Carparts.Com Inc (PRTS) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this call is being recorded. I would now like to pass the conference over to our host, Tina Mirfarsi, Senior Vice President of Global Communications and Culture. Please go ahead.

午安. （操作員說明）請注意，此通話正在錄音。現在我想將會議交給我們的東道主、全球傳播與文化高級副總裁蒂娜·米爾法西 (Tina Mirfarsi)。請繼續。

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the CarParts.com Third Quarter 2023 Conference Call. I'd like to start by welcoming the investors and others who are attending this meeting remotely. Joining me today from the company are David Meniane, Chief Executive Officer; Ryan Lockwood, Chief Financial Officer; and Michael Huffaker, Chief Operating Officer. Before I turn it over to David to start the meeting, I have some important disclosures.

大家好，感謝您參加 CarParts.com 2023 年第三季電話會議。首先，我謹向遠距參加本次會議的投資者和其他人表示歡迎。今天與我一起參加公司活動的是執行長 David Meniane；瑞安‧洛克伍德，財務長；和首席營運長邁克爾·赫法克(Michael Huffaker)。在我將其交給大衛開始會議之前，我有一些重要的披露。

The prepared remarks and responses to your questions could contain certain forward-looking statements related to the business under the federal securities laws. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by these forward-looking statements due to the risks and uncertainties associated with the business. For a discussion of material risks and other important factors that could affect results, please refer to the CarParts.com annual report on Form 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the SEC, both of which can be found on our Investor Relations website.

準備好的評論和對您問題的答覆可能包含與聯邦證券法規定的業務相關的某些前瞻性陳述。由於與業務相關的風險和不確定性，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述中包含或暗示的結果有重大差異。有關重大風險和其他可能影響結果的重要因素的討論，請參閱 CarParts.com 向 SEC 提交的 10-K 和 10-Q 表格年度報告，這兩份報告都可以在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。

On the call, both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures will be discussed. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is provided in the CarParts.com press release issued today. And with that, I would now like to turn it over to David.

在電話會議上，我們將討論公認會計準則和非公認會計準則的財務指標。今天發布的 CarParts.com 新聞稿中提供了 GAAP 與非 GAAP 財務指標的調整表。現在我想把它交給大衛。

Thank you, Tina, and thank you to all our stakeholders for joining us. Today, we reported our 15th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth with $167 million in revenue, up 1% from the prior year period of $165 million. And on a 2-year stack, revenues for the quarter are up 17%. Adjusted EBITDA was $3 million, and we repurchased another 245,000 shares during the quarter. The $67 million in cash on our balance sheet at the end of the quarter demonstrates the resilience of our business, given the challenging economic environment.

謝謝你，蒂娜，也感謝所有利害關係人加入我們。今天，我們報告了連續第 15 個季度同比增長，收入為 1.67 億美元，比去年同期的 1.65 億美元增長 1%。從 2 年來看，該季度的營收成長了 17%。調整後的 EBITDA 為 300 萬美元，我們在本季另外回購了 245,000 股股票。考慮到充滿挑戰的經濟環境，本季末我們資產負債表上的 6,700 萬美元現金證明了我們業務的彈性。

We generated strong unit growth in the quarter, even with a softening consumer who is choosing to defer nonessential purchases. As a result, we experienced price deflation in the most recent quarter, which muted our net revenue growth. However, we believe that as consumer confidence rebounds, we will be well positioned to support them with the parts and resources they need.

儘管消費者選擇推遲非必需品購買，但我們在本季度實現了強勁的銷售成長。因此，我們在最近一個季度經歷了價格通貨緊縮，這削弱了我們的淨收入成長。然而，我們相信，隨著消費者信心的反彈，我們將有能力為他們提供所需的零件和資源。

On our last earnings call, we discussed our 6 strategic priorities that range from table stakes to industry disruption. We believe by focusing on these growth levers, we can profitably reach $1 billion in company revenues and beyond. E-commerce fundamentals, digital transformation, assortment and catalog, marketing and customer experience, innovation, supply chain and logistics. Let me briefly touch on each of these.

在上次財報電話會議上，我們討論了從賭注到產業顛覆等 6 個策略重點。我們相信，透過專注於這些成長槓桿，我們的公司收入可以達到 10 億美元甚至更高。電子商務基礎、數位轉型、分類和目錄、行銷和客戶體驗、創新、供應鏈和物流。讓我簡要談談其中的每一個。

First, e-commerce fundamentals. Over the last few months, we have made impactful changes to our current website, including search improvements that give more accurate results to our customers. Within the first month of implementing these changes, we generated an incremental $250,000 in revenues. Currently, we are upgrading and modernizing our website platform, which will allow us to add features that include continuous improvements in search results, cross-sell and upsell capabilities, loyalty programs, VIN lookup and more.

第一，電子商務基礎。在過去的幾個月裡，我們對目前網站進行了重大更改，包括改進搜尋功能，為客戶提供更準確的結果。在實施這些變革的第一個月內，我們的收入增加了 25 萬美元。目前，我們正在升級和現代化我們的網站平台，這將使我們能夠添加功能，包括搜尋結果的持續改進、交叉銷售和追加銷售功能、忠誠度計劃、VIN 查找等。

These enhancements are aimed to make the digital experience as seamless and simple as walking up to the counter at an auto parts store. We expect the platform modernization to be completed by the end of Q1 2024 and subsequent improvements to follow. We also completed the successful launch of our mobile app. To date, we have over 70,000 downloads and $2 million of revenue. We believe that building a direct relationship with the 80% of our customers that use their mobile phones will reduce our reliance on search engine and performance marketing. By engaging with customers through the app, we will have a cost-effective way to promote our brands and products, while incentivizing repeat purchases.

這些增強功能旨在使數位體驗變得像走到汽車配件商店櫃檯一樣無縫且簡單。我們預計平台現代化將於 2024 年第一季末完成，並進行後續改進。我們也成功推出了行動應用程式。迄今為止，我們的下載量已超過 7 萬次，收入達 200 萬美元。我們相信，與 80% 使用手機的客戶建立直接關係將減少我們對搜尋引擎和效果行銷的依賴。透過該應用程式與客戶互動，我們將擁有一種經濟高效的方式來推廣我們的品牌和產品，同時激勵重複購買。

Second, digital transformation. We continue to leverage our new ERP by retiring old systems, migrating to the cloud and upgrading critical infrastructures. These initiatives fundamentally change the way we execute by removing roadblocks and legacy technology paving the way for a multibillion-dollar scalable infrastructure. Consequently, we have kicked off an upgrade and cloud migration of both our order management system and proprietary catalog. These are substantial upgrades, and we expect them to take approximately 24 months. Once complete, we will not only have access to more features and functionality but also save up to $1 million in free cash flow per year.

第二，數位轉型。我們繼續透過淘汰舊系統、遷移到雲端和升級關鍵基礎設施來利用新的 ERP。這些舉措從根本上改變了我們的執行方式，消除了障礙和遺留技術，為價值數十億美元的可擴展基礎設施鋪平了道路。因此，我們開始了訂單管理系統和專有目錄的升級和雲端遷移。這些都是重大升級，我們預計大約需要 24 個月的時間。完成後，我們不僅可以使用更多功能和功能，而且每年還可以節省高達 100 萬美元的自由現金流。

Third, assortment and catalog. We're evolving from our inception as a collision parts retailer to establish ourselves as the go-to destination for all automotive repair and maintenance requirements. This transformation will enable us to expand our market share and grow our repeat customer base. To achieve this, we are incorporating additional brands, categories and products, all while upholding our promise of a carefully curated assortment. Our ongoing focus remains on maximizing gross profit dollars with both national brands and our house-branded products.

第三，品種和目錄。我們從最初的碰撞零件零售商發展成為滿足所有汽車維修和保養需求的首選目的地。這項轉型將使我們能夠擴大市場份額並擴大我們的回頭客群。為了實現這一目標，我們正在整合更多的品牌、類別和產品，同時恪守我們精心策劃的品種的承諾。我們持續的重點仍然是透過國家品牌和我們的自有品牌產品來實現毛利最大化。

Fourth, marketing and customer experience. I want to emphasize that at CarParts, the customer is at the center of everything we do. With over 1/3 of our e-commerce revenues coming from repeat customers, we continue to make considerable inroads at building a direct relationship with them and moving us away from a dependency on search and paid channels. In the spirit of growing our community and meeting our customers where they are, we have recently launched our first Podcast called, In the Garage by CarParts.com, which is now available on all platforms, including Spotify and YouTube.

第四，行銷和客戶體驗。我想強調的是，在 CarParts，客戶是我們一切工作的中心。我們超過 1/3 的電子商務收入來自回頭客，因此我們繼續在與他們建立直接關係方面取得重大進展，並擺脫對搜尋和付費管道的依賴。本著發展社群並滿足客戶需求的精神，我們最近推出了第一個播客，名為 In the Garage by CarParts.com，現已在包括 Spotify 和 YouTube 在內的所有平台上提供。

Our YouTube channel continues to grow with both educational and instructional videos. The objective is clear, to remove the stress from a historically burdensome process. We aim to do this by building a hub for consumers to learn about their vehicles' maintenance and repair needs with links to purchase products directly from our website or app and how-to videos that empower them to tackle easy jobs.

我們的 YouTube 頻道透過教育和教學影片不斷發展。目標很明確，就是消除歷史上繁重進程的壓力。我們的目標是透過建立一個中心，讓消費者了解其車輛的維護和維修需求，並提供直接從我們的網站或應用程式購買產品的連結以及幫助他們解決簡單工作的操作影片。

Next, with a 105-year heritage and ethos deeply rooted in the automotive industry and the quintessential garage staple, we're excited to announce the return of JC Whitney. If you head to jcwhitney.com, you will find our new lifestyle-driven website where we are reengaging with the community through content, events and collaborations. Feel free to sign up for the inaugural edition of our new magazine that is (inaudible) to the iconic catalog, and this is just the beginning. We expect to have more updates over the next year with a full brand strategy around our crown jewel trademark.

接下來，我們很高興地宣布 JC Whitney 回歸，其 105 年的傳承和精神深深植根於汽車行業和典型的車庫主打產品中。如果您造訪 jcwhitney.com，您會發現我們以生活方式為導向的新網站，我們正在透過內容、活動和合作與社區重新互動。請隨意訂閱我們新雜誌的創刊號，該雜誌是（聽不清楚）標誌性目錄的，而這只是開始。我們預計明年會有更多更新，圍繞我們的皇冠寶石商標制定完整的品牌策略。

At the intersection of our assortment and marketing priorities, we will also be reducing the number of house brands on our website. This will allow us to focus our capital, resources and efforts on building JC Whitney, which we believe will result in a more efficient marketing spend and accelerated growth.

在我們的分類和行銷重點的交叉點上，我們還將減少網站上自有品牌的數量。這將使我們能夠集中資金、資源和精力建立 JC Whitney，我們相信這將帶來更有效率的行銷支出並加速成長。

Next, innovation. Our Do-It-For-Me pilot is performing in line with expectations with continued strong customer NPS score. Our current e-commerce strategic priorities align perfectly with the next set of enhancements for this integration. The upgrades to search results, including cross-sell, upsell and VIN lookup, will be catalyst to the next iteration of this offering.

其次，創新。我們的 Do-It-For-Me 試點計畫的表現符合預期，客戶 NPS 得分持續強勁。我們目前的電子商務策略優先事項與此整合的下一組增強功能完美契合。搜尋結果的升級，包括交叉銷售、追加銷售和 VIN 查找，將成為該產品下一個迭代的催化劑。

In other areas of the business, we are exploring multiple ways to disrupt the industry. Blending generative AI, proprietary language models and natural language processing with decades of customer data in our proprietary catalog will become central to building a competitive moat around our business. Over time, we believe these technologies will allow us to run on a lower fixed operating expense ratio and get us the operating leverage we need to increase free cash flow.

在其他業務領域，我們正在探索多種方式來顛覆產業。將生成式人工智慧、專有語言模型和自然語言處理與我們專有目錄中數十年的客戶資料相結合，將成為圍繞我們的業務構建競爭護城河的核心。隨著時間的推移，我們相信這些技術將使我們能夠以較低的固定營運費用率運行，並為我們提供增加自由現金流所需的營運槓桿。

And finally, supply chain and logistics. There is a certain level of customer expectation when it comes to delivery speed. With fast shipping becoming more of the norm, paired with the reality that our customers need their part to get back on their journey, we have been very focused on improving the speed of click to delivery, and I'm happy to announce that our customers are getting our parts faster than they have at any point in our company history. For more details on our supply chain and logistics, I would like to turn it over to Michael.

最後是供應鏈和物流。顧客對交貨速度有一定程度的期望。隨著快速運輸變得越來越普遍，加上我們的客戶需要他們的部分來重新開始他們的旅程，我們一直非常注重提高點擊交付的速度，我很高興地宣布，我們的客戶我們獲得零件的速度比我們公司歷史上的任何時候都快。有關我們供應鏈和物流的更多詳細信息，我想將其交給 Michael。

Thank you, David. I'm happy to announce that there have been several other improvements that the team has been working on to increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve the customer satisfaction. We recently closed our return center in Peru and now have decentralized returns across the network. This has resulted in improved processing and lower returns costs.

謝謝你，大衛。我很高興地宣布，團隊一直在努力進行其他幾項改進，以提高效率、降低成本並提高客戶滿意度。我們最近關閉了秘魯的退貨中心，現在在整個網路上實現了分散退貨。這改善了處理並降低了退貨成本。

With our original Las Vegas lease expiring, we have chosen to move our Nevada warehouse to a brand new larger location, which will almost double our footprint within the Las Vegas metro. This building will serve as our West Coast flagship and will carry between 80% to 90% of our assortment. It will feature a state-of-the-art (inaudible) and extensive conveyance that will allow for a significant reduction in operating costs due to (inaudible) efficiency in both our conveyable and non-conveyable assortment.

隨著我們原來的拉斯維加斯租約到期，我們選擇將我們的內華達倉庫搬到一個全新的更大的位置，這將使我們在拉斯維加斯地鐵內的佔地面積幾乎增加一倍。該建築將作為我們的西海岸旗艦店，將銷售我們 80% 至 90% 的產品。它將採用最先進的（聽不清楚）和廣泛的運輸方式，由於我們的可運輸和不可運輸品種的（聽不清楚）效率，將可以顯著降低營運成本。

This newly expanded assortment will allow us to reduce last mile transportation costs compared to our current shipment topology. We expect this building to begin operating in Q2 2024. From a CapEx standpoint, we expect to deploy approximately $7 million with an ROI in excess of 30% in the form of lower transportation costs and higher sales. We have also made considerable progress on process optimization, inventory placement and technology investments.

與目前的運輸拓撲相比，這種新擴展的品種將使我們能夠降低最後一英里的運輸成本。我們預計大樓將於 2024 年第二季開始營運。從資本支出的角度來看，我們預計將部署約 700 萬美元，以降低運輸成本和提高銷售額的形式實現超過 30% 的投資回報率。我們在流程優化、庫存配置和技術投資方面也取得了長足進展。

Let me give you a brief update on each of these. First, process optimization. We continue to make progress on reducing inefficiencies while streamlining existing processes. Our labor costs continue to trend downward, and our year-to-date year-over-year improvement in labor costs as a percent of revenue is now down almost 60 basis points.

讓我向您簡要介紹一下這些方面的最新情況。一是流程優化。我們持續在降低效率方面取得進展，同時簡化現有流程。我們的勞動成本持續呈下降趨勢，年初至今，我們的勞動成本佔收入的百分比已比去年同期下降了近 60 個基點。

Second, inventory placement. While we have always optimized inventory placement, the global supply chain shock led to suboptimal inventory placement across the network. Now that supply chain issues have abated, we are fully optimizing placement within our current network. This will serve to mitigate last mile transportation costs and lower click-to-deliver times across the network.

二是庫存投放。儘管我們始終優化庫存佈局，但全球供應鏈衝擊導致整個網路的庫存佈局不理想。現在供應鏈問題已經緩解，我們正在全面優化當前網路中的佈局。這將有助於降低最後一哩的運輸成本並縮短整個網路的點擊交付時間。

And third, supply chain technology investments. We recently installed our first network Cubiscan machine, which will allow for more accurate dimensions to leverage our proprietary cartonization tools. Combining this with a recently completed audit to optimize our box assortment, we will reduce the amount of air shipping in each package. These implementations long term will further give us greater control of our last mile costs.

第三，供應鏈技術投資。我們最近安裝了第一台網路 Cubiscan 機器，這將允許利用我們專有的紙箱化工具來獲得更準確的尺寸。結合最近完成的審核來優化我們的包裝箱分類，我們將減少每個包裹的空運量。從長遠來看，這些實施將進一步讓我們更好地控制最後一哩路的成本。

Over time, we think that the investments we are making will result in a minimum of 100 basis points improvements from current levels that should flow to the bottom line. As always, I want to thank our fulfillment center team members for their commitment to safety, hard work and their incredible performance this year. I will now turn it over to Ryan.

隨著時間的推移，我們認為我們正在進行的投資將比目前的水平提高至少 100 個基點，這應該會流入利潤。一如既往，我要感謝我們的履行中心團隊成員今年對安全的承諾、辛勤的工作以及令人難以置信的表現。我現在將其交給瑞安。

Thank you, Michael. Q3 marked our 15th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth with revenues of $167 million, up 1% from $165 million in the third quarter. We still expect full year revenues to be up in the low single digits year-over-year, while remaining free cash flow positive and maintaining a robust balance sheet. Gross profit for the quarter was $54.8 million, down slightly from the $56.1 million in the prior year. Gross margin was 32.9% of sales versus 34.1% in the prior year as we continue to experience higher outbound transportation costs and a shift in product mix.

謝謝你，麥可。第三季是我們連續第 15 季實現年成長，營收為 1.67 億美元，比第三季的 1.65 億美元成長 1%。我們仍然預計全年收入將同比增長較低的個位數，同時保持自由現金流為正並保持穩健的資產負債表。該季度毛利為 5,480 萬美元，略低於上年同期的 5,610 萬美元。由於出境運輸成本持續上升和產品結構變化，毛利率佔銷售額的 32.9%，而前一年為 34.1%。

GAAP net loss for the quarter was $2.5 million compared to a net loss of $0.9 million in the prior year. We reported adjusted EBITDA of $3 million, down from $6.3 million in the prior year period. This was driven by higher outbound freight costs, increased performance marketing spend and the economic impact of consumer spending patterns. However, this was partially offset by improvements in warehouse fulfillment costs.

本季 GAAP 淨虧損為 250 萬美元，而上年度淨虧損為 90 萬美元。我們報告調整後 EBITDA 為 300 萬美元，低於去年同期的 630 萬美元。這是由於出境貨運成本上升、績效行銷支出增加以及消費者支出模式的經濟影響所致。然而，這被倉庫履行成本的改善部分抵消。

Digital transformation should impact our cash and operating expense over the next 18 to 24 months by approximately $1 million to $2 million, which consists of overlapping software and maintenance expense. To clarify, this is because we'll be paying for the new systems that we are implementing while also maintaining the old systems we're upgrading. But as David mentioned, we believe we can save up to $1 million per year once we upgrade our infrastructure and move to the cloud, which we believe will provide an immediate ROI once implemented and allow us to execute much more efficiently in the years ahead.

數位轉型將在未來 18 至 24 個月內對我們的現金和營運支出產生約 100 萬至 200 萬美元的影響，其中包括重疊的軟體和維護費用。需要澄清的是，這是因為我們將為正在實施的新系統付費，同時維護正在升級的舊系統。但正如David 所提到的，我們相信，一旦我們升級基礎設施並遷移到雲，我們每年可以節省高達100 萬美元，我們相信一旦實施，這將立即提供投資回報，並使我們能夠在未來幾年更有效地執行。

Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $67 million of cash and no revolver debt, up from $16.7 million of cash from the prior year period. For the quarter, we generated $808,000 of interest income. In the current economic environment, our significant cash position continues to highlight the resilience of our business model, and we are proud of our relentless dedication to financial discipline. We believe we have ample liquidity and have no intention or need to raise capital at current valuations.

轉向資產負債表。本季結束時，我們有 6,700 萬美元現金，沒有循環債務，高於去年同期的 1,670 萬美元現金。本季度，我們產生了 808,000 美元的利息收入。在當前的經濟環境下，我們大量的現金狀況繼續凸顯了我們業務模式的彈性，我們為我們對財務紀律的不懈奉獻感到自豪。我們認為我們擁有充足的流動性，並且無意或不需要以當前估值籌集資金。

The inventory balance at quarter end was $124 million. With pandemic-related supply chain disruptions behind us, we can carry less inventory both on hand and in transit, which reduces some of our working capital requirements. However, you can expect us to continue building inventory through the remainder of the year as we prepare for our peak selling season, which occurs late Q1 and continues through Q2. We are also maintaining a disciplined capital allocation program, which includes continuing our current share repurchase plan if and when it is prudent.

季度末庫存餘額為 1.24 億美元。隨著與疫情相關的供應鏈中斷的過去，我們可以減少現有和在途庫存，這減少了我們的部分營運資金需求。然而，您可以預期我們將在今年剩餘時間內繼續建立庫存，為我們的銷售旺季做好準備，銷售旺季發生在第一季末並持續到第二季​​。我們還維持嚴格的資本分配計劃，其中包括在謹慎的情況下繼續執行目前的股票回購計劃。

With that said, during the third quarter, we repurchased 245,000 shares for approximately $1.1 million. Under the current share repurchase program, we have approximately $27.4 million remaining of the $30 million authorization that extends through July 2024. We believe that our company is incredibly valuable, and the impact of our strategic priorities will compound our value over time through multiple cycles.

儘管如此，第三季我們以約 110 萬美元的價格回購了 245,000 股股票。根據目前的股票回購計劃，我們在3000 萬美元的授權中剩餘約2740 萬美元，授權期限將持續到2024 年7 月。我們相信我們的公司非常有價值，隨著時間的推移，我們的策略重點的影響將在多個週期中增強我們的價值。

As we look to the remainder of the year, we will continue balancing financial prudence with opportunistically returning capital to shareholders. I would like to now turn it over to David for final remarks.

展望今年剩餘時間，我們將繼續在財務審慎與機會主義向股東返還資本之間取得平衡。我現在想把它交給大衛做最後的演講。

Thank you, both. At CarParts.com, we put the customer at the center of everything we do, focusing on strategic priorities that we believe are making our company significantly more valuable and that will benefit our stakeholders for years to come. Our journey is powered by digital transformation to create a best-in-class mobile experience, a growing curated assortment, fulfillment network expansion and harnessing advanced data science and AI.

謝謝你們倆。在CarParts.com，我們將客戶置於一切工作的中心，專注於策略優先事項，我們相信這些策略優先事項將使我們公司變得更有價值，並將在未來幾年使我們的利害關係人受益。我們的旅程以數位轉型為動力，旨在創造一流的行動體驗、不斷增長的精選品類、擴展履行網路以及利用先進的數據科學和人工智慧。

Thank you to the entire CarParts team. We're proud of your hard work and your investment in our company's long-term success. Working alongside you every day is what makes us so tremendously excited for our future. We could not do this without you. Thank you to everyone who's joined us today. And as we say at CarParts.com, get after it. We'll now turn it over to the operator to open it up for questions.

感謝整個 CarParts 團隊。我們為您的辛勤工作和對我們公司長期成功的投資感到自豪。每天與您一起工作讓我們對未來感到無比興奮。沒有你，我們無法做到這一點。感謝今天加入我們的所有人。正如我們在 CarParts.com 上所說，抓住它。我們現在將其移交給操作員以打開它以供提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Ryan Sigdahl from Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Craig-Hallum Capital Group 的 Ryan Sigdahl。

Ryan, I want to start with guidance. So you said you're still expecting low single-digit revenue growth this year. Previously, I guess, last quarter, you said 3% to 5%. So are we talking the same thing there? Or has there been a change (inaudible)?

瑞安，我想從指導開始。所以你說你仍然預計今年的收入成長將是個位數的低水準。之前，我猜，上個季度，你說的是 3% 到 5%。那麼我們正在談論同樣的事情嗎？或有什麼變化（聽不清楚）？

Yes. I think last time, we said low to mid, and I think we've narrowed it just to low to kind of give you guys a little bit more color.

是的。我想上次我們說的是低到中，我想我們已經把它縮小到低了，這樣可以給你們更多一點的色彩。

And then maybe can you talk about trends within the quarter, kind of month-to-month on sales? And then also how much was ad spend up in the quarter? And did that trend similarly to sales in the quarter?

然後，也許您可以談談本季的趨勢，例如每月的銷售趨勢？另外，本季的廣告支出是多少？這一趨勢與本季的銷售情況相似嗎？

Sure. Yes. So for the month of October, we were actually up in units, but down slightly in dollars due to the deflation that David mentioned. But I think for us, as we've always said, we're going to focus on maximizing gross profit dollars net of variable costs. And in that respect, we were running similar gross profit dollars, but higher variable contribution margin than prior year.

當然。是的。因此，對於 10 月份，我們的單位數量實際上有所增加，但由於大衛提到的通貨緊縮，美元略有下降。但我認為對我們來說，正如我們一直所說的那樣，我們將專注於最大程度地提高扣除可變成本後的毛利。在這方面，我們的毛利與去年相似，但可變貢獻邊際比去年更高。

I think overall, for marketing, I believe we were sequentially down on marketing, but up slightly from a year ago. We're still pretty confident in these marketing efforts as we go through the remainder of the year, and we look to hit that low single-digit growth rate for the full year.

我認為總體而言，對於行銷，我相信我們的行銷連續下降，但比一年前略有上升。在今年剩下的時間裡，我們對這些行銷工作仍然非常有信心，我們希望全年能達到較低的個位數成長率。

And just on gross margin, it's the weakest it's been in several years here. I guess can you talk through the freight versus mix? And what exactly within mix was negative in the quarter? And then on the freight side, can you talk about when the FedEx surcharges went in place here versus last year or if there's something else on the outbound side?

僅就毛利率而言，這是幾年來最弱的。我想你能談談運費與混合嗎？本季的混合中到底有什麼是負面的？然後在貨運方面，您能否談談聯邦快遞附加費與去年相比何時實施的情況，或者出境方面是否有其他情況？

Sure. Yes. So freight surcharges kicked in this month, so a little bit later than last year, where they kicked in at the end of September. For the mix -- for gross margin, it was predominantly freight. I mean almost the whole amount. Mix, there was a slight shift in mix. So we went from 13% branded to 16% branded. And as you know, branded generally has a similar gross margin dollar profile, but a lower gross margin percentage profile.

當然。是的。因此，貨運附加費於本月開始實施，比去年 9 月底開始實施的時間晚了一些。就毛利率而言，主要是貨運。我的意思是幾乎全部金額。混合，混合上有輕微的變化。因此，我們的品牌比例從 13% 上升到 16%。如您所知，品牌通常具有相似的毛利率，但毛利率較低。

So as an example, you'll have $100 branded item with 25% margins that makes 25 gross profit dollars. As a correlator, you might have a private label item that sells for $50 with 50% gross profit margins also for 25 gross profit dollars. So for us, the way we look at it internally, we're pretty agnostic to the $25 versus $25. But from a gross margin percentage basis, it can compress margins.

舉例來說，您將擁有 100 美元的品牌商品，利潤率為 25%，毛利為 25 美元。作為相關者，您可能有一個自有品牌商品，售價為 50 美元，毛利率為 50%，毛利為 25 美元。所以對我們來說，從我們內部的角度來看，我們對 25 美元和 25 美元的價格相當不可知。但從毛利率百分比來看，它可以壓縮利潤率。

And Ryan, it's David. If I can jump in, I guess, I'll give you a couple of data points. Q3, we saw significant unit growth. We just got impacted by price compression and mostly deflation. So what we're seeing is we have deflation on the top line, and we have a small amount of inflation on outbound transportation. So our cost per package was up somewhere between 2% to 3%, but then we're seeing deflation on the top line. So as a percentage, we're getting hit from the two sides. That's what's driving the decline in gross margin. So I'd say the majority of it is transportation driven. It's not mix driven.

瑞安，是大衛。如果我可以介入，我想我會給你一些數據點。第三季度，我們看到單位數量顯著成長。我們剛剛受到價格壓縮和通貨緊縮的影響。因此，我們看到的是，我們的收入出現了通貨緊縮，而出境運輸方面出現了少量的通貨膨脹。因此，我們每個包裹的成本上漲了 2% 到 3% 之間，但隨後我們看到營收出現通貨緊縮。因此，從百分比來看，我們受到了來自兩側的打擊。這就是毛利率下降的原因。所以我想說大部分是交通驅動的。它不是混合驅動的。

Our next question comes from the line of Darren Aftahi from ROTH MKM.

我們的下一個問題來自 ROTH MKM 的 Darren Aftahi。

First one, can you just kind of talk about the app in the context of kind of the longer-term benefits of search marketing and kind of how you plan to attack that?

首先，您能否在搜尋行銷的長期利益以及您計劃如何解決這一問題的背景下談談該應用程式？

Yes, of course. And it's David, Darren. So I think for us, app is probably one of the most transformational initiative that we worked on over the last couple of years. Historically, the majority of our customers find us on Google. And so we rely heavily on search engine optimization and performance marketing on Google. And so over time, what we're trying to do is get our customers to come to CarParts.com directly so that we don't have to spend this much money on Google or performance marketing.

是的當然。這是大衛、達倫。所以我認為對我們來說，應用程式可能是我們過去幾年所做的最具變革性的舉措之一。從歷史上看，我們的大多數客戶都是透過 Google 找到我們的。因此，我們嚴重依賴谷歌的搜尋引擎優化和效果行銷。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們正在努力做的是讓我們的客戶直接訪問 CarParts.com，這樣我們就不必在 Google 或效果行銷上花費這麼多錢。

So having that direct connection, the direct line with our customer, that's the game-changing part where we don't have to reacquire them when they want to make a purchase. So today, about 80% of our traffic is already on mobile. What we're trying to do is get that mobile traffic to go from searching on Google to directly on the app. So repeat purchase, push notifications, maintenance, VIP subscription, like everything we can do to move away from search engine into direct marketing that has a huge impact on the P&L.

因此，與客戶建立直接聯繫、直接聯繫，這就是改變遊戲規則的部分，當他們想要購買時，我們不必重新獲得他們。所以今天，我們大約 80% 的流量已經來自行動裝置。我們正在嘗試做的是將行動流量從 Google 搜尋轉移到直接在應用程式上搜尋。因此，重複購買、推播通知、維護、VIP 訂閱，就像我們可以做的一切，從搜尋引擎轉向對損益有巨大影響的直接行銷。

And I think over time, what you'll see is our marketing spend should come down probably somewhere between 100 and 200 basis points, and that should flow to the bottom line.

我認為隨著時間的推移，你會看到我們的行銷支出可能會下降 100 到 200 個基點之間，這應該會流向利潤。

That's helpful. And then just one more on this new Vegas facility. The $7 million in CapEx, I guess, how is that going to hit the balance sheet and cash flow statement? And then Mike, I think you talked about cost reduction as a result of moving facilities. Can you just kind of dive into that a little bit more?

這很有幫助。然後是關於這個新的維加斯設施的另一件事。我猜這 700 萬美元的資本支出將如何影響資產負債表和現金流量表？然後麥克，我想你談到了透過移動設施來降低成本。能更深入地探討一下嗎？

Sure. This is Ryan. I'll take the first part of the question. That $7 million is going to basically be almost all CapEx. You may have a little bit run through OpEx as we get that facility set up, but the majority of it is going to racks, conveyance, order pickers and hard items, so you'll see that in the cash flow statement, not running through OpEx.

當然。這是瑞安。我將回答問題的第一部分。這 700 萬美元基本上幾乎全部都是資本支出。當我們建立該設施時，您可能會稍微了解營運支出，但其中大部分用於貨架、運輸、訂單揀選機和硬物品，因此您會在現金流量表中看到這一點，而不是透過運營支出。

Yes. Darren, on the lower costs, so we're down around 60 basis points year-over-year with our current process improvement. Vegas with the (inaudible) module and other capabilities we're putting in will allow us over the long term to lower our cost profile within that building. And we'll continue to make improvements throughout the rest of the network as we have.

是的。 Darren，由於成本降低，因此透過當前流程的改進，我們的成本比去年同期下降了約 60 個基點。維加斯的（聽不清楚）模組和我們正在投入的其他功能將使我們能夠長期降低建築物內的成本狀況。我們將繼續對網路的其餘部分進行改進。

Great. Ryan, could you guys clarify the $7 million wins that are actually going to hit the P&L or hit the balance sheet and the cash flow statement?

偉大的。 Ryan，你們能澄清一下這 700 萬美元的勝利實際上會影響損益表或資產負債表和現金流量表嗎？

It depends. We actually just approved the invoices for some of this literally today before we took this call. So I think you might see a small amount hit this year and the majority of the remainder hit Q1.

這取決於。實際上，在我們接到這個電話之前，我們今天剛剛批准了其中一些發票。因此，我認為今年可能會看到一小部分受到影響，而其餘的大部分將在第一季受到影響。

Our next question comes from the line of Tom Forte from D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Tom Forte。戴維森。

This is (inaudible) on for Tom. I had two questions. For the first one, how, if at all, are you guys impacted by the automotive labor strikes? Like, for example, we would think the production disruption would result in consumers (inaudible) which should be a positive for you?

這是湯姆的（聽不清楚）。我有兩個問題。首先，你們是否受到汽車工人罷工的影響（如果有的話）？例如，我們認為生產中斷會導致消費者（聽不清楚），這對您來說應該是正面的？

Yes. I mean in short term, probably very little impact. But long term, yes, I agree with you. I think -- and not to get political, but if you're going to raise the cost of labor, I expect new car prices to go up. So if you combine new car prices to go up as well as the cost of capital with interest rates being as high as they are today, I think it's going to make it more difficult for American consumers to buy a new car, and there's going to be an incentive for them to hold on to their vehicle longer.

是的。我的意思是在短期內，影響可能很小。但從長遠來看，是的，我同意你的觀點。我認為——不是出於政治目的，但如果你要提高勞動成本，我預計新車價格將會上漲。因此，如果你將新車價格的上漲以及資本成本和利率結合起來，我認為這將使美國消費者購買新車變得更加困難，而且將會激勵他們更長時間地持有車輛。

And this is where a company like CarParts.com becomes a good destination to maintain your car, keep it running longer, both for upgrades, but also replacement. So long term, I think it should be an opportunity for us to capture more customers.

這就是像 CarParts.com 這樣的公司成為維護您的汽車、使其運行更長時間的好目的地，既可以升級，也可以更換。從長遠來看，我認為這應該是我們吸引更多客戶的機會。

And for my second question about your marketplace. So how are your marketplace sales performing on Amazon and eBay? For example, does it help you that Amazon had 2 mega sales in one calendar year this year?

關於我的第二個問題，關於你們的市場。那麼您在亞馬遜和 eBay 上的市場銷售表現如何？例如，亞馬遜今年在一個日曆年中實現了 2 大銷售額，這對您有幫助嗎？

Our marketplaces are performing relatively in line with their platform growth. The growth on Amazon as a whole and Amazon just reported earnings has slowed down. For us, the biggest opportunity is to capture customers on e-com, which is CarParts.com. And for Q3, it was one of the fastest-growing channels. So our overall unit growth was significant, and the growth on e-com, CarParts.com, was even higher than that.

我們的市場表現與其平台的成長相對一致。亞馬遜整體的成長以及亞馬遜剛剛公佈的利潤已經放緩。對我們來說，最大的機會是在電子商務（CarParts.com）上吸引客戶。對於第三季度，它是成長最快的管道之一。因此，我們的整體銷售成長非常顯著，而電子商務 CarParts.com 的成長甚至更高。

So over time, for us, we need to get the mix of CarParts.com revenue to be higher and the marketplace mix to be lower. Now it doesn't mean that marketplaces will decline. It just means that they need to grow at a slower rate than e-com, and e-com has to accelerate as well as the app. So I don't know if Michael wants to add anything.

因此，隨著時間的推移，對我們來說，我們需要提高 CarParts.com 的收入組合，降低市場組合。現在這並不意味著市場將會衰退。這只是意味著他們需要以比電子商務慢的速度成長，而電子商務必須與應用程式一樣加速。所以我不知道麥可是否想補充什麼。

Yes. I mean longer term, we want to continue to drive business towards our e-com site. We do have very, very, very high mobile traffic as a percent of the overall business. So the app and driving it to e-commerce where we're going to get outsized growth. But eBay is an important partner of ours, and we're going to continue to grow with them. And Amazon is an important partner, and we'll continue to grow with them. But we're going to continue to focus to drive e-com.

是的。我的意思是從長遠來看，我們希望繼續推動我們的電子商務網站的業務發展。我們的行動流量佔整體業務的比例確實非常非常高。因此，該應用程式並將其推向電子商務，我們將在電子商務領域獲得超額成長。但 eBay 是我們的重要合作夥伴，我們將繼續與他們一起成長。亞馬遜是重要的合作夥伴，我們將繼續與他們一起成長。但我們將繼續專注於推動電子商務。

Our next question comes from the line of Ryan Meyers from Lake Street.

我們的下一個問題來自 Lake Street 的 Ryan Meyers。

First one for me. I'm just curious, what sort of signs are you waiting to see where you feel like the overall demand environment is beginning to improve? It sounds that unit growth is still strong, but it's kind of being offset by the price deflation. Just curious what sort of things you guys are looking at and what you're paying attention to where you feel like that demand environment is improving?

對我來說第一個。我只是好奇，您認為整體需求環境開始改善的跡像有哪些？聽起來單位成長仍然強勁，但它在某種程度上被價格通貨緊縮所抵消。只是好奇你們在關注什麼樣的事情以及你們在關注什麼，你們覺得需求環境正在改善？

Ryan, it's David. Yes, I think there's a lot of conflicting signals out there. All the indicators I'm looking at, some of them point up and some of them point down. And it's really hard to tell what's happening. I think, for me, when the environment changes or the macro changes or the Fed goes and (inaudible) interest rates, I think some companies kind of overreact. I think, for us, we try to keep just a long-term view.

瑞安，我是大衛。是的，我認為存在著許多相互矛盾的訊號。我正在查看的所有指標，有些向上，有些向下。真的很難說到底發生了什麼事。我認為，對我來說，當環境改變或宏觀變化或聯準會升息（聽不清楚）時，我認為有些公司會反應過度。我認為，對我們來說，我們盡量保持長遠的眼光。

We have our vision, we have our strategy, we have our strategic priorities. We've built some very solid capabilities, and we have a good kind of resource allocation plan. So I have no doubt that we're executing on the right road map with the right team and adequate resources. So for me, if we just continue executing and blocking and tackling, I think we can get to $1 billion in revenue and beyond. We can do it profitably, and we can do it without raising additional capital.

我們有我們的願景，我們有我們的策略，我們有我們的策略重點。我們已經建立了一些非常紮實的能力，並且我們有很好的資源分配計劃。因此，我毫不懷疑我們正在以正確的團隊和充足的資源執行正確的路線圖。因此，對我來說，如果我們繼續執行、阻止和解決，我認為我們可以實現 10 億美元甚至更多的收入。我們可以實現盈利，而且無需籌集額外資金即可實現。

Got it. That's helpful. And then my other question, are there any levers that you guys can pull to help offset the negative impact of the price deflation that you're seeing?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後我的另一個問題是，你們是否可以利用任何槓桿來幫助抵消你們所看到的價格通貨緊縮的負面影響？

There's a lot of levers that we can pull, and all of them kind of are all connected. We have to deliver a great customer experience, we have to ship faster, we have to reach the customers where they are. And that's why we launched the Podcast. That's why we have the JC Whitney initiative. There's a lot of things that we can do.

我們可以拉動很多槓桿，而且所有槓桿都是相互關聯的。我們必須提供出色的客戶體驗，我們必須更快地發貨，我們必須到達客戶所在地。這就是我們推出播客的原因。這就是我們發起 JC Whitney 倡議的原因。我們可以做很多事。

I think one of the biggest levers we can pull right now is expanding our assortment. And to some extent, we've done a lot of that this year, but you're going to see more of that next year. Historically, we played just a very narrow set of categories. And so in simple terms, I think we can sell more brands, more products, more categories, we can build a brand for our private label. And over time, all of these should drive growth.

我認為我們現在可以採取的最大槓桿之一就是擴大我們的品種。在某種程度上，我們今年已經做了很多這樣的事情，但明年你會看到更多。從歷史上看，我們只玩過非常狹窄的類別。簡而言之，我認為我們可以銷售更多品牌、更多產品、更多類別，我們可以為我們的自有品牌建立一個品牌。隨著時間的推移，所有這些都將推動成長。

I mean right now, and just to be clear, we are seeing significant growth in units. Again, we're just being impacted by deflation, but the business is growing, it's profitable. And we have a super solid balance sheet and no debt. So I think we're in a good spot. I think the economy and the deflation is kind of muting some of that growth. But overall, the business is doing good.

我的意思是，現在，需要明確的是，我們看到單位數量顯著增加。再說一次，我們只是受到通貨緊縮的影響，但業務正在成長，而且是有利可圖的。我們擁有超穩健的資產負債表，沒有債務。所以我認為我們處於一個很好的位置。我認為經濟和通貨緊縮在一定程度上抑制了這種成長。但整體來說，生意做得很好。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。