柯爾百貨 (KSS) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Kohl's Corporation Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Please note that this call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

早安，歡迎參加 Kohl's Corporation 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。請注意，此通話正在錄音。 （操作員說明）

I will now turn the call over to Mark Rupe, SVP of IR and Treasury. Please go ahead.

我現在將把電話轉給 IR 和財務部高級副總裁 Mark Rupe。請繼續。

Thank you. Certain statements made on this call, including projected financial results and the company's future initiatives, are forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause Kohl's actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those that are described in Item 1A in Kohl's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and as may be supplemented from time to time in Kohl's other filings with the SEC, all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference. Forward-looking statements relate to the date initially made, and Kohl's undertakes no obligation to update them.

謝謝。本次電話會議所做的某些陳述，包括預期的財務表現和公司的未來舉措，均為前瞻性陳述。此類陳述受到某些風險和不確定性的影響，這可能導致科爾的實際結果與此類前瞻性陳述中的預測有重大差異。此類風險和不確定性包括但不限於Kohl's 最新10-K 表格年度報告第1A 項中描述的風險和不確定性，以及Kohl's 向SEC 提交的其他文件中可能不時補充的風險和不確定性，所有這些風險和不確定性明確地透過引用併入本文。前瞻性陳述涉及最初做出的日期，科爾士百貨不承擔更新這些陳述的義務。

In addition during this call, we may make reference to non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures can be found in the investor presentation filed as an exhibit to our Form 8-K filed with the SEC and is available on the company's Investor Relations website.

此外，在本次電話會議中，我們可能會參考非公認會計準則財務指標。非 GAAP 財務指標的調整可以在作為我們向 SEC 提交的 8-K 表格附件提交的投資者簡報中找到，也可以在公司的投資者關係網站上找到。

Please note that this call will be recorded. However, replays of this call will not be updated, so if you're listening to a replay of this call, it is possible that the information discussed is no longer current, and Kohl's undertakes no obligation to update such information.

請注意，此通話將會被錄音。但是，此通話的重播不會更新，因此，如果您正在收聽此通話的重播，則討論的資訊可能不再是最新的，並且 Kohl's 不承擔更新此類資訊的義務。

With me this morning are Tom Kingsbury, our CEO; and Jill Timm, our Chief Financial Officer.

今天早上和我在一起的是我們的執行長湯姆金斯伯里 (Tom Kingsbury)；和我們的財務長吉爾蒂姆。

I will now turn the call over to Tom.

我現在會把電話轉給湯姆。

Thank you, Mark, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，馬克，大家早安。

Kohl's third quarter earnings reflect strong gross margin and expense management as well as additional progress against our strategic priorities. We achieved this despite a softer-than-expected demand environment, driven by less-than-ideal weather and persistent macroeconomic pressures on our customer.

科爾的第三季收益反映了強勁的毛利率和費用管理以及我​​們戰略重點的額外進展。儘管由於天氣不太理想和客戶面臨持續的宏觀經濟壓力，需求環境比預期疲軟，但我們還是實現了這個目標。

Throughout 2023, we have focused on our 4 strategic priorities, which are enhancing the customer experience, accelerating and simplifying our value strategies, managing inventory and expenses with discipline and further strengthening our balance sheet. Our actions against these priorities are working and resonating with our customers.

在整個 2023 年，我們重點關注 4 個策略重點，即增強客戶體驗、加速和簡化我們的價值策略、嚴格管理庫存和費用以及進一步強化我們的資產負債表。我們針對這些優先事項採取的行動正在與客戶產生共鳴。

I am pleased with our positive year-to-date stores' performance driven by strong growth in Sephora and, more recently, our home and gifting initiatives. In addition, we have furthered our efforts to simplify our value strategies, manage expenses tightly and reduce inventory 13% at the end of the third quarter.

我對今年迄今為止商店的積極業績感到滿意，這得益於絲芙蘭的強勁增長以及最近我們的家居和禮品計劃的強勁增長。此外，我們還進一步努力簡化價值策略，嚴格管理費用，並在第三季末將庫存減少 13%。

Looking ahead, the work we have done this year will continue to build momentum and set us up to be successful in 2024. As we have said before, though, it will take some time for the full impact of our efforts to be realized.

展望未來，我們今年所做的工作將繼續累積動力，為我們在 2024 年取得成功奠定基礎。不過，正如我們之前所說，我們的努力的全面影響還需要一些時間才能實現。

Let me now share some additional details on Q3. Net sales decreased 5.2%, and comparable sales were down 5.5%. Digital sales were down 16.5% and continue to be impacted in part by our decision to eliminate online-only promotions in favor of omnichannel pricing across the enterprise. While this has pressured our digital performance in 2023, it remains the right long-term strategy for our business. Store comparable sales were down approximately 1% in Q3.

現在讓我分享有關第三季的一些其他細節。淨銷售額下降 5.2%，可比銷售額下降 5.5%。數位銷售下降了 16.5%，部分原因是我們決定取消僅限線上的促銷活動，轉而在整個企業內採用全通路定價，從而繼續受到影響。雖然這給我們 2023 年的數位業績帶來壓力，但這仍然是我們業務的正確長期策略。第三季商店可比銷售額下降約 1%。

Taking a closer look at the quarter, we had a solid back-to-school season, and through the first 8 weeks, sales were tracking above our expectations. However, warmer weather during the later part of September and into October had a clear impact on demand for our fall seasonal goods, especially in store. While I don't like blaming weather for, the fall transition period has historically proven to be when Kohl's apparel-intensive business is most sensitive to weather fluctuations. We experienced a fairly significant divergence in performance on a regional basis.

仔細觀察本季度，我們度過了一個穩定的返校季，在前 8 週，銷售額一直高於我們的預期。然而，九月下旬和十月份的溫暖天氣對我們秋季季節性商品的需求產生了明顯的影響，尤其是商店裡的商品。雖然我不喜歡歸咎於天氣，但歷史證明，秋季過渡期是科爾百貨服裝密集型業務對天氣波動最敏感的時期。我們在不同地區的表現上有相當大的差異。

Store sales in our Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast regions, where the weather impact was most apparent, were down low to mid-single digits in Q3, while all other regions increased low single digits. We have various initiatives underway to de-weather our business as we focus on growing sales in less weather-sensitive categories like beauty, home, gifting and impulse.

受天氣影響最明顯的中西部、大西洋中部和東北部的商店銷售額在第三季度下降至中個位數，而所有其他地區的銷售額均出現低個位數增長。我們正在採取各種措施來應對我們的業務，因為我們專注於增加對天氣不太敏感的類別（例如美容、家居、禮品和衝動）的銷售。

Before sharing an update on our progress against our strategic priorities, I really want to emphasize the importance of our stores' performance. In 2023, we have reestablished our stores as a key focal point of our strategy. This has come in the form of leadership's time and attention, meaningful investments and new operational processes. Our actions have included expanding our gifting assortment and repositioning it to the front of store, simplifying our in-store signage and graphics, consolidating the customer checkout area, improving our overall merchandising while adding new categories and empowering our stores to capitalize on opportunities to drive sales in their local markets.

在分享我們策略重點的最新進展之前，我真的想強調我們商店績效的重要性。 2023 年，我們將重建門市作為我們策略的重點。這體現在領導階層投入的時間和注意力、有意義的投資和新的營運流程。我們的行動包括擴大我們的禮品種類並將其重新定位到商店的前面，簡化我們的店內標牌和圖形，整合客戶結帳區域，改善我們的整體商品陳列，同時添加新的類別，並使我們的商店能夠利用機會來推動在當地市場進行銷售。

I am proud of what we've been able to accomplish so far this year in our stores. The response from customers has been favorable, and this has yielded a return to brick-and-mortar sales growth year-to-date.

我對今年迄今為止我們商店所取得的成就感到自豪。客戶的反應良好，今年迄今實體銷售成長恢復。

Let me now turn to our longer-term initiatives and provide more detail on our overarching priorities. Enhancing the customer experience remains our top priority and represents the largest growth opportunity for Kohl's. As I shared on our Q2 call, we believe Sephora gifting, impulse and home decor in longer term, new stores will be the most significant contributors to our future growth as these are largely white space opportunities for Kohl's. We are also focused on stabilizing our apparel and footwear businesses by optimizing our assortments to reflect our customers' interest.

現在讓我談談我們的長期舉措，並提供有關我們首要優先事項的更多細節。增強客戶體驗仍然是我們的首要任務，也是 Kohl's 最大的成長機會。正如我在第二季電話會議上分享的那樣，我們相信從長遠來看，絲芙蘭禮品、衝動和家居裝飾、新店將是我們未來成長的最重要貢獻者，因為這些主要是科爾士百貨的空白機會。我們也致力於透過優化我們的產品種類來反映客戶的興趣，從而穩定我們的服裝和鞋類業務。

Let me now share some updates on where we stand on some of these initiatives, starting first with Sephora at Kohl's. We continue to be extremely happy with our partnership with Sephora and with the results that we are achieving. Based on our success, we have increased confidence that Sephora at Kohl's will be a $2 billion business by 2025. In Q3, comparable beauty sales in the shops opened in 2021 and 2022 increased more than 30% to last year. This is an acceleration from greater than 20% growth in Q2 and mid-teens growth in Q1.

現在讓我分享一些關於我們在其中一些舉措方面的最新進展，首先從 Kohl's 的絲芙蘭開始。我們仍然對與絲芙蘭的合作關係以及我們所取得的成果感到非常滿意。基於我們的成功，我們更有信心，到2025 年，Sephora at Kohl's 的業務將達到20 億美元。第三季度，2021 年和2022 年開設的商店的同類美容產品銷售額比去年增長了30% 以上。這比第二季度超過 20% 的成長和第一季十幾歲左右的成長有所加速。

We attribute the improving trend to the increased awareness and shopping frequency. Total beauty sales increased more than 70% in the quarter, driving additional beauty share gains. We saw strong demand across the entire assortment, including skin care, makeup and fragrance. During the third quarter, nearly 100 more of our stores received Sephora shops. There is now a Sephora presence in over 900 of our stores, with more than 850 large format and 50 smaller shops.

我們將這種改善趨勢歸因於認知度和購物頻率的提高。本季美容產品總銷售額成長超過 70%，推動美容產品市場佔有率進一步成長。我們看到整個品類的需求強勁，包括護膚品、化妝品和香水。第三季度，我們又有將近 100 家門市進駐絲芙蘭店。目前，絲芙蘭在我們的 900 多家商店中設有分店，其中大型商店超過 850 家，小型商店超過 50 家。

As it relates to our new smaller shops, we are very pleased with the initial performance. This supports our plan to expand this format to the remainder of the chain by 2025. For the holiday season, we are well positioned, with Sephora featured in 50% more of our stores as compared to last year. We are building on last year's successes within our beauty assortment, significantly growing the number of holiday gift sets which also supports our broader gifting efforts.

由於它與我們新的小型商店有關，我們對最初的表現非常滿意。這支持了我們計劃在 2025 年將這種模式擴展到連鎖店的其餘部分。在假期季節，我們處於有利位置，與去年相比，絲芙蘭在我們門市的數量增加了 50%。我們在去年美容類別取得成功的基礎上，大幅增加了節日禮品套裝的數量，這也支持了我們更廣泛的禮品贈送活動。

We want Kohl's to become a gifting destination. This holiday season, we have significantly expanded our gifting section at the front of the store, and 50% of the gifting assortment is new this year. We have added gift baskets and increased the number of stocking stuffers and personal care gift sets.

我們希望 Kohl's 成為送禮目的地。這個假期，我們大幅擴大了店前的禮品區，今年 50% 的禮品種類都是新的。我們增加了禮品籃，並增加了聖誕禮物和個人護理禮品套裝的數量。

In addition, we see impulse products as a white space opportunity for Kohl's. Many of our competitors have successfully built impulse businesses through merchandising checkout areas. This holiday season, we are showcasing an expanded assortment of impulse products. And in 2024, we plan to continue installing queuing fixtures in many of our stores. We will merchandise these fixtures with a variety of beauty, wellness, electronics, toys, snacks and other products.

此外，我們認為衝動型產品對科爾士百貨來說是一個空白機會。我們的許多競爭對手已經透過商品結帳區成功建立了衝動業務。這個假期，我們展示了更多種類的衝動產品。到 2024 年，我們計劃繼續在許多商店安裝排隊裝置。我們將把這些固定裝置與各種美容、保健、電子、玩具、零食和其他產品一起銷售。

Home decor is another important growth opportunity for Kohl's. Building a home decor business complements our other businesses and fills a void that our customers have historically shopped elsewhere for. To capitalize on this opportunity, we have invested in the merchandising organization and have formed new vendor relationships.

家居裝飾是 Kohl's 的另一個重要成長機會。建立家居裝飾業務可以補充我們的其他業務，並填補我們的客戶歷來在其他地方購物的空白。為了利用這個機會，我們投資了銷售組織並建立了新的供應商關係。

In Q3, we began to flow new products into our stores, including wall art, glassware and ceramic home decor, barware, botanicals, lighting and more. We will drive significant incremental growth in home in the coming years as we further expand our assortments and as customers begin to see Kohl's as a destination for a broader set of home goods. In Q3, our home business outperformed in stores, driven by solid initial performance in our new categories, which are featured more prominently in store.

第三季度，我們開始將新產品引入商店，包括牆壁藝術、玻璃器皿和陶瓷家居裝飾、酒吧用具、植物、照明等。隨著我們進一步擴大產品種類，並且客戶開始將 Kohl's 視為購買更廣泛家居用品的目的地，我們將在未來幾年推動家居業務的大幅增長。在第三季度，我們的家居業務表現優於商店，這得益於我們新品類的初步穩健表現，這些新品類在商店中的表現更為突出。

We have also discussed our opportunity to grow our pet business. It is a category that we have invested in through expanding in-store space and broadening our assortment of products like dog beds, cat and dog apparel and pet toys. The results have been very positive, with Q3 sales increasing more than 40%. We expect to build on this momentum during the holiday season with plenty of pet-related gift options.

我們也討論了發展寵物業務的機會。我們透過擴大店內空間和擴大狗床、貓狗服裝和寵物玩具等產品類型來投資這個類別。結果非常積極，第三季銷售額成長超過 40%。我們希望在假期期間繼續保持這一勢頭，推出大量與寵物相關的禮物選擇。

As more of our customers recognize our expanded offering of gifting, impulse and home decor, sales will build. We've already seen this with Sephora, and I'm optimistic that through our collective product and marketing efforts, our customers will respond favorably and allocate more of their spend at Kohl's. My optimism is supported by strong customer feedback in the positive store sales we've achieved year-to-date.

隨著越來越多的客戶認識到我們不斷擴大的禮品、衝動和家居裝飾產品範圍，銷量將會增加。我們已經在絲芙蘭看到了這一點，我樂觀地認為，透過我們集體的產品和行銷努力，我們的客戶將會做出積極的回應，並在 Kohl's 上分配更多的支出。我的樂觀情緒得到了客戶對我們今年迄今為止取得的積極的商店銷售的強烈反饋的支持。

Now let me provide you with a quick update on the longer-term opportunity to expand our footprint with new stores. We remain committed to capitalizing on opportunities to open new smaller format Kohl's stores. We recently opened 5 new stores, completing our new store activities for the year. In total, in 2023, we opened 6 new stores, completed 1 relocation and closed 1 store. In the near term, we will follow a similar cadence for new store openings, so continue to see a significantly larger opportunity longer term.

現在，讓我向您簡要介紹一下透過新店擴大我們的業務範圍的長期機會的最新情況。我們仍然致力於利用機會開設新的小型 Kohl's 商店。我們最近新開了5家店，完成了今年的新店活動。 2023年，我們總共新開6家店，完成1家搬遷，關閉1家店。短期內，我們將遵循類似的新店開幕節奏，因此從長遠來看，我們將繼續看到更大的機會。

Turning to our apparel and footwear offerings. There was obvious weakness in our cold weather businesses during Q3. However, we continue to see strength in our polished casual and dress offerings, areas where we have focused our attention in 2023.

轉向我們的服裝和鞋類產品。第三季我們的寒冷天氣生意明顯疲軟。然而，我們繼續看到精緻休閒和正裝產品的優勢，這是我們 2023 年重點關注的領域。

Women's dresses and men's suiting, dress shirts and dress pants outperformed in Q3, with solid results across brands like Lauren Conrad, Draper James, Apt. 9 and Haggar. We were also pleased with the performance of other key brands including Nike, Under Armour and Eddie Bauer as well as our private brands, Jumping Beans and Little and Co.

女式洋裝和男式西裝、正裝襯衫和正裝褲在第三季表現出色，Lauren Conrad、Draper James、Apt. 等品牌都取得了不錯的業績。 9、哈加爾。我們也對 Nike、Under Armour 和 Eddie Bauer 等其他主要品牌以及我們的自有品牌 Jumping Beans 和 Little and Co 的表現感到滿意。

Broadly speaking, however, we have more work to do to improve our overall apparel and footwear performance, and a lot of this work is already underway. Let me share one example. In our juniors business, we are pivoting our strategy by leaning into more domestic market brands for trend-oriented items while continuing to offer our core basics through our private brands. In doing so, we are reducing lead times in a category where success is dependent upon speed to market.

然而，從廣義上講，我們還有更多工作要做，以提高我們的整體服裝和鞋類性能，而且很多工作已經在進行中。讓我分享一個例子。在我們的青少年業務中，我們正在調整策略，轉向更多國內市場品牌的潮流產品，同時繼續透過自有品牌提供我們的核心基礎產品。透過這樣做，我們正在縮短成功取決於上市速度的類別的交貨時間。

We currently have some of these market brands in select stores and have seen encouraging sell-throughs. This gives us confidence that we will be more relevant in the juniors category as we further scale this year. I look forward to sharing more on the progress of our work in the coming quarters.

目前，我們在精選商店中擁有其中一些市場品牌，銷售情況令人鼓舞。這讓我們相信，隨著今年我們進一步擴大規模，我們將在青少年類別中發揮更大的作用。我期待在未來幾季分享更多有關我們工作進展的資訊。

Now let me discuss our second priority, which is accelerating and simplifying our value strategies. Kohl's provides great value to our customers. This is evident in the millions of customers that shop at Kohl's on a regular basis. However, for newer customers, we have an opportunity to simplify our offers and pricing to ensure that they too recognize the value that Kohl's provides. This is an important effort of ours and one that we believe can drive overall customer engagement and conversion.

現在讓我討論我們的第二個優先事項，即加速和簡化我們的價值策略。 Kohl's 為我們的客戶提供巨大的價值。這一點在數百萬定期在 Kohl’s 購物的顧客身​​上就顯而易見。然而，對於新客戶，我們有機會簡化我們的報價和定價，以確保他們也認識到 Kohl's 提供的價值。這是我們的一項重要努力，我們相信它可以推動整體客戶參與度和轉換率。

During 2023, we have increased the mix of targeted offers and implemented more regular clearance events while also testing a percentage of our merchandise with clear and consistent price points. In our key value items initiative, which is high volume pricing on key items in our private apparel and home brands, we continue to see encouraging results with positive sales growth. Customers see these items in our marketing as must-have pricing.

2023 年，我們增加了有針對性的優惠組合，並實施了更多定期清倉活動，同時也以明確且一致的價格點測試了一定比例的商品。在我們的關鍵價值項目計劃中，即對我們的自有服裝和家居品牌的關鍵項目進行大批量定價，我們繼續看到令人鼓舞的結果，銷售增長積極。客戶在我們的行銷中將這些項目視為必備的定價。

The account purchase is a small portion of our assortment currently, but we plan to scale them more meaningfully in 2024. Our approach has been thoughtful, recognizing the risks of moving too quickly. I am pleased with the progress that we've made to date.

目前，帳戶購買僅占我們產品種類的一小部分，但我們計劃在 2024 年更有意義地擴大規模。我們的做法經過深思熟慮，並認識到行動過快的風險。我對我們迄今為止所取得的進展感到高興。

Another important component of the great value we provide our customers is our leading loyalty program. This includes Kohl's Cash, Kohl's Rewards, our Kohl's private label credit card and, most recently, our newly launched co-brand credit card, which gives customers more ways to earn Kohl's rewards.

我們為客戶提供的巨大價值的另一個重要組成部分是我們領先的忠誠度計劃。這包括 Kohl's Cash、Kohl's Rewards、Kohl's 自有品牌信用卡以及最近推出的聯名信用卡，為客戶提供了更多賺取 Kohl's 獎勵的方式。

I will now transition to our third priority, which is managing inventory and expenses with discipline. During the third quarter, we had strong inventory and expense management. We reduced inventory by 13% compared to last year, ahead of our goal of planning inventory down mid-single-digits percent. The new disciplines we implemented earlier this year where we operate with greater open-to-buy proved beneficial in Q3 as we're able to stay agile as the demand environment softened. For holiday, we are well positioned from an inventory perspective with better in-stock levels in core basics as compared to last year as well as increased investments in gifting and home decor. Our goal remains to increase inventory turns over the long term.

我現在將轉向我們的第三個優先事項，即嚴格管理庫存和費用。第三季度，我們有強大的庫存和費用管理。與去年相比，我們的庫存減少了 13%，提前實現了將庫存減少中個位數百分比的目標。我們今年稍早實施的新規則在第三季證明是有益的，因為我們能夠在需求環境疲軟的情況下保持敏捷性。對於假期，從庫存角度來看，我們處於有利地位，與去年相比，核心基本款的庫存水準有所提高，並且增加了對禮品和家居裝飾的投資。我們的目標仍然是長期提高庫存週轉率。

And from an expense perspective, we were able to manage expenses slightly better than our expectation due to our disciplined focus in a tougher demand environment. We continue to focus on driving expense efficiency across all areas of the company, including reducing our marketing spend and embedding more technology into our operations to drive productivity.

從費用角度來看，由於我們在更嚴峻的需求環境中嚴格集中精力，我們能夠比我們的預期更好地管理費用。我們繼續專注於提高公司所有領域的費用效率，包括減少行銷支出並將更多技術融入我們的營運中以提高生產力。

And lastly, our fourth priority is strengthening our balance sheet. We remain committed to returning our balance sheet to its historical strength, with a long-term objective of managing to a 2.5x leverage level. Our near-term focus is significantly reducing our revolver borrowings and rebuilding our cash position. We also remain committed to returning capital to shareholders. Jill will discuss our overall capital allocation priorities in a moment.

最後，我們的第四個優先事項是加強我們的資產負債表。我們仍然致力於使資產負債表恢復到歷史水平，長期目標是將槓桿水平控制在 2.5 倍。我們近期的重點是大幅減少循環借款並重建現金狀況。我們也仍然致力於向股東返還資本。吉爾稍後將討論我們的整體資本配置優先事項。

To summarize my comments today, I want to leave you with 3 things. First, we are repositioning Kohl's. We are executing several important strategic initiatives that will better position the company to drive improved sales and profitability growth over the long term. It includes efforts across the products and categories we carry, the value we offer, the experiences we provide and the operational processes and disciplines we leverage to manage our business.

總結我今天的評論，我想留給你們三件事。首先，我們正在重新定位 Kohl’s。我們正在執行幾項重要的策略性舉措，這些舉措將使公司能夠更好地推動銷售和獲利能力的長期成長。它包括我們在產品和類別上所做的努力、我們提供的價值、我們提供的經驗以及我們用來管理業務的營運流程和規則。

Second, we remain in the early innings of our growth initiatives. I've said many times that it takes time to build businesses. Our focus has been twofold: one, optimizing our current assortments and embedding new disciplines and processes and, two, adding new relevant products. While aspects of our future vision will be evident this holiday season, they will be even more visible in 2024. I am proud of the work we've accomplished this year, and I'm anxious to see more of our efforts come to fruition in 2024 and beyond.

其次，我們的成長計劃仍處於初期階段。我多次說過，創業需要時間。我們的重點有兩個：一是優化我們目前的品種並嵌入新的學科和流程，二是增加新的相關產品。雖然我們未來願景的各個方面將在這個假期變得顯而易見，但到 2024 年，它們將更加明顯。我對我們​​今年完成的工作感到自豪，我渴望看到我們的更多努力在2024 年及以後。

And third, the holidays have always been an important time for Kohl's. And this year, they carry even more significance given that our new strategies will be seen for the very first time by many of our customers.

第三，假期對科爾百貨來說一直是個重要的時刻。今年，鑑於我們的許多客戶將首次看到我們的新策略，它們的意義更加重大。

I want to thank all of our Kohl's associates across the organization for their efforts to set us up for success this holiday season. I hope those listening today will get a chance to visit our stores over the coming weeks.

我要感謝整個組織內所有 Kohl's 員工為我們在這個假期中取得成功所做的努力。我希望今天收聽的人在未來幾週內有機會參觀我們的商店。

I will now turn over the call to Jill to discuss our third quarter results and 2023 outlook. Jill?

我現在將電話轉給吉爾，討論我們的第三季業績和 2023 年前景。吉爾？

Thanks, Tom, and good morning, everyone. I will provide additional details on our third quarter results and then discuss our updated fiscal year 2023 guidance. As you heard from Tom, we made additional progress against our strategic priorities and had strong gross margin and expense management in the quarter.

謝謝，湯姆，大家早安。我將提供有關我們第三季度業績的更多詳細信息，然後討論我們更新的 2023 財年指導。正如您從湯姆那裡聽到的，我們在戰略重點方面取得了更多進展，並且本季的毛利率和費用管理強勁。

Turning to our results. Net sales declined 5.2% in Q3 and are down 4.5% year-to-date. Store comparable sales were down approximately 1% to last year, with continued strong performance from Sephora at Kohl's. Echoing Tom's comments earlier, stores are incredibly important to our business and have been a key focus of ours this year. We are encouraged with the year-to-date store sales up slightly compared to last year.

轉向我們的結果。第三季淨銷售額下降 5.2%，今年迄今下降 4.5%。實體店可比銷售額比去年下降約 1%，絲芙蘭 (Sephora) 和 Kohl's 的業績持續強勁。與湯姆之前的評論相呼應，商店對我們的業務非常重要，也是我們今年的重點。今年迄今為止的商店銷售額與去年相比略有上升，這讓我們感到鼓舞。

Digital sales declined 16.5% in Q3, with digital penetration of 26%. Digital continues to be impacted by our efforts to simplify our value strategies.

第三季數位銷售額下降 16.5%，數位滲透率為 26%。數位化繼續受到我們簡化價值策略的努力的影響。

Other revenue, which is primarily our credit business declined 6% in Q3, which is relatively in line with our expectations. As we discussed on last quarter's call, we are seeing payment trends decline and loss rates increase as expected. For Q4, we expect other revenue to perform in line to slightly better than net sales as we start to benefit from our co-brand card. I will touch more on our credit business in a moment.

其他收入（主要是我們的信貸業務）在第三季下降了 6%，這相對符合我們的預期。正如我們在上季度電話會議中討論的那樣，我們看到支付趨勢下降，損失率如預期上升。對於第四季度，我們預計其他收入的表現將略好於淨銷售額，因為我們開始受益於我們的聯名卡。稍後我將詳細介紹我們的信貸業務。

Moving down the P&L. Gross margin in Q3 was 38.9%, an increase of 158 basis points to last year. The year-over-year increase was driven by lower freight costs, reduced digital-related cost of shipping and further progress against simplifying our value strategies. This was partially offset by product cost inflation. Although shrink remains elevated, it was in line with our expectations during the quarter. Year-to-date, gross margin was 39%, up 56 basis points to last year.

損益表向下移動。第三季毛利率為38.9%，較去年成長158個基點。年比成長的推動因素包括貨運成本降低、數位相關運輸成本降低以及在簡化價值策略方面取得的進一步進展。這被產品成本通膨部分抵銷。儘管收縮率仍然較高，但符合我們本季的預期。年初至今，毛利率為 39%，較去年上升 56 個基點。

SG&A expenses increased 1.9% to $1.4 billion, slightly better than our expectations as we managed expenses tightly given the softer sales environment. The increase to last year was driven by continued investments in Sephora shop openings, wages and other store-related expenses. Partially offsetting these were efficiencies in marketing and distribution costs. Year-to-date, SG&A expenses have decreased 0.2% compared to last year.

SG&A 費用增加 1.9%，達到 14 億美元，略優於我們的預期，因為鑑於銷售環境疲軟，我們嚴格管理費用。與去年相比的成長是由絲芙蘭開店、工資和其他商店相關費用的持續投資所推動的。行銷和分銷成本的效率部分抵消了這些影響。年初至今，SG&A 費用比去年下降了 0.2%。

Depreciation expense of $188 million was $14 million lower than last year due to reduced technology capital spend. Year-to-date, depreciation expense decreased $46 million to $562 million.

由於技術資本支出減少，折舊費用為 1.88 億美元，比去年減少了 1,400 萬美元。年初至今，折舊費用減少了 4,600 萬美元，至 5.62 億美元。

Interest expense of $89 million was $8 million higher than last year due to primarily increased revolver borrowings. Year-to-date, interest expense increased $36 million to $262 million. Our tax rate was 13% in Q3 and year-to-date is 16%.

利息支出為 8,900 萬美元，比去年增加 800 萬美元，主要是因為循環借款增加。年初至今，利息支出增加了 3,600 萬美元，達到 2.62 億美元。第三季我們的稅率為 13%，今年迄今為 16%。

Net income for the quarter was $59 million, and earnings per diluted share was $0.53. Year-to-date, net income was $131 million, and earnings per diluted share was $1.18.

本季淨利為 5,900 萬美元，攤薄後每股收益為 0.53 美元。年初至今，淨利為 1.31 億美元，稀釋後每股收益為 1.18 美元。

Now moving on to the balance sheet and cash flow. We ended the quarter with $190 million of cash and cash equivalents. Inventory at quarter end was down 13% compared to last year, exceeding our commitment of a mid-single-digit decline. As Tom shared earlier, we feel good about the level and composition of our inventory for the holiday season.

現在轉向資產負債表和現金流量。本季結束時，我們擁有 1.9 億美元的現金和現金等價物。季度末庫存比去年下降 13%，超出了我們中個位數下降的承諾。正如湯姆早些時候分享的那樣，我們對假期季節的庫存水平和組成感到滿意。

Operating cash flow was $151 million in the third quarter and $379 million year-to-date. In Q4, we expect to drive strong operating cash flow as we move through inventory during the holiday season.

第三季營運現金流為 1.51 億美元，年初至今為 3.79 億美元。在第四季度，隨著我們在假期期間清理庫存，我們預計將推動強勁的營運現金流。

Capital expenditures for the quarter were $157 million. This included investments for 5 new stores, which opened earlier this month and nearly 100 Sephora openings. Based on our year-to-date spending and outlook for the remainder of the year, we now expect full year capital expenditures to be towards the lower end of our $600 million to $650 million guidance range.

該季度的資本支出為 1.57 億美元。其中包括投資本月稍早開幕的 5 家新店以及近 100 家絲芙蘭新店。根據我們今年迄今的支出和今年剩餘時間的展望，我們現在預計全年資本支出將接近 6 億至 6.5 億美元指導範圍的下限。

Looking ahead to 2024, our initial view is that capital spending will be lower than 2023 levels given that much of the Sephora build-out is now behind us. We will provide more details on our fourth quarter earnings call.

展望 2024 年，我們最初的觀點是，鑑於絲芙蘭的大部分擴建現已成為過去，資本支出將低於 2023 年的水平。我們將在第四季財報電話會議上提供更多詳細資訊。

Now let me provide an update on our capital structure and capital allocation priorities. We remain committed to strengthening our balance sheet. Our focus in the near term is to pay down our revolver borrowings and rebuild our cash position. Over the longer term, our objective is to manage to a 2.5x leverage level. During the third quarter, we utilized our revolver to fund seasonal working capital build ahead of the holiday season as expected. At quarter end, our revolver balance was $625 million.

現在讓我介紹一下我們的資本結構和資本配置優先事項的最新情況。我們仍然致力於加強我們的資產負債表。我們近期的重點是償還循環貸款並重建我們的現金狀況。從長遠來看，我們的目標是達到 2.5 倍的槓桿水平。在第三季度，我們利用左輪手槍為假期前的季節性營運資金建設提供了預期的資金。截至季末，我們的左輪手槍餘額為 6.25 億美元。

Looking ahead in the fourth quarter, we will take another step to strengthen our balance sheet, retiring $111 million of [bond] maturities. In addition, we expect to significantly reduce our revolver borrowings.

展望第四季度，我們將採取另一措施加強我們的資產負債表，註銷 1.11 億美元的[債券]到期日。此外，我們預計將大幅減少左輪借款。

As it relates to shareholder returns, our current dividend remains a priority. We paid $55 million or $0.50 per share in dividends to shareholders in Q3. And on November 7, as previously disclosed, the Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.50 per share payable to shareholders on December 20.

由於與股東回報相關，我們目前的股息仍然是優先考慮的事項。我們在第三季向股東支付了 5,500 萬美元或每股 0.50 美元的股息。如同先前所揭露的，董事會於 11 月 7 日宣布，將於 12 月 20 日向股東派發每股 0.50 美元的季度現金股利。

Now let me share some color on our updated outlook for 2023. As you've heard today, we continue to feel good about the progress we are making against our strategic priorities. Based on our performance to date and our outlook for the remainder of the year, we are updating our fiscal year guidance range. We currently expect net sales for the full year to decrease between 2.8% and 4% versus 2022 as compared to our previous guidance range of a decrease of 2% to 4%. As a reminder, this outlook includes sales from the 53rd week, which is worth approximately 1 percentage point of growth. Operating margin for the full year to be approximately 4%, which is unchanged from our prior guidance. For EPS, we currently expect full year earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $2.30 to $2.70, excluding any nonrecurring charges. This compares to our prior guidance of $2.10 to $2.70.

現在讓我分享我們更新的 2023 年展望。正如您今天所聽到的，我們仍然對我們在策略重點方面取得的進展感到滿意。根據我們迄今為止的業績和對今年剩餘時間的展望，我們正在更新我們的財政年度指導範圍。我們目前預計全年淨銷售額將比 2022 年下降 2.8% 至 4%，而我們先前的指導範圍為下降 2% 至 4%。提醒一下，此展望包括第 53 週的銷售額，該銷售額成長約 1 個百分點。全年營業利潤率約 4%，與我們先前的指引持平。對於每股收益，我們目前預計全年每股攤薄收益將在 2.30 美元至 2.70 美元之間，不包括任何非經常性費用。相比之下，我們之前的指導價為 2.10 美元至 2.70 美元。

Before turning it over for Q&A, I would like to discuss our credit business in the context of recent regulatory developments surrounding credit card late fees. As many of you are aware, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, has proposed lowering the late fees credit card companies can charge. If enacted as proposed, it would have an impact on credit card revenues, if unmitigated. We are actively pursuing various initiatives to mitigate the effects of this potential ruling.

在進行問答之前，我想在最近圍繞信用卡滯納金的監管發展的背景下討論我們的信貸業務。正如你們許多人所知，消費者金融保護局（CFPB）已提議降低信用卡公司可以收取的滯納金。如果按照提案實施，如果不加以緩解，將會對信用卡收入產生影響。我們正在積極採取各種措施來減輕這項潛在裁決的影響。

One thing unique to Kohl's is that we just launched our co-brand credit card, which is more reliant on revolving interest fees. Our co-brand card is off to a good start. And as we scale it over the next couple of years, it will serve as a key opportunity to drive credit revenue. In addition to scaling our co-brand card, we are also working on various other initiatives with Capital One, our credit partner, to mitigate the potential loss of late fee revenue.

Kohl's 的獨特之處在於我們剛剛推出了聯名信用卡，該信用卡更依賴循環利息費用。我們的聯名卡有了一個好的開始。隨著我們在未來幾年擴大規模，它將成為推動信貸收入的關鍵機會。除了擴大我們的聯名卡規模外，我們還與我們的信貸合作夥伴第一資本合作開展各種其他舉措，以減少滯納金收入的潛在損失。

Through these efforts, we feel good about our ability to quickly offset any potential impact within a couple of years. We are closely monitoring developments on this issue. And as you can appreciate, there are a lot of unknowns at this time. We, like everyone else, are waiting on the final rule. I want to make it clear that we believe in our ability to offset this regulatory headwind to our credit business over time.

透過這些努力，我們對自己在幾年內快速抵消任何潛在影響的能力感到滿意。我們正在密切關注這一問題的進展。如您所知，目前存在許多未知因素。我們和其他人一樣，正在等待最終規則。我想明確表示，我們相信隨著時間的推移，我們有能力抵消信貸業務面臨的監管阻力。

In the meantime, we are not going to speculate on this topic as the scale and timing of our mitigation efforts will depend on the final ruling. To the extent appropriate, we will provide an update on our fourth quarter earnings call.

同時，我們不會猜測這個話題，因為我們緩解措施的規模和時間將取決於最終裁決。在適當的情況下，我們將提供第四季財報電話會議的最新情況。

With that, Tom and I are happy to take your questions at this time.

至此，湯姆和我很高興此時回答你們的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Mark Altschwager with Baird.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Baird 的 Mark Altschwager。

I guess to start off, Tom, how are you currently thinking about the path back to positive comps? Given the longer lead times, you've been somewhat constrained through 2023, what is the timing of some of the bigger changes you expect to take hold in 2024 to drive improved sales momentum?

我想首先，湯姆，你目前如何考慮回歸積極競爭的道路？鑑於交貨時間較長，您在 2023 年之前受到了一定的限制，您預計在 2024 年實施一些較大變革以推動銷售勢頭改善的時間是什麼時候？

Good question, Mark. We're working hard to really see much more progress in 2024. I've said all along that in 2023 is really rebuilding the company, repositioning the company. As you know, it can't be done overnight. But we have a lot of really good things in place right now. And what I always go back to is the fact that we do have a positive comp for the year in our stores.

好問題，馬克。我們正在努力工作，希望在 2024 年真正看到更多進展。我一直在說，2023 年是真正的重建公司、重新定位公司。如你所知，這不是一朝一夕就能完成的。但我們現在有很多非常好的事情。我總是回顧的事實是，我們的商店今年確實有積極的補償。

And our stores really reflect a lot of the new strategies. I mean our home business is doing well in stores right now. Obviously, the beauty business is doing very well in stores right now. So I think that's evidence that in 2024, potentially we can have a positive comp. And the digital business is really what's bringing us down, and as I've mentioned before, we had some things we were doing online that was really not reflective of what an omni company would be doing, a lot of online-only promotions, et cetera, online pricing. And we felt that for our customers, it was important that we have one view on pricing, and obviously, in 2023, that hurt our digital business.

我們的商店確實體現了許多新策略。我的意思是我們的家庭業務現在在商店裡做得很好。顯然，目前美容店的生意做得很好。所以我認為這證明到 2024 年我們可能會獲得正面的回報。數位業務確實是讓我們失望的原因，正如我之前提到的，我們在網上做的一些事情實際上並不能反映全能公司會做的事情，很多僅限在線促銷等等等，在線定價。我們認為，對於我們的客戶來說，我們對定價有一個統一的看法很重要，顯然，到 2023 年，這會損害我們的數位業務。

But again, a lot of the actions we've taken will be behind us as we go into 2024. So again, I'm confident about the fact that we are doing well in stores, and I think it's going to be a good setup for 2024.

但同樣，當我們進入 2024 年時，我們採取的許多行動都將成為過去。因此，我再次對我們在商店中表現良好的事實充滿信心，並且我認為這將是一個很好的設置2024 年。

I appreciate the color. Maybe just a follow-up as well. Tom, could you give us any additional color on the leadership changes that were announced this week?

我很欣賞它的顏色。也許也只是後續行動。湯姆，您能為我們提供有關本周宣布的領導層變動的更多資訊嗎？

Sure. Over the past year, we've had an opportunity to evaluate and better understand what the best leadership structure was for the organization moving forward to best execute against our strategic priorities. Some of the organizational structure that was in place really was developed early in my time at Kohl's. I've been very, very involved in the move to reestablish our stores as a focal point of the company strategy and, based on this, wanted a closer reporting relationship to the stores' organization.

當然。在過去的一年裡，我們有機會評估並更了解組織最好的領導結構是什麼，以便更好地執行我們的策略重點。一些已經到位的組織結構其實是我在科爾的早期就制定的。我非常非常積極地參與了將我們的商店重新建立為公司策略焦點的行動，並基於此，希望與商店組織建立更密切的報告關係。

Similarly, I felt it was important to have the supply chain organization reporting directly to me. Fred Hand, who is now leading the stores, he and I have worked together for over 20 years. We know what each other needs in order to really run the stores' organization. So just being closer to him and closer to just the overall stores' organization is key.

同樣，我認為讓供應鏈組織直接向我報告也很重要。現在領導這家商店的是 Fred Hand，他和我已經合作了 20 多年。我們知道彼此需要什麼才能真正管理商店的組織。因此，靠近他並靠近整個商店的組織是關鍵。

We are removing this layer. There will be no backfill for this position. Stores and supply chain will now report to me, with other executive leaders assuming oversight of other functions, real estate, purchasing, risk management strategy. We are confident that we have the right leadership team going forward and the right structure in place to best execute against our strategy.

我們正在刪除這一層。該職位不會再填補。商店和供應鏈現在將向我匯報，其他執行領導負責監督其他職能、房地產、採購、風險管理策略。我們相信，我們擁有正確的領導團隊和適當的結構來最好地執行我們的策略。

And I think it will give us more speed in terms of doing the things that we want to accomplish. And if we want to get back to positive in 2024, we have to move with a lot of speed. So we -- I just feel that now that I've been on the job for a year. I understand what we need as a company, and I decided to execute it.

我認為這將使我們更快完成我們想要完成的事情。如果我們想在 2024 年恢復正值，我們必須加快步伐。所以我們——我只是覺得我已經工作一年了。我了解我們作為一家公司的需求，並決定執行它。

Our next question comes from Bob Drbul with Guggenheim.

我們的下一個問題來自古根漢的鮑勃·德布爾。

Just a couple of questions if I could. The first one is just on beauty. Can you give us a little bit more data just maybe around some of the older stores and newer stores, cross-shopping, how they're performing?

如果可以的話，我只想問幾個問題。第一個只是關於美麗。您能給我們更多關於一些老店和新店的數據嗎？交叉購物，他們的表現如何？

And then on the EDLP, the key item strategy, just in terms of the traction that you're getting, like, how big do you think that could become in the next few years?

然後就 EDLP 而言，關鍵項目策略，就您所獲得的吸引力而言，您認為未來幾年它會發展到多大？

Well, we're performing very well and, obviously, in the anniversary stores overall. We have a 30% comp, which is obviously significantly good, and our overall beauty business is up 70%, if you include the -- obviously, the newer stores as well. But right now, we have like -- we have 900-plus stores -- shops, excuse me, in Sephora, which is very exciting. I mean it's exciting in many different ways, one of which is the fact that going into holiday now, we'll have 50 more Sephora shops than we had last year.

嗯，我們的表現非常好，顯然，在周年紀念店中整體表現也是如此。我們的利潤率為 30%，這顯然非常好，如果你把新店也算在內的話，我們的整體美容業務增長了 70%。但現在，我們有 900 多家商店，對不起，在絲芙蘭，這是非常令人興奮的。我的意思是，這在很多方面都令人興奮，其中之一是，現在進入假期，我們將比去年多 50 家絲芙蘭商店。

And as you know and is that beauty is a really important category in the fourth quarter. So we really feel good in about that overall. We really expect to hit the $2 billion mark by 2025, very confident about that based on what we're currently doing. Good news also, it's accretive to operating margin. 40% of the Sephora baskets have an additional category purchase in the basket. Customers returning for additional purchases for Sephora shop 2 times more often than the Kohl's space.

如您所知，美容是第四季度非常重要的類別。所以我們對整體感覺很好。我們確實預計到 2025 年將達到 20 億美元大關，根據我們目前所做的事情對此非常有信心。還有個好消息，它可以增加營業利潤。 40% 的絲芙蘭購物籃中有額外購買的類別。顧客回絲芙蘭店額外購買的次數是 Kohl’s 店的 2 倍。

Our return on investment, all the capital that we spent, obviously, is very significant overall. And what's interesting is, I mean, it's really across -- the performance is doing well across all the categories, especially the fragrance business, but we're still doing well with skincare and makeup.

顯然，我們的投資回報，也就是我們花費的所有資本，總體而言是非常可觀的。有趣的是，我的意思是，它確實是跨領域的——所有類別的表現都很好，尤其是香水業務，但我們在護膚和化妝品方面仍然表現良好。

And as I mentioned on the last call, 30% of the customers that shop Sephora at Kohl's are new to Kohl's. I mean that is a significant number. And obviously, it's a newer -- a new customer, obviously, it's younger, more diverse. It's really very important to bring a new customer into the store overall.

正如我在上次電話中提到的，在 Kohl's 購買絲芙蘭的顧客中有 30% 是 Kohl's 的新顧客。我的意思是這是一個很大的數字。顯然，這是一個更新的——新客戶，顯然，它更年輕、更多樣化。總體而言，將新客戶帶入商店確實非常重要。

And there are some ancillary businesses that are performing better than they have. Our junior business is doing better than it has before. So we're capturing some additional sales there overall. But the partnership with Sephora is phenomenal, and we really feel that the numbers we put out there will be achievable in the near future.

還有一些輔助業務的表現比現在更好。我們的初級業務比以前做得更好。因此，我們總體上正在那裡獲得一些額外的銷售額。但與絲芙蘭的合作是驚人的，我們確實認為我們在那裡公佈的數字在不久的將來是可以實現的。

So KVIs, your second question. So far, we've done very well with KVIs. It's a small subset of our private brands in apparel and in home. But we've seen a positive comp on that. So we plan to -- in 2024, we plan to roll out more high-volume price items, KVIs, and it will be primarily from our private and proprietary brands overall. But so far, so good. And -- but we're going to be watching it. We're going to be watching it very, very closely, just because we want to make sure whatever we do, it's the right thing to do for the long run. So -- but it's good so far. So I feel good about it.

那麼 KVI，你的第二個問題。到目前為止，我們在 KVI 方面做得非常好。它只是我們服裝和家居自有品牌的一小部分。但我們已經看到了正面的回報。因此，我們計劃在 2024 年推出更多大批量價格產品、KVI，並且總體上將主要來自我們的自有品牌和專有品牌。但到目前為止，一切都很好。而且——但我們會關注它。我們將非常非常密切地關注它，只是因為我們想確保無論我們做什麼，從長遠來看都是正確的。所以——但到目前為止還不錯。所以我對此感覺很好。

Our next question comes from Oliver Chen with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Oliver Chen。

Tom and Jill, within guidance, what's assumed in terms of promotions and merchandise margins? And do you expect traffic to continue to be fairly volatile?

湯姆和吉爾，在指導範圍內，促銷和商品利潤的假設是什麼？您預計流量會持續相當不穩定嗎？

And Tom, as you've made some nice strides in footwear and apparel, what might be the timing of that impact with the initiatives you're taking, you're putting forward and also how they may interplay with what's happening at Sephora, which is quite remarkable and successful?

湯姆，您在鞋類和服裝領域取得了一些不錯的進步，您正在採取的舉措、您提出的舉措可能會在什麼時間產生影響，以及它們如何與絲芙蘭正在發生的事情相互作用，這是相當出色和成功的嗎？

Sure. Oliver, I'll start with guidance. I think overall, as we head into holiday, we always know it's going to be promotional. Promotions are core to what Kohl's has done. And even though I think we've done some great editing throughout the year, you're going to see us really lean in promotions in the fourth quarter. I think we've talked about it. We aren't going to leave ourselves empty from a promotion perspective or do with many cuts that you've seen in the first 3 quarters of the year because we know how important it is in holiday. Particularly with the uncertainty in the macro environment, we're going to definitely make sure we're delivering the value our customers have known Kohl's for.

當然。奧利佛，我將從指導開始。我認為總的來說，當我們進入假期時，我們總是知道這將會是促銷活動。促銷是 Kohl's 所做工作的核心。儘管我認為我們全年都做了一些出色的編輯，但你會看到我們在第四季度的促銷方面確實有所傾斜。我想我們已經討論過了。從促銷的角度來看，我們不會讓自己空著，也不會像今年前三個季度那樣進行許多削減，因為我們知道假期有多重要。特別是考慮到宏觀環境的不確定性，我們一定會確保我們提供客戶所熟知的 Kohl's 價值。

That's all contemplated in the guidance. And I think when you kind of work through getting to that 4% EBIT, we are expecting to now be at the high end of the 36% to 36.5% range that we did give from a guidance perspective. So even with the promotional environment, we've been anticipating this. We know we're going to be competitive, and that's definitely contemplated from a guidance perspective.

這都是指南中考慮到的。我認為，當你努力實現 4% 的息稅前利潤時，我們預計現在將處於我們從指導角度給出的 36% 至 36.5% 範圍的高端。因此，即使在促銷環境下，我們也一直在期待這一點。我們知道我們將具有競爭力，這絕對是從指導角度考慮的。

In terms of traffic, I think we've seen our traffic improve in both channels as the year has progressed. Obviously, a lot of the efforts that Tom has outlined, particularly Sephora being a traffic-driving initiative, has helped us build that traffic back from a store perspective. We're also seeing a basket expansion as well as that customer is willing to spend a little bit more on that product.

就流量而言，我認為隨著時間的推移，我們已經看到兩個管道的流量都有所改善。顯然，湯姆概述的許多努力，特別是絲芙蘭作為流量驅動計劃，幫助我們從商店的角度恢復了流量。我們也看到購物籃的擴張，以及顧客願意在該產品上多花一點錢。

So I think it's really a balance for us. But as we've seen a little bit of volatility like you mentioned, that's more driven by weather patterns. And as we go into holiday, that becomes less of a factor as people really get into that gift-giving mode.

所以我認為這對我們來說確實是一種平衡。但正如您所提到的那樣，我們已經看到了一些波動，這更多是由天氣模式驅動的。當我們進入假期時，隨著人們真正進入送禮模式，這變得不那麼重要了。

Yes. I just want to piggyback on what Jill said. We are coming out on holiday very aggressively in terms of promotions. Obviously, it's a really important time. It's an important time to gain market share. And we're working really hard on it.

是的。我只是想藉鏡吉爾的話。我們在假期期間非常積極地進行促銷活動。顯然，這是一個非常重要的時刻。這是獲得市場份額的重要時機。我們正在為此努力。

We did eliminate a lot of layered events in the first 3 quarters of the year. This year, we're keeping it primarily intact in terms of our promotional efforts overall. So we're well positioned. I talked about in the prepared remarks in terms of everything we're doing for holiday, not only in promotions but also in gifting and impulse and Sephora, et cetera. So we're working really hard to do well in the fourth quarter overall.

今年前三個季度我們確實消除了許多分層事件。今年，我們在整體促銷工作方面基本上保持不變。所以我們處於有利位置。我在準備好的演講中談到了我們為假期所做的一切，不僅是促銷，還包括禮品、衝動和絲芙蘭等等。因此，我們非常努力地在第四季取得好成績。

So as far as apparel and footwear goes, Oliver, I would say in apparel, in men's and ladies', you'll continue to see more and more polished casual. It's doing very well. In ladies', you'll see a much bigger presence of dresses starting really in the month of March moving through the spring season. It's a category that we've always been underdeveloped in. So we're really making a conscious effort to grow that business. But it's beyond dresses.

就服裝和鞋類而言，奧利弗，我想說，在服裝、男裝和女裝中，您將繼續看到越來越多精緻的休閒裝。它做得很好。在女裝方面，從三月開始一直到春季，您會看到更多的連身裙。這是一個我們一直不發達的類別。因此，我們確實正在有意識地努力發展該業務。但這超出了禮服的範圍。

We really feel important to drive the jacket business, et cetera, continue to get the balance right between the casual piece and -- the casual piece and the dress-up piece. But we've seen a lot of progress. I feel good what the team has done so far. You just -- we just need to obviously continue to push on that.

我們確實覺得推動夾克業務非常重要，等等，繼續在休閒單品和休閒單品和正裝單品之間取得平衡。但我們已經看到了很大的進步。我對團隊迄今為止所做的一切感到滿意。你只是——我們顯然需要繼續推動這一點。

In men's, we've done well with tailored separates and dress shirts, and we see that continuing as well as also, we feel that not only in men's and ladies', we feel that the polished casual is going to be important in the children's business as well. You'll see a much stronger Easter dress presentation, boys' suiting presentations, et cetera.

在男裝方面，我們在訂製單品和正裝襯衫方面做得很好，我們認為這種趨勢將繼續下去，而且我們認為，不僅在男裝和女裝中，精緻的休閒裝在兒童服裝中也將很重要。商業也是如此。您將看到更強大的復活節服裝展示、男孩西裝展示等等。

And one thing to connect the Sephora business with is my example in my prepared remarks about the junior business. We're -- we know that customer wants trends. Historically, we've gone out and used our proprietary and private brands to go out and buy goods in juniors. And what happened was we didn't have enough knowledge about what was going to work. And so we would go out and we would buy a lot of goods, and it would come in 12, 14 months later, and it didn't perform very well.

與絲芙蘭業務相關的一件事是我在準備好的初級業務的評論中的例子。我們知道客戶想要趨勢。從歷史上看，我們已經出去使用我們的專有和自有品牌出去購買初級商品。所發生的事情是我們對什麼是可行的沒有足夠的了解。所以我們會出去買很多商品，12、14個月後就會到貨，但表現不是很好。

Now we're going to be using the marketplace so that we can react to the business quickly, getting into trends. And we know there's a connection between the trend product and the Sephora customers. So again, I mentioned in the prepared remarks, but something we're really working on.

現在我們將使用市場，以便我們可以快速對業務做出反應，並了解趨勢。我們知道流行產品和絲芙蘭顧客之間存在著關聯。我在準備好的發言中再次提到了我們正在真正努力的事情。

As far as footwear goes, we still need to work on footwear, to be honest with you. We do have a good -- we do have a pretty good position in the active footwear business. But we really need to broaden our store, and we need more -- and both men's and ladies, we need more dress shoes overall and more casual shoes. We need a broader assortment of shoes for our customers overall.

就鞋類而言，老實說，我們仍然需要在鞋類上下功夫。我們確實在運動鞋業務中擁有相當好的地位。但我們確實需要擴大我們的商店，而且我們需要更多——無論是男士還是女士，我們都需要更多的正裝鞋和更多的休閒鞋。我們需要為我們的客戶提供更廣泛的鞋子種類。

Our next question comes from Gaby Carbone with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Gaby Carbone。

So with gross margins up versus 2019 this year, I was wondering if you can dig into the structural gross margin opportunities you have kind of moving ahead and where you kind of see the biggest bucket still.

因此，隨著今年毛利率較 2019 年有所上升，我想知道您是否可以深入研究您所擁有的結構性毛利率機會，以及您在哪裡看到最大的機會。

Sure. I think, Gaby, I would say our biggest thing is we continue to work on our promotional and simplified value, which has been a key contributor, but we've done that in a pretty thoughtful pace and approach, and we continue to look at how we can use targeted offers. Clearly, our key value items and using pricing more strategically will all be key contributors.

當然。我認為，加比，我想說，我們最重要的事情是我們繼續致力於我們的促銷和簡化價值，這是一個關鍵的貢獻者，但我們已經以相當深思熟慮的速度和方法做到了這一點，而我們繼續關注我們如何使用有針對性的優惠。顯然，我們的關鍵價值項目和更具策略性地使用定價都將是關鍵貢獻者。

Second, and probably I should have said this first, is inventory management, our big passion around inventory. Obviously, with inventory being down 13%, really focusing on increasing our turn is going to be a key contributor to that as well. So I think we have a goal of getting to 4 plus turns at this point. And right now, we're sub that. So we have a big opportunity to really make our inventory work harder for us from that perspective as well.

其次，也許我應該先說的是庫存管理，這是我們對庫存的巨大熱情。顯然，隨著庫存下降 13%，真正專注於提高週轉率也將成為實現這一目標的關鍵因素。所以我認為我們現在的目標是達到 4 個以上的回合。現在，我們已經超越了它。因此，從這個角度來看，我們有一個很大的機會真正讓我們的庫存更有效地發揮作用。

And if you compare to 2019, although freight has been a tailwind for us this year, it still is ahead of 2019 levels. So we'll continue to monitor that and take advantage of the freight benefits that we're seeing in the marketplace and see that as hopefully continuing into 2024 as well and getting back to those 2019 levels.

如果與 2019 年相比，儘管今年貨運對我們來說是一個順風車，但它仍然領先於 2019 年的水平。因此，我們將繼續監控這一情況，並利用我們在市場上看到的貨運優勢，並希望這種情況能持續到 2024 年，並回到 2019 年的水準。

So I think those are the 3 biggest contributors, inventory management, our simplified pricing and then obviously continuing to look at the market for freight.

所以我認為這是三個最大的貢獻者，庫存管理，我們簡化的定價，然後顯然是繼續關注貨運市場。

Got it. Then I just have a quick follow-up. On the digital business, I was wondering when you expect trends to maybe normalize there and what kind of initiatives you have in place to help drive growth.

知道了。然後我就進行快速跟進。在數位業務方面，我想知道您預計趨勢何時可能正常化，以及您採取了哪些舉措來幫助推動成長。

As I mentioned earlier, we really feel with having a lot of the online-only promotions behind us as we go into '24, we should see growth in the digital business. But other things, we're working on the site or functionality of the site overall. We're also working on other things behind the scenes to improve the customer experience overall.

正如我之前提到的，隨著進入 24 年，我們確實感受到了許多僅限線上的促銷活動，我們應該看到數位業務的成長。但其他方面，我們正在研究網站或網站的整體功能。我們也在幕後進行其他工作，以改善整體客戶體驗。

I don't know if you want to weigh in at all on this, Jill.

我不知道你是否想參與其中，吉爾。

Yes, I would agree with you. I think once we can get past lapping the big moves we've made, particularly on the online offers that we've eliminated and make everything omni, but even just the clarity of pricing. So we show up better in search. So we continue to work on ways that we can show up better in search, and I think not having the complicated pricing that we've had will definitely help us with those algorithms. We continue to work with technology in terms of what those algorithms look like, how we are using those search terms so we can be much more productive in driving productive traffic to our site.

是的，我同意你的觀點。我認為，一旦我們能夠克服我們所採取的重大舉措，特別是在我們已經取消的線上優惠方面，並使一切變得全方位，甚至只是定價的清晰度。所以我們在搜尋中表現得更好。因此，我們繼續致力於在搜尋中更好地展示我們的方式，我認為沒有我們所擁有的複雜定價肯定會幫助我們使用這些演算法。我們繼續在這些演算法的外觀、如何使用這些搜尋字詞方面與技術合作，以便我們能夠更有效率地推動網站的高效流量。

I think the site experience, like search relevance, better recommendations, personalization will continue. We have a leading loyalty program. We know a lot about our customers to continuing to capitalize on that and bring a much more personalized experience to our website and then just really using the product assortment and curating a much more assortment that's personalized to you and what you've offered so we can give you better recommendations on what you've searched for, what you bought in the past, et cetera. So those are all things that are continuing to be in flight but will help us really drive that productivity, both from traffic and conversion.

我認為網站體驗，例如搜尋相關性、更好的推薦、個人化將繼續下去。我們擁有領先的忠誠度計劃。我們非常了解我們的客戶，因此我們可以繼續利用這一點，為我們的網站帶來更加個性化的體驗，然後真正使用產品種類，並策劃更多適合您和您所提供的產品的種類，以便我們可以為您提供有關您搜尋過的內容、您過去購買過的內容等的更好建議。因此，這些都是正在繼續進行的事情，但將幫助我們真正提高流量和轉換率的生產力。

And I think those will play as we go into next year as well. But although it hasn't been great, we have benefited each quarter. Our digital business has gotten smaller and smaller benefits through these efforts. So I think as we get through Q4, you'll start seeing into next year, it will not be as big of a headwind as what we experienced this year.

我認為這些也會在我們進入明年時發揮作用。儘管情況不是很好，但我們每個季度都受益匪淺。透過這些努力，我們的數位業務獲得的收益越來越小。因此，我認為，當我們度過第四季度時，您將開始看到明年，它不會像我們今年經歷的那麼大。

Our next question comes from Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的馬修·博斯。

Great. So Tom, as we think about your key outlined initiative, gifting, home, beauty and impulse, how best to think about these opportunities for holiday? And what do you see as the sweet spot for P&L results in 2024, as these initiatives scale, just given the associated lead times?

偉大的。那麼，湯姆，當我們思考您概述的主要倡議、禮物、家庭、美麗和衝動時，如何最好地考慮這些假期機會？隨著這些措施的規模擴大，考慮到相關的交付時間，您認為 2024 年損益結果的最佳點是什麼？

So obviously, for the fourth quarter, as I mentioned earlier, beauty is really key. I mean that's one of the, obviously, key businesses for holiday -- for the holiday season and beyond. The -- all elements of it, especially gift sets. Also our entire gifting business. I came in here a year ago. The first thing I did was move gifting to the front of the store. It was in the back of the store. But we did it like mid-December. I mean it was like very close to Christmas because obviously, I started full time on December 2.

顯然，對於第四季度，正如我之前提到的，美確實是關鍵。我的意思是，這顯然是假期期間及以後的關鍵業務之一。它的所有元素，尤其是禮品套裝。還有我們的整個禮品業務。我一年前來到這裡。我做的第一件事就是把禮物移到商店前面。它在商店的後面。但我們在 12 月中旬就做到了。我的意思是，那就像非常接近聖誕節，因為顯然，我從 12 月 2 日開始全職工作。

So by the time we get it organized, it was really close to Christmas, and we didn't buy into it. I mean just pulled together what we had. This year, we bought into it as a strategy. We also removed the register banks so that we had additional square footage in order to put gifting in the front of the store. We've also expanded the presentation into some of the apparel areas, et cetera.

所以當我們組織起來的時候，已經接近聖誕節了，但我們並不買單。我的意思是只是把我們擁有的東西整合在一起。今年，我們將其作為一項策略。我們還拆除了收銀台，以便有更多的面積，以便將禮物放在商店前面。我們還將展示範圍擴展到了一些服裝領域等。

So hopefully, when you go into our stores, you see just a really, really strong presentation of gifting. So that's really key. It's key not only -- I mean, not only now. But obviously, as we get closer and closer to Christmas. So that's really key impulse. It's something that -- impulse is something we've had a little bit of that, but this year, we have a lot more, but we're just starting the impulse business, to be honest with you.

因此，希望當您走進我們的商店時，您會看到非常非常強烈的禮物展示。所以這真的很關鍵。這不僅是關鍵——我的意思是，不僅僅是現在。但顯然，隨著我們越來越接近聖誕節。所以這確實是關鍵的推動力。衝動是我們曾經有過的一點，但今年，我們有更多，但老實說，我們才剛開始衝動業務。

Right now, we have about 82 in line set up in the company. For 2024, we're expanding the queuing line presentations considerably so that we have a more structured approach to impulse. We have a captain that's going to help us run the impulse business, really looking at the assortment to make sure that they're balanced overall. You're going to see it in the -- you're going to see improvement obviously in the fourth quarter but a big improvement as we go into 2024.

目前，我們公司大約有 82 名排隊人員。 2024 年，我們將大幅擴展排隊演示，以便我們擁有更結構化的衝動處理方法。我們有一位隊長將幫助我們經營衝動業務，真正專注於品種以確保它們整體平衡。你會在第四季度看到明顯的改善，但隨著我們進入 2024 年，會有很大的改善。

So the other things that we're doing well in, again, if you go into our stores, we have a very strong presentation in holiday product, our St. Nicholas Square product. And it really hits you as you come into the store by the impactful presentation we have.

因此，我們在其他方面做得很好，如果你走進我們的商店，你會發現我們在假日產品、我們的聖尼古拉斯廣場產品方面有非常強大的展示。當您走進商店時，我們富有影響力的展示會給您留下深刻的印象。

So to answer your question, it's really -- it's all about beauty. It's all about gifting. It's all about impulse and growing categories, especially in the home that we've really -- we've neglected over time. And one of those is pet as well. I mean we had a 40% increase in pet in the third quarter. So feel good about that.

所以回答你的問題，這真的是——這都是關於美的。一切都與禮物有關。這一切都與衝動和不斷增長的類別有關，尤其是在我們隨著時間的推移而忽視的家庭中。其中之一也是寵物。我的意思是，第三季我們的寵物數量增加了 40%。所以對此感覺良好。

So I will let -- I'll let Jill talk about P&L.

所以我會讓——我會讓吉爾談談損益表。

Yes. I think honestly, all these things are definitely going to be key drivers, but we're not going to be talking a lot about 2024. Obviously, in the next call, we'll give you guidance for that, Matt. But I hope from the message that you heard today, this is a build. We're obviously repositioning the company, and we're building in all these initiatives that are really just getting started. And we've seen success from gifting throughout the year.

是的。老實說，我認為所有這些事情肯定會成為關鍵驅動因素，但我們不會過多談論 2024 年。顯然，在下一次電話會議中，我們將為您提供相關指導，馬特。但我希望從您今天聽到的消息來看，這是一個構建。顯然，我們正在重新定位公司，我們正在實施所有這些真正剛開始的措施。我們在這一年看到了送禮的成功。

And obviously, we have a lot of that in front of us from the biggest holiday of the year as we speak, but we'll continue to learn from that and take advantage of that as we move into next year. As Tom mentioned, we have 50% more Sephoras to be able to take advantage of that, not only from a gifting perspective but the traffic, the new customers that it brings in, and those continue to comp incredibly well. So I think a lot of the areas that we're talking about are white space, which will only help us as we move through '23 into '24, but more color to come on our Q4 call from that perspective.

顯然，就在我們說話的時候，我們面臨著一年中最大的假期，但我們將繼續從中學習並在進入明年時利用這一點。正如 Tom 所提到的，我們有 50% 多的絲芙蘭可以利用這一點，不僅從禮物的角度來看，而且從流量、它帶來的新客戶以及這些客戶的持續競爭來看，都非常好。因此，我認為我們正在討論的許多領域都是空白，這只會在我們從23 年進入24 年時對我們有所幫助，但從這個角度來看，我們的第四季度電話會議將會有更多的色彩。

Great. And then, Jill, just maybe a follow-up. Could you elaborate on the structural changes that you've made with inventory management as we think about inventory levels on hand moving forward, just relative to the prepandemic maybe 2019 operating model?

偉大的。然後，吉爾，也許只是後續行動。當我們考慮當前庫存水準的變化（僅相對於大流行前的 2019 年營運模式）時，您能否詳細說明您在庫存管理方面所做的結構性變化？

I think the biggest thing is we have a chase mentality. We're holding back receipts more from a reserve perspective instead of placing all of our orders upfront. So it allows us really to be much more agile and reacting. I think in the last 2 quarters, you saw that our inventory was down more than the mid-single digits that we had told you we were going to run this business with because we saw we had a little bit softer top line.

我認為最重要的是我們有一種追逐的心態。我們從儲備的角度保留更多收貨，而不是預先下所有訂單。所以它確實讓我們變得更加敏捷和反應。我認為在過去的兩個季度中，您會看到我們的庫存下降幅度超過了我們告訴您的我們將用來經營這項業務的中個位數，因為我們看到我們的營收有點疲軟。

So we reacted appropriately. We didn't see the need to go and run and chase after that inventory. We feel good that we've supported all the key initiatives that Tom has outlined, but we're able to pull back in some of the other areas we're not seeing those trends. And that would not have been something we would have been able to do as well prepandemic because we just didn't have that reserve mentality so that we could go and chase.

所以我們做出了適當的反應。我們認為沒有必要去追趕那些庫存。我們感覺很好，我們支持了湯姆概述的所有關鍵舉措，但我們能夠在我們沒有看到這些趨勢的其他一些領域進行回撤。這不是我們在疫情大流行前就能做到的事情，因為我們沒有那種保留的心態，所以我們可以去追逐。

The other thing that Tom has brought to the table is really just leveraging the market brands, and we tried to illustrate that through the juniors commentary that Tom had explained, but really being able to use those brands, it allows you to bring it in a lot more quickly, to not being so reliant on long lead times of really taking what's in the market and getting it into the store, and not having as much step but knowing that you have a much broader assortment of goods that the customer can come in for, particularly around fashion because we know that, that can be in and out. And then that just not only raises sales, it also helps your margin structure.

湯姆帶來的另一件事實際上只是利用市場品牌，我們試圖透過湯姆解釋的初級評論來說明這一點，但真正能夠使用這些品牌，它可以讓你把它帶入一個更快地實現，不再依賴真正獲取市場上的商品並將其放入商店的漫長交貨時間，並且無需採取太多步驟，而是知道您有更廣泛的商品可供客戶購買尤其是在時尚方面，因為我們知道，時尚可以進出。這樣不僅可以提高銷售額，還有助於您的利潤結構。

So a lot of really good foundational changes that have been made that we're starting to take the benefit of and you're seeing that through the margin expansion and the tight inventory management and our results today.

因此，我們已經開始進行許多非常好的基礎性變革，您可以透過利潤擴張、嚴格的庫存管理以及我​​們今天的表現看到這一點。

Yes. Jill just mentioned, we've been buying such -- so deep in each SKU. And that's important in basics, but it's not important in fashion. You want to sell through the product. So going forward, in '24, you'll see a reduction in the units per SKU when you walk the stores, and it will give us an opportunity to have more brands, more variety, that will also help the business and help us turn faster.

是的。吉爾剛才提到，我們一直在每個 SKU 中深入購買這類產品。這對於基礎知識來說很重要，但對時尚來說並不重要。您想透過產品進行銷售。因此，展望未來，在24 年，當你走進商店時，你會看到每個SKU 的單位減少，這將使我們有機會擁有更多品牌、更多品種，這也將有助於業務並幫助我們扭轉局面。快點。

Our final question comes from Dana Telsey with Telsey Group.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Telsey Group 的 Dana Telsey。

As you think about national and private label penetration, what are you seeing? And how is it changing, especially with what's going on with the updated chase mentality?

當您考慮國內和自有品牌的滲透率時，您看到了什麼？它是如何變化的，特別是隨著更新的追逐心態發生了什麼變化？

And then, Jill, just on the other revenue side on credit revenue, any updates to the health of the consumer, what you -- how bad debt or delinquencies are trending?

然後，吉爾，在信貸收入的另一個收入方面，消費者健康狀況的任何更新，壞帳或拖欠的趨勢如何？

Well, we're going to change the mix slightly in terms of having more national brands versus our private label and proprietary product. And a lot is going to come from market buys. Nick and I have been in New York frequently and really looking for different brands that we can carry. A lot of it has to do with, obviously, we're proud of our brand portfolio, and we want to build upon that. But also, we want to leverage the marketplace more often, really looking for really more interesting product to put on our selling floor than we had previously.

好吧，我們將稍微改變一下組合，擁有更多的國家品牌，而不是我們的自有品牌和專有產品。其中很大一部分將來自市場購買。尼克和我經常去紐約，確實在尋找我們可以攜帶的不同品牌。顯然，這很大程度上與我們對我們的品牌組合感到自豪，並且我們希望在此基礎上再接再厲。而且，我們希望更頻繁地利用市場，真正尋找比以前更有趣的產品放在我們的銷售平台上。

So that will change the mix. We still feel our private and proprietary brands are important, but we also feel that we need to integrate into our assortments on the selling floor, things that are from the marketplace. So we're working on that.

所以這會改變組合。我們仍然認為我們的自有品牌和專有品牌很重要，但我們也認為我們需要將來自市場的東西融入銷售平台的產品組合中。所以我們正在努力解決這個問題。

And then in terms of credit, Dana, I think the biggest thing is we do know the consumer is under pressure. Particularly, we serve the middle-income customer, which we see is definitely pressured. We did take steps, I think, over a year ago in understanding where the market was moving and really taking on less risk in our portfolio, anticipating that we were going to start to see loss rates move up, which we have seen, but they've been in line with our expectations.

然後就信貸而言，達納，我認為最重要的是我們確實知道消費者面臨壓力。特別是，我們服務的是中等收入客戶，我們認為他們肯定面臨壓力。我認為，一年多前，我們確實採取了措施來了解市場的走勢，並真正減少我們投資組合的風險，預計我們將開始看到損失率上升，我們已經看到了這一點，但他們已經符合我們的預期了。

So losses are moving up. Payment rates are coming down. The payment rates though are still ahead of 2019. So it does say that the customer is still healthy enough to make their payments, and we're not seeing the loss rates above what we anticipated, but they are definitely deteriorating from what we had seen historically, all of which we've embedded into our guidance and our outlook for the rest of the year.

因此，損失正在上升。付款率正在下降。不過，付款率仍然領先於 2019 年。因此，這確實表明客戶仍然足夠健康，可以付款，而且我們沒有看到損失率高於我們的預期，但損失率肯定比我們所看到的情況有所惡化從歷史上看，所有這些我們都已納入今年剩餘時間的指導和展望中。

Thank you for everyone that was listening on the call today. Have a great Thanksgiving. Go shopping. Thanks.

感謝今天收聽電話會議的所有人。祝你感恩節愉快。去購物。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。