $0.10 a share or so. I mean, how should we be thinking about LIFO as it relates to the back half of the year here?

我想首先，高於預期——我的意思是，考慮到你在第一季的累積，我認為本季的業績高於預期。如果按全年計算，每股收益約為 0.10 美元。我的意思是，我們該如何看待後進先出法與下半年的關係？

Yeah. So we -- let me take that one. So as we have -- whilst inflation is kind of in the guidance range that we expected, it's probably more towards the midpoint of that range. And so as a result, what we did in the second quarter is we made sure that we kind of reset the accruals on LIFO on a year-to-date basis. So what you've got in there is two things.

是的。所以我們——讓我來接手這個。因此，正如我們所知道的——儘管通貨膨脹率處於我們預期的指導範圍內，但它可能更接近該範圍的中點。因此，我們在第二季所做的就是確保根據年初至今的基礎重置後進先出法的應計項目。所以你得到的是兩樣東西。

You've got to catch up from what we assumed in Q1 into Q2. And then you've got, therefore, the assumption of what I would say inflation, broadly kind of where we're running extrapolated for the balance of the year, and that's why the LIFO charge went up. So I don't think that LIFO charge is reflective that incremental charge, you'd expect to see that through the balance of the year. You'd split that in two between catch-up and then ongoing.

你必須趕上我們在第一季到第二季所假設的情況。因此，您將得到我所說的通貨膨脹的假設，大致就是我們對今年餘額進行推斷的假設，這就是後進先出費用上升的原因。因此，我認為後進先出法費用不能反映增量費用，您期望在年度餘額中看到這一點。您可以將其分為兩部分，一部分是追趕，另一部分是繼續。

Okay. And then my second question is around the free cash flow guidance, which you didn't take up today even though you have $100 million in EBIT. I mean, maybe slightly higher LIFO, I guess. But then the other thing is maybe some benefit from the Big Beautiful Bill. So why isn't the free cash flow guidance higher?What's the offsets within that?

好的。我的第二個問題是關於自由現金流指導，儘管您的息稅前利潤為 1 億美元，但您今天沒有採納這項指導。我的意思是，我猜也許後進先出法會稍微高一點。但另一件事也許是《大美麗法案》帶來的一些好處。那麼，為什麼自由現金流預測沒有更高呢？其中的偏移量？

Yeah. I mean I'd come back to sort of some of the things I've already spoken about. I mean, obviously, we didn't raise the EPS guidance, consumer environment remaining uncertain, pharmacy mix, et cetera. And then as we have already said, we're looking to make smart investments back into the business that deliver long-term value from an ROIC perspective. And so we're balancing all of those things and didn't felt therefore prudent to touch the cash flow guidance at this time.

是的。我的意思是我會回顧一些我已經談過的事情。我的意思是，顯然，我們沒有提高每股收益指導，消費者環境仍然不確定，藥房組合等等。正如我們已經說過的，我們希望對業務進行明智的投資，從 ROIC 的角度實現長期價值。因此，我們正在平衡所有這些因素，因此認為此時觸及現金流指引是不明智的。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Thanks, Ed.

謝謝，艾德。

John Heinbockel, Guggenheim Securities.

古根漢證券公司的約翰‧海因博克爾 (John Heinbockel)。

It's John Heinbockel. Ron, maybe first question. I know sourcing, you guys see as a big opportunity. How do you think about sizing that? Is that billions of dollars over time? And then what do you need to do differently? And I know you brought somebody in from the outside do differently than you've been doing to capture that? And how quickly does that occur?

我是約翰·海因博克爾。羅恩，也許是第一個問題。我知道採購，你們認為是一個巨大的機會。您認為該尺寸該如何確定？隨著時間的推移，這會達到數十億美元嗎？那麼您需要做些什麼不同的事情呢？我知道您從外面引進了一個人來做與您以往所做的事情不同的事，以實現這一點？那這件事發生得有多快？

Yeah. We think sourcing is a big opportunity, not only the COGS sourcing but also the indirect sourcing. We -- you did reference somebody coming in that was, background PetSmart and Walmart and kind of a long, deep sourcing background in his history. We think the opportunity is big. I don't know that we've sized it in a way that we can share with you or the timing of that.

是的。我們認為採購是一個巨大的機遇，不僅是 COGS 採購，還有間接採購。我們——您確實提到過某人的背景是 PetSmart 和沃爾瑪，並且在他的歷史上有著悠久而深厚的採購背景。我們認為這個機會很大。我不知道我們是否已經確定了可以與您分享的規模或時間。

But we do feel like we are benchmarking against other competitors, and we are trying to see if there's a bigger opportunity here than we have realized so far. I think part of that is simplifying. I've talked to a lot of our CPG partners over the last six months. And I think our CPG partners would say we need to reduce the cost to serve you guys, and we need to have simpler promotions with you guys. And I think we're working on both of those.

但我們確實感覺我們正在與其他競爭對手進行對比，我們正在嘗試看看這裡是否存在比我們迄今為止意識到的更大的機會。我認為其中一部分就是簡化。在過去的六個月裡，我與許多 CPG 合作夥伴進行了交談。我認為我們的 CPG 合作夥伴會說我們需要降低為你們服務的成本，並且我們需要為你們提供更簡單的促銷活動。我認為我們正在努力解決這兩個問題。

And CPG support has been really terrific the last several months. So I'm not sure I want to commit to how much and when, and I'm not even sure I should at this point, but we do think it's an enormous opportunity that we have yet to realize.

過去幾個月，CPG 的支援確實非常出色。因此，我不確定我想承諾多少以及何時承諾，我什至不確定現在我是否應該承諾，但我們確實認為這是我們尚未意識到的巨大機會。

And then the follow-up would be -- right -- you think about speed of delivery, you talked about the two hours, what can you do inside the store to speed that up further, right, to where you could get to half that time? Is it how you pick the orders? I think we've talked about this, do you pick by quadrant? And remind us, electronic shelf labels, do you -- I don't know how broadly you've utilized those, is that an opportunity to speed the picking process?

然後接下來的問題就是——對——你考慮送貨速度，你談到了兩個小時，你可以在商店裡做些什麼來進一步加快速度，對吧，可以將時間縮短一半？這是您選擇訂單的方式嗎？我想我們已經討論過這個問題了，你是按象限選擇的嗎？提醒我們一下，電子貨架標籤，我不知道你們如何廣泛地利用它們，這是一個加快挑選過程的機會嗎？

Yeah. I think there's a lot of things we're doing to speed things up, and we can get you your order even less than two hours but there are probably going to be a different delivery fee associated with doing that. So it's not a -- but most customers are very pleased and very happy with our delivery. I think you're right, technology is a big part of the answer. And whether that's AI, which we're already using to pick multiple orders at the same time.

是的。我認為我們正在做很多事情來加快速度，我們甚至可以在不到兩小時的時間內為您提供訂單，但這樣做可能會產生不同的送貨費用。所以這不是——但大多數客戶對我們的交付感到非常滿意。我認為你是對的，技術是答案的重要組成部分。這是否是人工智慧，我們已經使用它來同時挑選多個訂單。

Electronic shelf tags, we are rolling out across the company. I'm not sure what percentage of our stores, we have those in yet, but that is also another kind of improvement in speed. In some stores, depending on the delivery volume, you may have special picking areas. So we're looking at that as well. So there's a lot to be done, I think, in-store picking.

電子貨架標籤，我們正在整個公司推廣。我不確定我們有多少比例的商店已經實現了這些功能，但這也是速度的另一種提升。在某些商店，根據配送量，您可能會有特殊的揀貨區域。所以我們也在關注這一點。所以我認為，在店內挑選方面還有很多工作要做。

And I think as part of our strategy refresh on e-commerce, we'll be sharing not only what's going on inside the store, but also the last mile delivery because I think we've got some good news to share there as well.

我認為，作為我們電子商務策略更新的一部分，我們不僅會分享商店內部的情況，還會分享最後一英里的交付情況，因為我認為我們也有一些好消息可以分享。

Robert Ohmes, Bank of America.

美國銀行的羅伯特‧歐姆斯 (Robert Ohmes)。

Hey Robbie.

嘿，羅比。

Oh, hey, Ron and David. I was hoping you guys -- could you guys talk a little more and maybe it's not that significant as it could be, but just the nondigital customers and the shift back to paper coupons and how significant can that be? Is that a new incremental driver or a significant tailwind?

哦，嘿，羅恩和大衛。我希望你們——你們能否再多談一談，也許它沒有那麼重要，但非數位客戶和紙質優惠券的轉變有多重要？這是一個新的增量驅動力還是一個顯著的順風？

Well, I think it's certainly going to help. I mean when you think about the customers in our stores, and believe me, I've talked to hundreds and hundreds over the last 6 months in virtually every division where we operate.

嗯，我認為這肯定會有幫助。我的意思是，當你想到我們商店裡的顧客時，相信我，在過去的 6 個月裡，我幾乎與我們經營的每個部門的數百名顧客進行了交談。

And what you heard over and over again is that older customers are not as digitally proficient as maybe younger customers and older customers are feeling like they're -- they want the same deals that the person with the smartphone is getting. And so we wanted to make them on an equal playing field. And I think the end result we'll get incremental business from that.

你一遍又一遍聽到的是，老年顧客可能不像年輕顧客那樣精通數位技術，老年顧客感覺他們想要獲得與智慧型手機用戶相同的優惠。因此，我們希望讓他們處於平等的競爭環境。我認為最終結果是我們將從中獲得增量業務。

I think the other customer group that we weren't responding to very well were people who don't have a $600 iPhone and those people also were a little bit of disenfranchised with our digital coupons. So we're really trying to appeal to a broader customer segment, not only people that are very digitally savvy, but also people who are not able to be.

我認為，另一個我們沒有得到很好回應的客戶群是那些沒有 600 美元 iPhone 的人，這些人對我們的數位優惠券也有些不滿。因此，我們確實試圖吸引更廣泛的客戶群體，不僅是那些非常精通數位技術的人，還有那些不具備數位技術的人。

And does it -- is it pulling a lot of new customers? And I also wanted to ask on the fuel being down, is there any changes in the fuel rewards program on the digital side or anything going on there?

它是否吸引了大量新客戶？我還想問一下，關於燃油價格下降的問題，燃油獎勵計畫在數字方面有什麼變化嗎？或有什麼進展嗎？

Well, let me take the first piece around that. I mean the way that we're looking at that these paper coupons is it generating lift, and I think it is. So we're seeing unit lift from this, and it's part of the overall equation that we look to balance to make sure that we're offering great prices to customers. I think the other important thing to add to Ron's point is, this is something that we measure.

好吧，讓我先來談談這個問題。我的意思是，我們看待這些紙質優惠券的方式是否會產生升力，我認為是的。因此，我們看到了單位銷售的提升，這是我們希望平衡的整體方程式的一部分，以確保我們為客戶提供優惠的價格。我認為對羅恩的觀點要補充的另一個重要內容是，這是我們要衡量的。

So we're measuring customer feedback on this, and we're getting good feedback from customers which I think is an important part of our retention strategy and recruitment strategy as we look to give great offers to our consumer. No immediate plans to change the fuel rewards within our Kroger Plus card offerings.

因此，我們正在衡量客戶對此的反饋，並且我們從客戶那裡得到了良好的反饋，我認為這是我們保留策略和招聘策略的重要組成部分，因為我們希望為消費者提供優惠。目前沒有計劃改變我們的 Kroger Plus 卡產品中的燃油獎勵。

Jacob Aiken-Phillips, Melius Research.

Jacob Aiken-Phillips，Melius Research。

Morning, Jacob.

早上好，雅各。

Hi, good morning, everyone. I did want to say that my mom appreciates the paper coupons, in case you want the anecdote. But I wanted to ask about pharmacy. So there's obviously a lot of share to gain from like closures.

大家好，早安。我確實想說，我媽媽很喜歡紙質優惠券，如果你想聽這個軼事的話。但我想問一下有關藥房的問題。因此，顯然可以透過關閉獲得很大的市場份額。

And then I think on -- you said that it's incremental when they start shopping in the store, but also on the flip side, I think like a good percent of your current customers don't even realize that the stores have pharmacy. So can you talk a little bit about what you're doing to kind of like close the gap both ways to get people to shop the store more cohesively?

然後我想——您說當他們開始在商店購物時，這種增長是漸進的，但另一方面，我認為您目前的很大一部分顧客甚至沒有意識到商店有藥房。那麼，您能否稍微談談您正在採取哪些措施來縮小差距，讓人們更有凝聚力地在商店購物？

Yeah. It's a great point. First of all, thank your mother, for shopping at Kroger. We always appreciate that. In terms of pharmacy, you're right.

是的。這是一個很好的觀點。首先，感謝你的母親在 Kroger 購物。我們對此始終心存感激。從藥學角度來說，你是對的。

A lot of our customers don't have an awareness that we even have a pharmacy, and we think that's a big opportunity. And I think what we're going to be doing going forward is one, positioning it better in the store, but also trying to tie it into a whole HBC strategy because HBC health and beauty products are a growing category.

我們的許多顧客都不知道我們有一家藥局，我們認為這是一個很大的機會。我認為我們接下來要做的不僅是在商店中更好地定位它，而且還要嘗試將其與整個 HBC 策略結合起來，因為 HBC 健康和美容產品是一個不斷增長的類別。

We think that we've kind of buried that in the store as well. So I think it's probably a merchandising shift to kind of tie in pharmacy, which has operated kind of separately in the past to tie it in with the rest of the store in a way that HBC becomes kind of a shop of its own, much like the meat department or the deli bakery, et cetera, et cetera. I don't know, David, anything you want to add?

我們認為我們也將其埋藏在商店裡了。所以我認為這可能是一種商品銷售的轉變，以便與藥房進行某種程度的整合，藥房過去一直是單獨運營的，現在將其與商店的其他部分結合起來，使 HBC 成為一種獨立的商店，就像肉類部門或熟食麵包店等等。我不知道，大衛，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, nothing to add. I mean, I think it's an important part of the business. We've got a very big opportunity tying that into the kind of overall progress ecosystem through loyalty is a big opportunity for us.

不，沒什麼好補充的。我的意思是，我認為這是業務的重要組成部分。我們有一個很大的機會，透過忠誠度將其與整體進步生態系統結合起來，這對我們來說是一個巨大的機會。

Yeah. Our pharmacy team is doing a really nice job. And we think there's a big opportunity in pharmacy given the closures and the new ownership structure at some of our competitors, we think there's going to be an opportunity to continue to grow pharmacy better than ours.

是的。我們的藥局團隊做得非常出色。我們認為，鑑於我們的一些競爭對手的關閉和新的所有權結構，藥局行業存在巨大的機遇，我們認為將有機會繼續比我們更好地發展藥局。

Great. And then so you mentioned AI as like a key modernization tool. Do you have anything like concrete examples of where it's driving measurable improvement or where you expect to see improvement going forward? And then I guess more generally, just like how -- what's the strategy for rolling out different tools or use cases?

偉大的。然後您提到人工智慧就像是關鍵的現代化工具。您是否有任何具體的例子來說明它如何推動可衡量的改進或您期望在哪些方面看到未來的改進？然後我想更一般地說，就像如何一樣——推出不同工具或用例的策略是什麼？

Yeah. Let me take that one. I think the way that we think about AI is it's really the natural kind of evolution of many things that we've been doing for quite some time. So obviously, we've got a couple of decades worth of unbelievable data from our loyalty program, which is an enormous data asset, which obviously is a terrific foundation for us to have. And we've also actually got a deep bench of data science capability and other capability primarily in a 8451 division.

是的。讓我來拿那個。我認為我們對人工智慧的看法是，它實際上是我們長期以來一直在做的許多事情的自然演變。顯然，我們從忠誠度計劃中獲得了幾十年來的令人難以置信的數據，這是一筆巨大的數據資產，顯然為我們奠定了極好的基礎。我們實際上還擁有深厚的數據科學能力和其他能力，主要在 8451 部門。

If I think about things that we've done so far, we've got a couple of good examples. I'm really just going to highlight one. We've deployed an AI tool specifically against shrink which is an area that we've been performing well in.

如果我思考我們迄今為止所做的事情，我們會發現一些很好的例子。我真的只是想強調一點。我們部署了專門針對收縮的人工智慧工具，而我們在該領域一直表現良好。

We can see the direct result of the AI tool that allows us to see much better inventory levels, sell-through on a by store level. And we're actually now kind of trying to transition that less or sort of away from just being a shrink tool actually into an opportunity for us to accelerate the top line as well by identifying sales opportunities, primarily on seasonal items more efficiently.

我們可以看到人工智慧工具的直接效果，它讓我們更了解庫存水準和按商店劃分的銷售情況。實際上，我們現在正試圖將其從一種縮減工具轉變為一種機會，讓我們能夠透過更有效地識別銷售機會（主要是季節性商品的銷售機會）來加速營收成長。

So I think we've got some good proof points, and that's a really good one. As I think about what we do next on this, and we've got lots of things that we are experimenting with I think, one, it's an opportunity for us to deepen customer engagement, so using it as a sales acceleration tool, and we see plenty of opportunity there.

所以我認為我們已經得到了一些很好的證據，而且這是非常好的證據。當我思考我們下一步該做什麼時，我們正在嘗試很多事情，我認為，首先，這是我們加深客戶參與的機會，因此將其用作銷售加速工具，我們看到了很多機會。

But I think there are some obviously more obvious ones around what I would call sort of operational excellence and efficiency that we have a lot of opportunity to go after and sort of links to my comments around sort of modernizing the way we work and the operating model.

但我認為，圍繞著我所說的卓越營運和效率，還有一些更明顯的優勢，我們有很多機會去追求，這與我關於現代化我們的工作方式和營運模式的評論有關。

And just throw out a couple of other examples that's going to be really important and already is in scheduling by department by hour of the day. Planogramming is going to be very helpful to us in terms of using AI. And then finally, the whole customer personalization is going to be utilizing a lot of AI tools as well.

再舉幾個非常重要的例子，這些例子已經按照部門、時間安排好了。在使用人工智慧方面，規劃圖將對我們非常有幫助。最後，整個客戶個人化也將利用大量的人工智慧工具。

Okay, good. Thank you.

好的，很好。謝謝。

Thanks, Jacob.

謝謝，雅各。

Michael Montani, Evercore ISI.

邁克爾·蒙塔尼，Evercore ISI。

Morning, Mike.

早上好，麥克。

Yes, hey, good morning. Thanks for the questions. Good morning. Just wanted to ask, first off, if there's any way to kind of conceptualize the potential profit impact from the strategic review. I know we've been thinking several hundred million potentially. But secondly, would that be included in the guide? Or is that external to that?

是的，嘿，早安。感謝您的提問。早安.首先我想問一下，是否有辦法概念化策略評估對利潤的潛在影響。我知道我們一直在考慮潛在的數億美元。但其次，這會包含在指南中嗎？還是那是外部的？

Yeah, you're talking about e-commerce specifically.

是的，您具體談論的是電子商務。

Yeah, e-com.

是的，電子商務。

Yeah. I think what we will do is kind of talk in kind of general terms about our path to profitability and with the time line associated with that. But in terms of the amount, I think it's probably not a number we would disclose nor are we ready to disclose it in any case because we're still doing the review as we speak.

是的。我認為我們將會以一般性的術語談論我們的盈利之路以及與之相關的時間表。但就金額而言，我認為這可能不是我們會披露的數字，而且我們也不准備在任何情況下披露它，因為我們仍在進行審查。

Yes. And to be clear, it is not included in the guide.

是的。需要明確的是，它不包含在指南中。

Thank you. At this time, I will now hand back to Ron Sargent for any further remarks.

謝謝。現在，我將把發言權交還給羅恩·薩金特，請他發表進一步的評論。

Well, thank you all for your questions. We really appreciate them, particularly the comment from Jacob's mother. As you know, before we conclude our earnings call, we'd like to share a few comments with any of our associates who are listening in.

好吧，謝謝大家的提問。我們真的很感謝他們，特別是雅各母親的評論。如您所知，在我們結束收益電話會議之前，我們想與正在聆聽的同事分享一些評論。

I'd like to thank our associates with a strong improvement that we saw in customer equity scores. As I shared, our customers are seeing how we're improving store conditions, how we're improving freshness and how our team is improving the shopping experience.

我要感謝我們的同事，我們看到客戶資產評分有了很大的提升。正如我所分享的，我們的客戶看到了我們如何改善商店條件、如何提高新鮮度以及我們的團隊如何改善購物體驗。

Setting priorities and developing strategies is really only half the battle. I think the hard part is executing the business, and that's the challenge, and our teams are doing a really terrific job. 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 in our stores.

設定優先事項和製定策略實際上只是成功的一半。我認為困難的部分是執行業務，這就是挑戰，而我們的團隊做得非常好。所以，感謝大家今天早上參加我們的電話會議。我們期待很快再次與大家交談，並希望在我們的商店見到您。

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。