Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (SFM) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by well to Sprouts Farmers Market's second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

感謝您參加 Sprouts Farmers Market 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Susannah Livingston. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給蘇珊娜·利文斯頓。請繼續。

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Here, please, you are joining Sprouts on our second-quarter 2024 earnings call. Jack Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer; and Curtis Valentine, Chief Financial Officer, are with me today. The earnings release announcing our second-quarter 2024 results, the webcast of this call, and financial slides can be accessed through the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.sprout.com.

謝謝大家，下午好。歡迎大家加入 Sprouts 的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。傑克·辛克萊（Jack Sinclair），執行長；以及財務長柯蒂斯·瓦倫丁 (Curtis Valentine) 今天也和我在一起。您可以透過我們網站 investors.sprout.com 的投資者關係部分存取宣布我們 2024 年第二季業績的收益報告、本次電話會議的網路直播和財務幻燈片。

During this call, management may make certain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our expectations for 2024 and beyond. These statements involve several risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. For more information, please refer to the risk factors discussed in our SEC filings and the commentary on forward-looking statements at the end of our earnings release.

在本次電話會議中，管理階層可能會做出某些前瞻性陳述，包括有關我們對 2024 年及以後的預期的陳述。這些聲明涉及若干風險和不確定性，可能導致結果與前瞻性聲明中描述的結果有重大差異。欲了解更多信息，請參閱我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中討論的風險因素以及收益報告末尾對前瞻性陳述的評論。

Our remarks today include references to non-GAAP measures. Please see the tables in our earnings release to reconcile our non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP figures.

我們今天的評論中提到了非公認會計準則衡量標準。請參閱我們的收益報告中的表格，以將我們的非 GAAP 指標與可比較 GAAP 數據進行協調。

With that, let me hand it over to Jack.

說完這些，讓我把它交給傑克。

Thanks, Susannah. And good afternoon, everyone. We've seen impressive growth in the second quarter. Our sales grew by 12%, compared to the second quarter of 2023, including a 6.7% increase in comparable store sales and our diluted earnings per share grew by more than 32% from last year's adjusted diluted earnings per share. These results are a direct outcome of consistently executing and evolving our long-term strategy over the past few years.

謝謝，蘇珊娜。大家下午好。我們在第二季度看到了令人矚目的成長。與 2023 年第二季相比，我們的銷售額成長了 12%，其中同店銷售額成長了 6.7%，每股攤薄收益較去年調整後的每股攤薄收益增加了 32% 以上。這些成果是我們過去幾年持續執行和發展長期策略的直接結果。

Our health enthusiast target customers continue to respond positively to our differentiated product assortment and unique shopping experience. As consumer preferences shift towards healthier living, we anticipate there will be even more health enthusiasts in the future than there are today, bolstering our confidence in the long-term potential of Sprouts.

我們的健康愛好者目標客戶繼續對我們差異化的產品組合和獨特的購物體驗做出積極回應。隨著消費者偏好轉向更健康的生活方式，我們預計未來健康愛好者的數量將比現在更多，這增強了我們對 Sprouts 長期潛力的信心。

As always, the key factor in all of this is our incredible team. Their teamwork and commitment to excellence are the driving forces propelling us forward. It is an exciting time as we continue to expand, with significant opportunities still to come.

像往常一樣，所有這一切的關鍵因素是我們出色的團隊。他們的團隊合作和對卓越的追求是推動我們前進的動力。這是一個令人興奮的時刻，我們將繼續擴張，未來還有重大機會。

I'll follow up with more later. But for now, I'll hand it over to Curtis to review our financial performance in the second quarter and our 2024 outlook. Curtis?

我稍後會跟進更多內容。但現在，我將把任務交給柯蒂斯，讓他回顧我們第二季的財務表現以及 2024 年的展望。柯蒂斯？

Thanks, Jack, and good afternoon everyone. For the second quarter, total sales were $1.9 billion, up $201 million or 12% in the same period last year. This increase was driven by comparable store sales growth of 6.7% and the addition of new stores. For the quarter, we had a healthy balance across all of our key comp drivers; traffic and ticket, e-commerce and brick and mortar, new and older stores, as well as strong results in all geographies.

謝謝，傑克，大家下午好。第二季總銷售額為 19 億美元，比去年同期成長 2.01 億美元，增幅為 12%。這一成長是由同店銷售額成長 6.7% 和新店增加所推動的。本季度，我們所有關鍵的競爭驅動因素都保持了健康的平衡；客流量和票務、電子商務和實體店、新店和老店，以及所有地區的強勁業績。

E-commerce sales also increased by 30%, representing 14% of our total sales for the quarter, highlighting our commitment to meeting the evolving needs of our omnichannel customers, however they choose to engage with Sprouts. In addition, Sprouts brand contributed 22% to our total sales for the quarter.

電子商務銷售額也成長了 30%，佔本季總銷售額的 14%，突顯了我們致力於滿足全通路客戶不斷變化的需求，無論他們選擇如何與 Sprouts 互動。此外，Sprouts品牌為我們本季的總銷售額貢獻了22%。

The company's sales performance was strong across all categories as well. We focused on improving stock levels, introducing innovative products with healthy attributes, getting the right assortment locally, and adjusting planograms, leading to improved performance in our physical stores along with continued steady e-commerce growth.

該公司所有類別的銷售業績也十分強勁。我們專注於提高庫存水準、推出具有健康屬性的創新產品、在當地進行正確的產品組合以及調整規劃圖，從而提高實體店的業績並持續穩定電子商務成長。

In particular, during the second quarter, we benefited from early and strong seasonal produce, and saw the business strengthen more than anticipated with this kick-off of summer. In the second quarter, our gross margin was 37.9%, approximately 80 basis points higher than adjusted gross margin for the same period last year. This improvement was mainly due to our better performance in managing our inventory, as well as benefit from promotional optimization and sales leverage in our supply chain.

特別是在第二季度，我們受益於早期強勁的季節性農產品，隨著夏季的到來，業務成長超出了預期。第二季度，我們的毛利率為37.9%，比去年同期調整後的毛利率高出約80個基點。這項改善主要歸功於我們在庫存管理方面表現得更好，以及受益於供應鏈中的促銷優化和銷售槓桿。

We're pleased to see that the investments we've made in our inventory systems, data, and processes over the last several years have given the teams the tools they need to drive these results. SG&A for the quarter totaled $556 million, an increase of $63 million, or approximately 20 basis points of deleverage compared to adjusted SG&A from the same period last year. This deleverage is primarily due to spending against our planned $15 million of strategic investments in 2024, and the pressure we continue to feel from new store openings as we grow.

我們很高興地看到，過去幾年我們在庫存系統、數據和流程方面的投資為團隊提供了實現這些成果所需的工具。本季銷售、一般及行政費用總計 5.56 億美元，與去年同期的調整後銷售、一般及行政費用相比增加了 6,300 萬美元，或約減少了 20 個基點。去槓桿主要是因為我們計劃在 2024 年進行 1500 萬美元的策略投資，以及隨著公司發展，新店開業給我們帶來持續的壓力。

In addition, our strong sales have resulted in increased e-commerce fees and higher incentive compensation for our teams, partially offset by leverage from these higher sales. Store closure and other costs totaled approximately $3 million for the quarter. These are primarily related to ongoing occupancy costs from our 2023 store closures. Depreciation and amortization, excluding depreciation included in the cost of sales, was $31 million.

此外，我們強勁的銷售業績帶來了電子商務費用的增加和團隊激勵薪酬的提高，但這些更高的銷售額帶來的槓桿作用部分抵消了這一影響。本季門市關閉和其他費用總計約 300 萬美元。這些主要與我們 2023 年關閉門市所產生的持續佔用成本有關。折舊和攤提（不包括銷售成本中包含的折舊）為 3,100 萬美元。

For the second quarter, our earnings before interest and taxes were $127 million. Interest was positive $139,000 due to the paydown of our revolver and our invested cash. And our effective tax rate was 25%.

第二季度，我們的息稅前利潤為 1.27 億美元。由於償還了循環貸款並投資了現金，利息為正 139,000 美元。我們的實際稅率為25%。

Net income was $95 million and diluted earnings per share were $0.94, an increase of 32%, compared to adjusted diluted earnings per share from the same period the prior year.

淨收入為 9,500 萬美元，每股攤薄收益為 0.94 美元，與去年同期調整後每股攤薄收益相比成長 32%。

Our strong and healthy balance sheet has been the foundation of our financial performance. Year to date, we generated $311 million in operating cash flow, which enabled us to self-fund our investments of $89 million in capital expenditures, net of landlord reimbursement, to grow our business.

我們強勁而健康的資產負債表是我們財務表現的基礎。年初至今，我們產生了 3.11 億美元的營運現金流，這使我們能夠自籌資金投資 8,900 萬美元的資本支出（扣除房東補償金），以發展我們的業務。

With our robust cash generation, we also paid down all $125 million of our outstanding revolver and returned $104 million to our shareholders through purchasing nearly 1.6 million shares. We have $585 million remaining under our new $600 million share repurchase authorization. At quarter end, we had $177 million in cash and cash equivalents, no outstanding borrowings under our credit facility, and $20 million of letters of credit.

憑藉強勁的現金流，我們還償還了全部 1.25 億美元未償還循環信貸，並透過購買近 160 萬股股票向股東返還了 1.04 億美元。我們新的 6 億美元股票回購授權中還剩餘 5.85 億美元。截至季末，我們擁有 1.77 億美元現金和現金等價物，信貸額度下沒有未償還借款，以及 2,000 萬美元信用證。

Turning to our outlook, for the full year, we expect total sales growth to be between 9% to 10%, and comp sales in the range of 4% to 5%. We plan to open approximately 35 new stores with the majority of our remaining openings in the fourth quarter. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes are expected to be between $445 million and $455 million. And adjusted earnings per share are expected to be between $3.29 and $3.37, assuming no additional share repurchases. That said, we do expect to continue to repurchase shares opportunistically.

展望全年，我們預計總銷售額成長率將在 9% 至 10% 之間，同店銷售額成長率將在 4% 至 5% 之間。我們計劃開設約 35 家新店，其中大部分剩餘新店將在第四季度開設。調整後的息稅前利潤預計在4.45億美元至4.55億美元之間。假設不進行額外的股票回購，預計調整後的每股盈餘將在 3.29 美元至 3.37 美元之間。儘管如此，我們確實希望繼續適時回購股票。

We also expect our corporate tax rate to be approximately 25%. During the year, we expect capital expenditures, net of landlord reimbursements to be between $225 million and $245 million. To add more color, we expect gross margins to be up in the second half in-line with our first half margin expansion as we expect to maintain our recent improvements.

我們也預計我們的公司稅率約為 25%。我們預計今年扣除房東補償後的資本支出將在 2.25 億美元至 2.45 億美元之間。更有趣的是，我們預計下半年毛利率將與上半年的利潤率擴張保持一致，因為我們預計將保持近期的改善。

For the year, we expect continued pressure on SG&A due to ongoing wage and benefits pressure, new storage deleverage, and our strategic investments. In the longer term, we remain focused on cost management and looking for opportunities to mitigate these cost headwinds. For the third quarter, we expect comp sales to range from approximately 3.5% to 4.5%, and adjusted earnings per share between $0.71 and $0.75.

今年，我們預計銷售、一般及行政開支 (SG&A) 將繼續承受壓力，原因是持續的工資和福利壓力、新的儲存去槓桿以及我們的策略投資。從長遠來看，我們仍將專注於成本管理並尋找機會減輕這些成本阻力。對於第三季度，我們預計同店銷售額成長率將在 3.5% 至 4.5% 之間，調整後每股收益將在 0.71 美元至 0.75 美元之間。

And with that, I'll turn it back to Jack.

說完這些，我就把話題轉回給傑克。

Thanks, Curtis. We are optimistic about the momentum of our business and the path towards expansion. Our team is more aligned than ever and is committed to winning with our target customers through our differentiated assortment and unique store experience. Moreover, we look forward to the future and the opportunities that loyalty, enhanced personalization and expansion will bring.

謝謝，柯蒂斯。我們對業務發展動能和擴張道路充滿樂觀。我們的團隊比以往任何時候都更加團結，並致力於透過差異化的產品組合和獨特的店鋪體驗贏得目標客戶。此外，我們期待未來以及忠誠度、增強的個人化和擴張將帶來的機會。

While the second quarter yielded exceptional results, we recognize that a significant work ahead. We are unwavering in our focus on collaboration and execution to unlock Sprout's full potential. We are making great progress in becoming our customers' go-to destination for health and wellness products. Our unique product assortment is curated specifically for our target customers and sets us apart due to the attributes, freshness and quality we deliver.

儘管第二季度取得了出色的成績，但我們認識到未來還有大量工作要做。我們堅定不移地致力於合作和執行，以釋放 Sprout 的全部潛力。我們正在努力成為客戶購買健康和保健產品的首選目的地。我們獨特的產品組合是專門為我們的目標客戶精心挑選的，並因我們提供的特性、新鮮度和品質而使我們脫穎而出。

We continue to see customers seeking the type of products and experience we offer. In our second quarter, we saw increased frequency from our existing customers, as well as growth in new customers. Our foraging team continues to drive our unique assortment through both Sprouts brand and emerging brands on our In-store Innovation Center. Sales continue to grow in this space, and we have a strong process to bring the best products quickly to our shelves.

我們不斷看到客戶尋求我們提供的產品類型和體驗。在第二季度，我們看到現有客戶的頻率增加，新客戶的數量也在增加。我們的採購團隊繼續透過店內創新中心的 Sprouts 品牌和新興品牌推動我們獨特的產品組合。該領域的銷售額持續成長，我們擁有強大的流程，可以快速將最好的產品上架。

One such successful product was Cymbiotika, a new line of supplements highlighted on the Innovation Center, allowing us to educate customers about the product's benefits. In addition, Sprouts’ brand continues to expand with more than 200 new items released through the second quarter, resulting in growing comp sales above the company average.

其中一個成功的產品是 Cymbiotika，這是創新中心重點推出的一系列新補充劑，讓我們能夠向客戶介紹產品的益處。此外，Sprouts 品牌持續擴張，第二季已推出 200 多種新產品，導致同店銷售額成長高於公司平均。

In addition, we've been investing in our category management capabilities to support our merchants and we're seeing strong performance from that investment across our business. The teams are using this improved capability to make stronger assortment decisions, merchandise more effectively in store, and improve the online customer journey. As a result, we're seeing better performance in category resets.

此外，我們一直在投資我們的品類管理能力來支持我們的商家，並且我們看到這項投資在我們整個業務中都取得了強勁的表現。團隊正在利用這種改進的功能來做出更明智的分類決策、更有效地在店內銷售商品並改善線上客戶旅程。因此，我們看到類別重置的表現更好。

On the store experience fronts, we have strengthened store operations and fortified our supply chain foundation. The IT, supply chain, and operations teams have collaborated to improve our inventory management with new programs, processes, and tools. These improvements have empowered our store team members to manage fresh inventory better, improving freshness for our customers and significantly improving shrink.

在門市體驗方面，我們加強了門市經營，鞏固了供應鏈基礎。IT、供應鏈和營運團隊通力合作，利用新程序、新流程和新工具來改善我們的庫存管理。這些改進使我們的商店團隊成員能夠更好地管理新鮮庫存，提高客戶的新鮮度並顯著改善損耗。

Our merchandising, marketing, and operations teams are collaborating to deliver unique events that create a distinctive store experience. During the second quarter, we held a unique Cherry Festival. The event, not only promoted the cherry season in produce, but also featured nearly 40 Sprouts brand products such as dark chocolate cherry popcorn, cherry blossom lemonade, and cherry-infused deli meals and marinades throughout the store. Our marketing team leveraged our social media and digital platforms to create buzz and our operations team brought the event to life in store with creative displays and sampling to create a one-of-a-kind Sprouts experience.

我們的商品銷售、行銷和營運團隊正在合作舉辦獨特的活動，創造獨特的商店體驗。第二季度，我們舉辦了一場獨特的櫻花節。這項活動不僅推廣了櫻桃季農產品，還在整個商店展示了近 40 種 Sprouts 品牌產品，如黑巧克力櫻桃爆米花、櫻花檸檬水以及櫻桃味熟食和醃料。我們的行銷團隊利用社群媒體和數位平台來製造轟動效應，我們的營運團隊透過在店內進行創意展示和樣品製作讓活動變得生動活潑，創造出獨一無二的 Sprouts 體驗。

On the marketing front, we're excited about the increased traffic and brand awareness driven by optimizing our media mix and targeting our customers through creative partnerships with influencers and celebrities. We will continue to take a regional driven approach to our media strategy and refine our personalization efforts to create a more engaging customer experience.

在行銷方面，透過優化媒體組合以及與有影響力的人和名人建立創造性的合作夥伴關係來瞄準客戶，我們對流量和品牌知名度的提高感到興奮。我們將繼續採取區域驅動的媒體策略，並改善我們的個人化工作，以創造更具吸引力的客戶體驗。

On loyalty, we recently started the beta test of the Sprouts reward program in Tucson and Nashville, one older market and one newer market. We're in the test and learn phase of this project, as we gather feedback from our team and customers. We're very early in our journey to build a loyalty program that excites and engages our customers, while increasing their share of wallet with Sprouts.

在忠誠度方面，我們最近開始在圖森和納許維爾（一個是老市場，另一個是新市場）對 Sprouts 獎勵計劃進行 Beta 測試。我們正處於該專案的測試和學習階段，我們正在收集來自團隊和客戶的回饋。我們剛開始建立忠誠度計劃，該計劃旨在激發和吸引客戶，同時增加他們在 Sprouts 的消費份額。

Given our business momentum, we're eager to expand into more communities and provide access to even more health-focused target customers. We continue to improve our site selection process and are pleased with the results from our 2024 openings thus far. We've seen strong openings from sea to shining sea.

鑑於我們的業務發展勢頭，我們渴望擴展到更多的社區，並接觸更多關注健康的目標客戶。我們將繼續改進選址流程，並對 2024 年迄今開業的結果感到滿意。我們看到了從大海到閃亮大海的強大開口。

We're customizing our grand opening approach to establish stronger local connections. This involves focusing partnerships with local news stations to drive awareness and excitement of Sprouts joining the neighborhood. Our plans include unique community engagement activities for each store opening. For example in Bakersfield, California, Sprouts participated in the Earth Day Festival and distributed confetti made of seeds and basil plants to all the attendees.

我們正在客製化我們的開業方式，以建立更強大的本地聯繫。這包括與當地新聞台建立合作夥伴關係，以提高人們對 Sprouts 加入社區的認識和興趣。我們的計劃包括為每家新店開幕舉辦獨特的社區參與活動。例如，在加州貝克斯菲爾德，Sprouts 參加了地球日慶典，並向所有參與者分發了由種子和羅勒植物製成的五彩紙屑。

In Aberdeen, New Jersey we invited important community members to join us including Aberdeen native, Laurie Hernandez, a former Olympic gymnast. We're also excited to leverage our recently announced partnership with the Southeastern Conference to support female athletes while increasing our brand awareness in many emerging markets where we are building new stores. We will open approximately 35 new stores by the end of the year, with more than half of the remaining openings in the fourth quarter.

在新澤西州阿伯丁，我們邀請了重要的社區成員加入我們，其中包括阿伯丁本地人、前奧運體操運動員勞裡·埃爾南德斯。我們也很高興利用我們最近宣布的與東南聯盟的合作夥伴關係來支持女運動員，同時在我們正在建立新店的許多新興市場提高我們的品牌知名度。到今年年底，我們將開設約 35 家新店，其中剩餘新店的一半以上將在第四季度開設。

Despite the challenging development environment, the real estate team is doing a terrific job. Given the success of our new stores, we are dedicated to expanding our brand with over 110 approved new stores and more than 70 executed leases in the pipeline for the next few years. Our success wouldn't be possible without a winning culture and a talent engine capable of supporting growth through the recruitment, development and rewards program that strengthen team member retention.

儘管開發環境充滿挑戰，房地產團隊仍表現出色。鑑於我們新店的成功，我們致力於擴大我們的品牌，未來幾年將批准開設超過 110 家新店，並簽訂超過 70 份租約。如果沒有成功的文化和人才引擎，我們的成功就不可能實現。人才引擎能夠透過招募、發展和獎勵計畫來支持成長，從而加強團隊成員的留任率。

We continue to invest in our culture and have better aligned our total rewards program to our business performance, incentivizing our teams to take ownership of their business and participate in our shared success. We're proud that every team member in every store can earn a bonus with strong sales performance and we believe that collectively these differentiated incentive programs are motivating our team members to deliver outstanding customer experiences and contribute to our business momentum.

我們繼續投資我們的文化，並使我們的整體獎勵計劃與我們的業務績效更好地結合起來，激勵我們的團隊對自己的業務負責，並參與我們共同的成功。我們很自豪，每家商店的每位團隊成員都能憑藉出色的銷售業績獲得獎金，我們相信，這些差異化的激勵計劃共同激勵我們的團隊成員提供卓越的客戶體驗，為我們的業務發展做出貢獻。

In closing our second-quarter results have bolstered our confidence in our strategy. Our focus on our target customers will unlock the full potential of our business and prepare us for the future. We're dedicated to maintaining a high level of execution, responding to opportunities with urgency, and investing in long-term sustainable earnings growth.

最後，第二季的業績增強了我們對策略的信心。我們對目標客戶的關注將充分釋放我們業務的潛力並為未來做好準備。我們致力於保持高水準的執行力、緊急應變機會並投資於長期可持續的獲利成長。

Our teams are motivated by our progress, the challenges that await us, and the even greater opportunities on the horizon. We're excited to share our progress and connect with many of you in the coming months.

我們的進步、我們面臨的挑戰以及即將到來的更大機會激勵我們的團隊。我們很高興在接下來的幾個月分享我們的進展並與你們中的許多人建立聯繫。

With that, I'd like to turn over for questions. Operator?

現在我想開始回答問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) John Heinbockel, Guggenheim.

（操作員指示）約翰·海因博克爾，古根漢。

Hey, Jack, maybe can you talk a little bit through the foraging process, right? Because I know the key to what you are doing is not having product overlap with Walmart or Conventionals. So maybe walk through that, finding that product, getting exclusives for some period of time, or you know, and then thinking about how you want to -- if you want to discontinue items that have gone too mainstream?

嘿，傑克，你能不能講講覓食的過程，好嗎？因為我知道你所做的事情的關鍵是不要與沃爾瑪或傳統公司的產品重疊。所以也許要經歷這個過程，找到那個產品，在一段時間內獲得獨家銷售，或者你知道，然後思考你想要什麼——你是否想停止那些已經過於主流的產品？

Yeah. The foraging team, we put that together a couple of years ago, and that team have done a really amazing job in terms of finding products that are not sold anywhere else. I think I've said in the past that there's some really interesting entrepreneurs in the country who are bringing a lot of interesting products, but we're getting more products than actually we can put on the shelves at the moment. Because we've become a bit of a go-to place for people to bring products to the market.

是的。幾年前，我們組建了覓食團隊，在尋找其他地方沒有出售的產品方面做得非常出色。我想我以前曾說過，國內有一些非常有趣的企業家，他們帶來了很多有趣的產品，但我們獲得的產品數量超過了我們目前能夠擺上貨架的產品數量。因為我們已經成為人們將產品推向市場的首選之地。

And things that are really focusing in on those type of products with appropriate ingredients, no additives, none of the bad stuff in product, and a lot of positive ingredients. And that's something that they've been working very hard on.

我們真正關注的是那些含有適當成分、不含添加劑、不含任何有害物質且含有大量有益成分的產品。這是他們一直在努力的事情。

The process itself is they're spending a lot of time going around all the shows around the country, making ourselves available. We have open sessions, where people can bring those products to us. And we pitch slams we call it, and these pitch slams have been bringing us a lot of interesting products. And the exciting thing for us is I think we can be a stepping stone for a lot of these people to in time two years or three years down the line, go somewhere else with the product.

這個過程本身就是他們花費大量時間在全國各地參加演出，讓我們自己有空參加。我們設有開放會議，人們可以將這些產品帶給我們。我們稱之為“投球大滿貫”，這些投球大滿貫給我們帶來了很多有趣的產品。對我們來說令人興奮的是，我認為我們可以成為許多人的墊腳石，讓他們在兩年或三年後帶著產品去其他地方。

We're very comfortable being the kind of the beta test for these kind of products, get things started, and have that differentiation. The innovation sensor that we put into the store allows us to put products that aren't being sold anywhere else straight into our system quickly. And if they sell, then probably about 25% of them move over quite quickly into the main fixtures.

我們非常樂意成為此類產品的 beta 測試者，讓產品起步並實現差異化。我們在商店中安裝的創新感測器使我們能夠快速地將其他地方沒有銷售的產品直接放入我們的系統中。如果他們出售，那麼大概有 25% 的人會很快轉而購買主要房產。

And in due course, those products will disappear from our business in a few years down the line, as new products come in behind it. And we're very much encouraging this entrepreneurial industry to see Sprouts as the destination for this product.

隨著新產品的出現，這些產品將在幾年後從我們的業務中消失。我們非常鼓勵創業產業將 Sprouts 視為該產品的目的地。

We watch a lot of what's happening online as well, some of the online businesses that tend to start some of these interesting products. So it's a combination, the teams come together as a combination of searching around specifically to shows, the pitch slam operation, checking out what's happening online with some of the direct-to-consumer products that are launched in this space. And that's coming together pretty well for us, John. Thanks.

我們也關注網路上發生的很多事情，一些網路企業傾向於推出一些有趣的產品。所以，這是一個組合，各個團隊聚在一起，專門針對展會進行搜索，進行推銷操作，查看網上關於這個領域推出的一些直接面向消費者的產品的情況。約翰，這對我們來說非常順利。謝謝。

And then secondly, maybe as a follow-up, what's your thought on when you'll know enough on the loyalty program to expand? And I know, right now, it's a points-based system, right? I think 2% back basically.

其次，也許作為後續問題，您認為何時才能對忠誠度計劃有足夠的了解，從而可以擴展忠誠度計劃？我知道，現在這是一個基於積分的系統，對嗎？我認為基本上是2%的回報。

Any early thoughts on from customers? The structure is right, do they want to see something else or different? Do you think you need to change it before you go into new markets? What's your take on that?

客戶有什麼早期想法嗎？結構是正確的，他們想看到其他東西或不同的東西嗎？您認為在進入新市場之前需要進行更改嗎？您對此有何看法？

Well, it's very, very early, days. We've clearly got a lot of thoughts on this one, John. We've been spending a lot of time trying to get this right. There's been a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure the technology behind it works effectively and the customer experience is seamless.

嗯，現在還非常非常早。約翰，我們顯然對這個問題有很多想法。我們花了很多時間來嘗試解決這個問題。我們做了大量的幕後工作以確保背後的技術有效運作並且客戶體驗無縫銜接。

We've been in three days in the two markets that we're in, and they've worked very well for the three days that we've been operating. So we're encouraged by the start as much as anything else, the technologies worked, which is always something that we spent a lot of time making sure it works.

我們已經在所在的兩個市場運作了三天，營運的三天裡效果非常好。因此，一開始我們就受到了鼓舞，這些技術發揮了作用，我們花了很多時間來確保它能夠發揮作用。

As this evolves, the key is to get data from customers. When you're a specialist, kind of retailer like we are, and a targeted retailer with a limited customer base, we have to understand that on a personal level, much more information and getting that data is the key to the work going forward. And then we'll be able to create this feeling of speciality amongst our customers.

隨著這一進程的發展，關鍵是從客戶那裡獲取數據。當您是像我們這樣的專家型零售商，以及客戶群有限的目標零售商時，我們必須明白，從個人層面來說，獲取更多資訊和數據是未來工作的關鍵。然後我們就能在客戶中營造出這種特殊的感覺。

We've got a very unique proposition, and we want people to feel very special by being part of this kind of loyalty club almost is the way I would describe it. We'll see how it goes. We're getting the data.

我們有一個非常獨特的主張，我們希望人們透過成為這種忠誠俱樂部的一部分感到非常特別，這就是我對它的描述。我們將拭目以待。我們正在獲取數據。

We're very pleased with the start, very pleased with the work that's been done across the IT operations, and marketing teams to make this thing come alive. And we'll be in a better position in the next two or three board meetings to kind of move on from that, to tell you a little bit about how we see this going forward.

我們對這個開始感到非常高興，對 IT 營運和行銷團隊為實現這一目標所做的工作感到非常高興。在接下來的兩到三次董事會會議上，我們將能夠更好地推進這一進程，並向大家介紹我們對未來發展的看法。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, John.

謝謝，約翰。

Leah Jordan, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的利亞喬丹 (Leah Jordan)。

Thank you. Good afternoon, Jack and Curtis. Great job to you and the entire team.

謝謝。下午好，傑克和柯蒂斯。您和整個團隊都表現出色。

I want to start off on the new store growth. It sounds like the majority of the stores still to open this year will come in the fourth quarter. I think previously you were talking about the back half. Just curious, was that really just a clarification point at this point in the year or are you seeing some slippage on timing?

我想從新店擴張開始。聽起來今年尚未開業的商店大部分將在第四季開業。我認為您之前談論的是後半部分。只是好奇，這真的只是今年這個時候的一個澄清點嗎，還是你看到了時間上的一些延誤？

And as you build into 2025, I know it's a little early, but there are long lead times now. How are you thinking about new store growth then? Should we be caught up by the fourth quarter, and we're on a pretty steady cadence into next year? Or what's your visibility right now?

當你進入 2025 年時，我知道這有點早，但現在的準備時間很長。那麼您如何看待新店成長？我們是否應該在第四季度趕上並保持穩定的節奏進入明年？或是您現在的知名度如何？

Yeah. So Leah, I think this year, a little bit of clarification just to make sure that we get it right by quarter for you and a little bit that this is bit of a challenging environment, I think the interest rates staying higher for longer is creating some timing challenges. I think there's developers are not in a rush to develop when the interest rate is as high as it is. And then the economics are more challenging when it stays that high.

是的。所以，利亞，我認為今年，我們需要做一點澄清，以確保我們能按季度為您做好，這是一個充滿挑戰的環境，我認為利率長期保持在高位會帶來一些時間上的挑戰。我認為，當利率如此之高時，開發商並不急於開發。當利率維持在如此高水準時，經濟狀況就會變得更具挑戰性。

And so, it makes it a little bit challenging. We have seen some slippage. So there is some caution in there to make sure that we get the quarters right, and then we are seeing some slippage.

因此，這有點具有挑戰性。我們已經看到了一些下滑。因此，我們採取了一些謹慎措施，以確保季度業績正確，但隨後我們看到了一些下滑。

Overall, I think those things just move and move into or move out further. We're not ready to guide for next year, but I think those challenges will persist until the interest rates come down and probably come down somewhat dramatically. We'll have more updates, obviously, on the next call as we're thinking about next year, but the pipeline's healthy.

總的來說，我認為那些東西只是不斷向內移動或向外移動。我們還沒有準備好為明年做出指引，但我認為這些挑戰將持續存在，直到利率下降，甚至可能大幅下降。顯然，我們會在下次電話會議上提供更多更新，因為我們正在考慮明年的事情，但管道是健康的。

We have 110 sites approved from a real estate committee standpoint and over 70 signed leases. So we've got a lot of strong organic growth ahead of us. And we're just trying to navigate the situation.

從房地產委員會的角度來看，我們已經批准了 110 個地點，並簽署了 70 多份租約。因此，我們未來將迎來強勁的有機成長。我們只是在盡力解決這個情況。

I think the other thing I would just add is we're not going to compromise on the quality of the sites we pick, of the development and the building itself. So we're going to be choosy, we're going to do it the right way. And if that means, we don't quite get to 10% similar to this year, so be it. But we'll have some more updates for you next time.

我想補充的另一件事是，我們不會在所選地點、開發和建築本身的品質上妥協。所以我們會謹慎選擇，我們會以正確的方式去做。如果這意味著我們無法達到與今年類似的 10%，那就這樣吧。但下次我們會為您提供更多更新。

That's very helpful. Thank you. Okay.

這非常有幫助。謝謝。好的。

So then just switching over to gross margin, again, another quarter, really solid expansion here. You guys have been doing that for a long time now. I know there are a lot of company-specific factors that are driving that, which is great to see that you highlighted in the prepared remarks.

那麼再轉到毛利率，再一次，另一個季度，這裡的擴張確實很穩健。你們已經這樣做很久了。我知道有很多公司特定的因素在推動這一趨勢，很高興看到您在準備好的演講中強調了這一點。

But I think just at a higher level, would love to hear you guys kind of discuss how you think about the puts and takes between letting all those tailwinds flow through to the bottom-line versus reinvesting for the long term. You know, how do you think about those trade-offs?

但我認為，從更高的層面來說，我很想聽聽你們討論一下，你們如何看待讓所有這些順風順水到底線和進行長期再投資之間的利弊。您如何看待這些權衡？

Well, from a pricing point of view, Leah, we spend a lot of time making sure we're at the right price, as you kind of identified in your question. There's quite a number of things that are part of us being a young and mature business that we're working our way through. I think, shrink is a good example of the progress that we've made on that and there's further progress to be made.

嗯，從定價的角度來看，Leah，我們花了很多時間來確保我們的價格合適，正如您在問題中提到的那樣。作為一家年輕而成熟的企業，我們正在努力解決許多問題。我認為，縮小是我們在這方面取得進展的一個很好的例子，而且還會有進一步的進展。

There's a number of things that we can do to continue to make progress on gross margin and we're working our way through that. How do we think? We're going to invest appropriately in our business going forward. The one thing that we don't think is appropriate to invest is the gross margin level on pricing, because we've got this different, I think we've established ourselves now as this differentiated assortment which gives us, I think a position that we can control our own margins going forward and that's something that's a good place to be.

我們可以做很多事情來繼續提高毛利率，我們正在努力實現這一目標。我們怎麼想？我們將對我們的未來業務進行適當的投資。我們認為不適合投資的一件事是定價的毛利率水平，因為我們有這種不同，我認為我們現在已經確立了這種差異化的產品組合，我認為這讓我們能夠控制未來的利潤率，這是一個很好的位置。

We haven't -- as you can see from our top-line, it doesn't seem to be something that's constraining our top-line in terms of what we're working at the moment. And I kind of see that being the trend going forward.

我們沒有—正如您從我們的營收所見，就我們目前的工作而言，這似乎並沒有限制我們的營收。我認為這就是未來的趨勢。

And I just added that, Leah, yeah. As long as traffic is healthy and we're seeing units stabilized, which they are, and they flattened out, we're going to let the elasticities dictate how we price our differentiated assortment. So we feel like we're in a pretty good place right now, and we'll watch that closely and manage it as we need to.

我剛剛還補充道，利亞，是的。只要流量健康，我們看到單位數量穩定，而且它們趨於平穩，我們就會讓彈性決定我們如何為差異化產品定價。因此，我們覺得我們現在處於一個相當不錯的位置，我們會密切關注並根據需要進行管理。

Thank you. Makes a ton of sense. Appreciate it.

謝謝。非常有道理。非常感謝。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Mark Carden, UBS.

瑞銀的馬克卡登。

Good afternoon. Thanks so much for taking our questions. So to start, even with some of the macro uncertainty out there, your comp is obviously holding up really well. I know you guys shed some of your coupon flippers, but are you seeing any pressure from the lower end of your current customer base?

午安.非常感謝您回答我們的問題。首先，即使存在一些宏觀不確定性，您的公司顯然仍表現良好。我知道你們已經擺脫了一些優惠券轉售者，但你們是否感受到了當前客戶群中低端客戶的壓力？

Or does your focus on serving key attributes really just keep you more in play than others and you see customers just prioritizing more spend on your assortment?

或者，您對提供關鍵屬性的關注是否真的只是讓您比其他公司更有競爭力，並且您看到客戶只是優先考慮在您的產品上花費更多？

Yeah, I think we lost the coupon clippers long ago, if I'm honest, Mark. So that dynamic, which is clearly a real dynamic in the marketplace at the moment, doesn't seem to be affecting us. So the thing we've always said is that the nature of our assortment, whether it's attribute-based, whether it be keto, or paleo, or vegan, or vegetarian, or dairy, or non-dairy plant-based, all those trends, If you get into that space and your food purchase you can tend to stick with it almost irrespective of what the broader economic circumstances around you are.

是的，說實話，馬克，我想我們很久以前就丟失了優惠券剪。因此，這種動態（顯然是目前市場上的真實動態）似乎並沒有影響到我們。因此，我們一直在說的是，我們的產品組合的性質，無論是基於屬性的，無論是生酮飲食、原始人飲食、純素食、素食、乳製品還是非乳製品植物性食品，所有這些趨勢，如果你進入那個領域併購買食品，你幾乎可以堅持下去，而不管你周圍的經濟狀況如何。

And I think that's what's given us a little bit of a moat here in terms of our customer base and their dietary needs and their dietary requirements. However, they're coming at it. And one of the things we're working hard at is to understand that even better as we do work on this personalization work. But more and more we're seeing that our customers are resilient to the external environment that's going on around them. And so yeah, we're feeling good about that.

我認為，就我們的客戶群以及他們的飲食需求和飲食要求而言，這給了我們一點護城河。然而，他們正在努力實現這一目標。我們正在努力做的事情之一就是在進行個人化工作的同時更好地理解這一點。但我們越來越多地看到，我們的客戶能夠更好地適應周圍發生的外部環境。是的，我們對此感覺很好。

Okay, great. And then it sounds like you're making further progress with your marketing message in your newer markets. How did your comp compare in new geographies versus legacy geographies in 2Q when you think about similar vintages? Did the gap narrow at all? What do you think on that front?

好的，太好了。聽起來您在新市場中行銷訊息方面取得了進一步的進展。當您考慮相似的年份時，您的公司在第二季在新地區和傳統地區的表現如何？差距縮小了嗎？您對此有何看法？

I think our comps generally comes down to really age of store. We're seeing really strong comps from our newer vintages and we tend to be a little heavier weight into the non-established there with our pipeline being kind of 50/50 and just not a huge base of stores in those markets.

我認為我們的比較通常取決於商店的實際年齡。我們看到，我們較新的年份的產品具有非常強勁的可比性，而且我們傾向於在非成熟市場中投入更多資金，我們的產品線比例是 50/50，但在這些市場中，門市數量並不龐大。

So a little bit stronger comps in those geographies, but generally, from Q1 to Q2, it was strength across the board. All regions improved, and we have a really healthy balance across the entire country.

因此，這些地區的業績略強一些，但總體而言，從第一季到第二季度，業績全面強勁。所有地區都得到了改善，全國範圍內實現了真正健康的平衡。

Great. Thanks so much. Good luck, guys.

偉大的。非常感謝。祝你們好運，夥計們。

Thanks, Mark.

謝謝，馬克。

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer.

魯佩什·帕里克，奧本海默。

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. Also congrats on a really strong quarter.

午安.感謝您回答我的問題。也恭喜本季業績表現強勁。

So I just wanted to go back to the comp out performance. So now you're basically comping almost double your long term algorithm for low single digit comps. I guess what do you attribute to, I guess, the overperformance versus your longer-term algorithm? Then how do you guys feel about the sustainability? Because I know in Q3, you do expect the sell versus what you just reported on the comp line.

所以我只是想回到競爭表現。因此，現在您基本上將長期演算法與低個位數演算法進行比較。我想，與你的長期演算法相比，你認為這種超額表現是什麼原因造成的？那你們對於永續性有什麼看法？因為我知道在第三季度，您確實預期銷售額與您剛剛在同類產品上報告的銷售額相比有所增長。

Yeah. So on the acceleration front, it was just, I mean, we had a really strong quarter across the board. You know, everything really worked in Q2. We got an early produce season and then the strength of the season was good throughout. We really saw a step change in the business as we got into the summer months and that was really where it took off.

是的。因此，在加速方面，我的意思是，我們整個季度的表現都非常強勁。你知道，第二季一切都進展順利。我們的農產品季節來得早，而且整個季節的產量都很好。進入夏季，我們確實看到了業務的重大變化，業務也真正開始起飛。

What do we attribute it to, I mean, I think it's the same things we've talked about for several quarters running. I think we have the right strategy that really works for our target customer. I think the teams are doing a great job executing and collaborating to bring it to life.

我們將其歸因於什麼？我的意思是，我認為這與我們連續幾季談論的事情相同。我認為我們擁有真正適合目標客戶的正確策略。我認為各團隊在執行和協作方面做得非常出色，使這一目標得以實現。

And then we put a lot into the team, and the culture, and winning begets winning. And it's really good energy and a good vibe in the stores and the store experience.

我們為團隊和文化投入了很多，勝利帶來了勝利。這確實為商店和商店體驗帶來了良好的活力和氛圍。

So a little bit of everything's working. We had some tailwinds, like I said, with the seasonal piece. And then as far as the guide goes, we don't expect everything to be perfect forever. Something will go bump in the night.

所以每件事都有一點進展。正如我所說，我們在季節性方面遇到了一些順風。就指南而言，我們並不期望一切都永遠完美。晚上會有東西發生碰撞。

In Q2, the things that were working stayed working and the things that were struggling a little bit got better. But it's a pretty rare moment to have everything working all at once. And that's kind of where we were in Q2. So we're going to plan our business appropriately, towards the high end of that low single digit algorithm. We're going to manage our costs as a result, not get too over egged. And if things continue great, then we'll have some upside and we'll let that drop to the bottom-line.

在第二季度，那些有效的事情繼續有效，而那些遇到困難的事情也得到了一些改善。但所有事情同時順利進行的情況非常罕見。這就是我們第二季的情況。因此，我們將適當規劃我們的業務，以實現低個位數演算法的高端。因此，我們將控製成本，避免過度支出。如果情況繼續順利，那麼我們就會有一定優勢，然後我們會將其降至底線。

And I think the other thing, you touched about the micro environment here, is I think the sector of the market is just growing a little bit faster than maybe we all thought it would. I think this attribute-based sensitivity to ingredients, health enthusiast, customer-conscious consumer, I think there's just maybe just been a little bit of growth on that and we've probably benefited from that as well.

我認為您提到的另一件事是這裡的微觀環境，我認為這個市場領域的成長速度可能比我們想像的要快一點。我認為這種基於屬性的對成分的敏感性、健康愛好者、注重客戶的消費者，我認為這方面可能有一點點增長，我們可能也從中受益。

Okay, great. Thank you. I will pass the line.

好的，太好了。謝謝。我會通過這條線。

Michael Montani, Evercore.

邁克爾·蒙塔尼，Evercore。

Hey. This is Mike. Thanks for taking the question. I just wanted to confirm on the margin side, it sounds like you all were looking for a similar level of gross margin expansion in the back half of the year. So I just wanted to make sure I understood the drivers of that piece of it. And then also, if I'm seeing this right, it's about a flattish EBIT margin, so then anticipating SG&A dollars grow at a similar pace as well. So, just hoping you could help out with that?

嘿。這是麥克。感謝您回答這個問題。我只是想確認利潤率方面，聽起來你們都在期待下半年的毛利率擴張達到類似的水平。所以我只是想確保我理解了其中的驅動因素。而且，如果我沒看錯的話，息稅前利潤率基本上持平，因此預計銷售、一般及行政費用也會以類似的速度增長。所以，我只是希望你能幫忙嗎？

Yes. Mike, that's spot on. We've been in the mid-80s of margin expansion on the gross and expecting that in that range for the second half, pretty consistently by quarter. And then the offset with SG&A and the pressures were experiencing that.

是的。麥克，說得太對了。我們的毛利率一直處於 80% 左右的擴張水平，預計下半年的毛利潤率將保持在這個範圍內，並且每個季度的毛利率都將保持相當穩定的成長。然後，銷售、一般和行政費用的抵銷和壓力就出現了。

Got it. And then maybe on the comp side, if I could, if you were to parse out new store contribution as well as Uber Eats, I was thinking about new stores, maybe 150 bps to 200 bps, and then another, call it 100 bps, 150 bps from Uber Eats, but just wanted to see if there was any incremental color that you could share on that front.

知道了。然後也許在比較方面，如果可以的話，如果您要分析新店貢獻以及 Uber Eats，我正在考慮新店，也許是 150 bps 到 200 bps，然後另一個，稱之為 100 bps，來自 Uber Eats 的 150 bps，但我只是想看看您是否可以在這方面分享任何增量顏色。

Yeah, I don't think we'll give specifics. I would say it's really been strong across the board. Again, it was really healthy. Brick and mortar really was the piece that accelerated in the quarter and we had some traffic acceleration largely in brick and mortar. The e-comm business has been pretty consistent from quarter to quarter for us, so really healthy strong across the board, really pleased with how the comps coming in again new stores are performing core stores are performing. It's been a nice balance for us.

是的，我認為我們不會透露具體細節。我想說，從各方面來看，它確實表現強勁。再說一次，它確實很健康。實體店確實是本季成長最快的部分，我們的客流量主要加速成長在實體店方面。對我們來說，電子商務業務每季都保持著相當穩定的狀態，因此整體上非常健康強勁，我們對新店和核心店的業績表現感到非常滿意。對我們來說這是一個很好的平衡。

Okay, great. Thanks for taking the questions and good luck.

好的，太好了。感謝您回答問題並祝您好運。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Ken Goldman, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的肯‧戈德曼。

Hi, I think that's for me. Is that for Ken? We'll see in a second.

嗨，我認為這適合我。那是給肯的嗎？我們馬上就會看到。

Yes. Hi, Ken.

是的。你好，肯。

hi, guys. I just had one question. I don't know if you can answer it, but obviously things sound terrific across the board. A couple of questions I am getting are really on the news stores into next year and if there is any chance that you guys can give us any kind of color as to what you meant by what you've said last quarter in this quarter about interest rates and maybe some challenges in terms of the timing there?

嗨，大家好。我只有一個問題。我不知道您是否能回答這個問題，但顯然總體情況聽起來都很棒。我收到的幾個問題確實與明年的新聞有關，你們能否給我們解釋一下上個季度和本季關於利率的含義，以及在時間方面可能遇到的一些挑戰？

I know you're not quite prepared to talk about next year yet, but I think some people are kind of looking for any kind of sense of rough magnitude as to what those comments should have us think about in terms of incremental store count/ Thank you.

我知道您還沒有準備好談論明年，但我認為有些人正在尋找任何大致的量級感，以了解這些評論應該讓我們在增量商店數量方面考慮什麼/謝謝。

Well, we'll be much clearer in the future. But we've got 110 leases -- stores signed off and over 70 leases signed. The comments that we've been making around interest rates are the timing in which we can get these stores opened. So we've got a huge pipeline ready to go, and we're in good shape from that point of view.

好吧，以後我們會更清楚的。但我們已經簽訂了 110 份租約——商店已經簽署，另外還簽署了 70 多份租約。我們圍繞利率發表的評論是關於開設這些商店的時機。因此，我們已經準備好了一條龐大的管道，從這個角度來看，我們的狀況良好。

And that pipeline continues to expand, as we've talked about every quarter going forward. So we're going to build a lot of new stores next year. The absolute number we're going to be clearer about to the next meeting. But there are some pressures in terms of because of interest rates, the speed at which development -- all of our programs are built to suit at the moment, which is creating some delays in terms of us not opening.

正如我們每個季度所討論的那樣，該管道將繼續擴大。因此我們明年要蓋很多新店。我們將在下次會議上更清楚地說明絕對數字。但由於利率、發展速度等方面存在一些壓力——我們所有的項目都是為適應當前情況而製定的，這導致我們無法開放。

The reason we've got more opening in Q4 than I would have liked is because some of these things have just been delayed on the back of some of those challenges that we faced. The team are doing a terrific job getting these things opened. I'm really proud of the work that we're making. And as I say, we'll be clearer about that going forward.

我們在第四季度的開業數量比我希望的要多，是因為其中一些事情由於我們面臨的一些挑戰而被推遲了。團隊在打開這些東西方面做得非常出色。我對我們所做的工作感到非常自豪。正如我所說，我們今後將更加清楚這一點。

Curtis, do you want to add something to that?

柯蒂斯，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yeah, Ken. We're not going backwards from where we are. It's going to be in the same neighborhood, and it'll just be a question of the tail-end of next year as the timing becomes more clear, just how many we can do specifically.

是的，肯。我們不會從現在的位置倒退。它將位於同一個社區，隨著時間變得更加清晰，我們具體能做多少就只是明年年底的問題了。

That's helpful. Thank you.

這很有幫助。謝謝。

And then I heard you mention a little bit about traffic accelerating. Can you just give us a little bit of detail on what you saw from AUR and basket size trends during the quarter? And then very quickly, if you have any comments on 3Q comps to date, if they're more or less in-line with your guidance?

然後我聽到您提到了一點有關交通加速的問題。您能否向我們詳細介紹本季的 AUR 和購物籃規模趨勢？然後很快，如果您對迄今為止的第三季業績有任何評論，它們是否與您的指導大致一致？

Yeah, so on the kind of traffic ticket side of it, yeah traffic accelerated. So 6, 7 comp was, you know, call it -- it was a little bit almost 50-50, but not quite a little bit more basket than traffic. It's an AUR and traffic story. The units have kind of gotten themselves back to flat, still just barely negative in the second quarter.

是的，從交通罰單方面來看，交通確實加速了。所以 6、7 的比較，你知道，稱之為 - 幾乎是 50-50，但籃框比交通量稍大。這是一個 AUR 和交通故事。這些單位的數量已恢復到平穩狀態，但第二季仍略微為負。

So we feel like we are stable with that low single-digit inflation, stable unit story. That's kind of how we expected to play out going forward; traffic in AUR, and then flat units as far as the guide goes. And the second piece was --?

因此，我們感覺，在低個位數通膨和穩定單位的情況下，我們是穩定的。這就是我們期望未來能夠實現的事情； AUR 中的流量，然後就指南而言為平坦單位。第二件是--？

Just 3Q comp to-date if it's more or less in-line with where you've guided.

如果迄今為止的 3Q 表現與您的指導大致一致，則僅進行 3Q 比較。

Yeah. You know, we're in good shape here to start the quarter. As we said, we're seeing a strong summer and that's continued end of July and we're just curious to see as we get back to school. It's kind of a shift in our business and the types of products and events we're running and it's really where we saw the comp take off last year. So we're curious to see how we'll have that over the next, call it four to six weeks as the different geographies go back to school.

是的。您知道，我們本季的開局狀態良好。正如我們所說，我們正經歷一個強勁的夏季，並且這種勢頭將持續到七月底，我們只是好奇地想看看我們何時能回到學校。這是我們業務以及我們經營的產品和活動類型的一種轉變，這也是我們去年看到公司業務起飛的地方。因此，我們很好奇，在接下來的四到六週內，隨著不同地區學生返校，我們將如何應對這種情況。

Thanks very much.

非常感謝。

Thanks, Ken.

謝謝，肯。

Robby Ohmes, Bank of America.

羅比·歐姆斯（Robby Ohmes），美國銀行。

Thanks for taking my question. My first question is just can you -- either Jack or Curtis, remind us the profitability of e-commerce? I mean, it did accelerate sequentially again. And it's up nicely in penetration year over year. Is that also supporting gross margin?

感謝您回答我的問題。我的第一個問題是，您（傑克或柯蒂斯）能否提醒我們電子商務的獲利能力？我的意思是，它確實再次連續加速。而且其滲透率逐年穩定上升。這也能支持毛利率嗎？

Yeah. I think it's -- the profitability bottom-line, it's just slightly dilutive because of the fee structure. But on a basket basis, they're typically larger baskets. And so stronger net dollar profitability and a little bit diluted from a rate perspective.

是的。我認為這是盈利底線，只是由於費用結構而略微稀釋了盈利。但從籃子來看，它們通常是更大的籃子。因此，從利率角度來看，淨美元獲利能力更強，但略微稀釋。

Margin rate-wise, generally the mix is pretty close from brick and mortar to online. There isn't a material difference in margin rate. So it's not a huge story or driver within the gross margin story.

從利潤率來看，實體店和線上的利潤率組合大致比較接近。保證金率沒有實質差異。因此，這並不是毛利率方面的一個重要因素或驅動因素。

And I think that's fine. What Curtis said there in terms of the mix is quite unusual. Our mix of fresh produce in our e-comm business is probably much stronger than you would find in most food retailers that are using that. So that encourages our assortment and our product offer is being very thoughtfully used by our customer base. And there's a confidence in what we sell, which gives us a lot of confidence in our assortment going forward.

我認為這很好。柯蒂斯在那裡所說的混合內容相當不尋常。我們的電子商務業務中的新鮮農產品組合可能比大多數使用該組合的食品零售商的要強大得多。這鼓勵了我們的產品種類，我們的客戶群非常認真地使用我們的產品。我們對自己銷售的產品充滿信心，這讓我們對未來的產品組合充滿信心。

Got you. That's really helpful.

明白了。這真的很有幫助。

And Jack, I think you mentioned the regional merchandising opportunity. Can you remind us where you are at now on regionalization of assortment and where you think that could go?

傑克，我想你提到了區域行銷機會。您能否提醒我們，您目前在產品分類區域化方面處於什麼階段，以及您認為未來可以走向何方？

Well, very particular in our produce business, which is so important to us, it's very, very seasonal. I was in Colorado over the weekend and the peaches are just arriving, but there's only a few weeks that it'll be snowing soon. So there's only so much you can do in certain times of the year.

嗯，我們的農產品業務非常特別，這對我們來說非常重要，它非常非常季節性。週末我在科羅拉多州，桃子剛剛到達，但再過幾週就會下雪。所以在一年中的某些時候你能做的事情是有限的。

So across the country, we've invested in each distribution center in having close relationships with local farmers. So that when things are ready, we are in a good shape to take advantage of that.

因此，我們在全國範圍內對每個配送中心進行了投資，與當地農民建立了密切的關係。這樣，當一切準備就緒時，我們就可以充分利用這一點。

And we're working pretty hard at that going forward. Is there further to go? I think no doubt there's further to go. If we can get more commitments to our kind of supply base, giving two, three, four, five year commitments. That's the kind of thing we want to work at, so that we're in a better place to do that going forward.

我們正為此而努力。還有進一步的路要走嗎？我認為毫無疑問我們還有很長的路要走。如果我們能夠為我們的供應基地獲得更多的承諾，給予兩年、三年、四年、五年的承諾。這就是我們想要努力做的事情，這樣我們才能更好地向前邁進。

And some of our individual categories, I think gives us some opportunities beyond produce to do a little bit more than we've done so far. Some of the innovation centers, for example, we've talked to a lot of producers who just haven't got enough volume to supply all of our stores even. And what we work with, what we do with those guys is try and work them into a regional assortment, so we can launch them in a few stores rather than all our stores. And that's something that I think sets us apart and allows us to be differentiated in all sorts of local ways going forward.

我認為，我們的一些個別類別為我們提供了除農產品之外的一些機會，讓我們能夠做比迄今為止更多的事情。例如，我們與一些創新中心的許多生產商進行了交談，他們的產量甚至不足以供應我們所有的商店。我們與這些人合作，我們所做的就是嘗試將它們納入區域分類，這樣我們就可以在幾家商店而不是所有商店中推出它們。我認為這就是我們的與眾不同之處，並使我們能夠在未來以各種本地方式實現差異化。

That's great. Thanks, Jack.

那太棒了。謝謝，傑克。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Kelly Bania, BMO Capital Markets.

凱利·巴尼亞（Kelly Bania），BMO 資本市場。

Hi. I think that was me. This is Kelly Bania from BMO.

你好。我想那就是我。我是 BMO 的 Kelly Bania。

Yes, it's you Kelly. Thanks.

是的，就是你，凱利。謝謝。

Thanks. So I have a couple of questions.

謝謝。我有幾個問題。

One, just wanted to ask about promotional effectiveness, and it sounds like that's still a gross margin driver. Can you just help us understand which categories at this stage you are still finding opportunities there to refine your promotional effectiveness, and how much that's contributing to the gross margin, as well as the gross margin outlook that's kind of been bumped here for the back half?

第一，我只是想問促銷效果，聽起來這仍然是毛利率的驅動因素。您能否幫助我們了解現階段哪些類別仍有機會改善促銷效果，以及這對毛利率的貢獻有多大，以及下半年的毛利率前景如何？

So it's -- I won't get to -- it's really across the board, there's not really any huge category story. I think Jack talks a lot about the inefficiency, the immaturity in our business, and I think this is us just better leveraging tools and data and process to make better decisions.

所以 - 我不會談 - 這真的是全面的，並沒有什麼大的類別故事。我認為傑克談論了很多關於我們業務的低效率和不成熟，我認為這只是我們更好地利用工具、數據和流程來做出更好的決策。

And so the category management we reference in the script, these are pieces that are coming together and we're just getting a little bit more effective and efficient as a group. And so, I think all the merchants are doing a really nice job managing that and getting the target customer appropriate promotions without over-investing in things that aren't going to drive traffic or units.

因此，我們在腳本中引用的類別管理是一些正在整合在一起的部分，作為一個整體，我們正在變得更加有效和有效率。因此，我認為所有商家都做得很好，管理得很好，並為目標客戶提供了適當的促銷，而沒有在不會帶來流量或單位的東西上過度投資。

It was a small driver to the first half, and really, we kind of lapped some of the benefits we saw and started seeing in the middle of last year. So we're not expecting it to be a huge driver in the second half. It's much more an inventory management story, which certainly manifests in shrink, which we've talked about, but also helps us in things like markdown management as we do exit product and bring new product in.

這對上半年來說是一個小小的推動力，實際上，我們在去年年中就看到了一些好處。因此，我們並不認為它會成為下半年的巨大推動力。這更多的是一個庫存管理的故事，它當然體現在我們已經討論過的收縮中，但也幫助我們在退出產品和引入新產品時進行降價管理等。

And so we've seen some nice wins on both of those. And again, that's a place where we've made SG&A investments in the last few years that are providing the teams the tools to be able to better manage margins. So pleased with how that's coming along.

因此，我們看到這兩方面都取得了不錯的勝利。再說一次，這是我們過去幾年來進行銷售、一般及行政費用投資的地方，為團隊提供了更好地管理利潤的工具。我對事情的進展非常滿意。

So specifically to that, each of the merchants are working through basically on elasticity. We talked about this in the number of the calls in the last couple of years. The data that we're getting and trying to understand exactly how elastic certain products are on a promotional basis and using more information, more systems, is back to what Curtis has talked.

因此，具體來說，每個商家基本上都在努力實現彈性。我們在過去幾年的多次通話中討論過這個問題。我們獲得的數據以及試圖準確了解某些產品在促銷方面的彈性，並使用更多資訊、更多系統，都回到了柯蒂斯所說的內容。

As we get a little bit more mature in our business, a bit more mature how we think about it, we're being, I think, smarter about how we invest any money in product promotions.

隨著我們的業務越來越成熟，我們的思考方式越來越成熟，我認為，我們在如何投資產品促銷資金方面會更加明智。

That's helpful. And then maybe just to follow-up on SG&A, so we deleveraged a little bit despite comps coming in quite strong. So I was just curious if there's anything impacting SG&A, any pull-forward or timing considerations? Or is it maybe just impacted by the growth of e-comm, which was still quite strong? Just trying to think about how how that SG&A came in relative to your plan.

這很有幫助。然後也許只是為了跟進銷售、一般和行政費用，所以儘管可比銷售額相當強勁，我們還是稍微去槓桿了一點。所以我只是好奇是否有任何因素影響 SG&A，有任何提前或時間考慮嗎？或者它可能只是受到電子商務成長的影響，而電子商務的成長仍然相當強勁？只是想思考一下銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 相對於您的計劃有何影響。

Yeah. I think, certainly, e-comm, staying at that 14% level. We're pleased with that. That wasn't exactly what we were counting on as we laid out the year. So there's a little bit of extra pressure there.

是的。我認為，電子商務肯定會保持在 14% 的水平。我們對此感到高興。這並不是我們在製定年度計劃時所期待的。因此，這裡面存在一些額外的壓力。

Really the big driver, we reset our incentive comp plans for the year based on the performance. And so, you know, paying a lot more bonus to the stores, to the teams, and accruing for that for our long-term incentive as well. So it's been really just catching that up here in the second quarter was one of the one-timers. And then, of course our investments, right?

真正重要的驅動力是我們根據績效重新設定了年度激勵補償計畫。因此，您知道，向商店、團隊支付更多的獎金，並將其累積作為我們的長期激勵。因此，這實際上只是在第二季度趕上一次性事件之一。然後，當然還有我們的投資，對吧？

So we've got another $4 million of the $15 million that we spent here in Q2. And so that was a little bit of a drainer as well. So I think to take away the incentive and the investment pieces and we would have been leveraged.

因此，我們在第二季花費了 1500 萬美元，現在又獲得了 400 萬美元。所以這也有點讓人精疲力盡。所以我認為，如果去掉激勵和投資部分，我們就會有槓桿作用。

And those are investments we're feeling really positive about the fact that we are giving every store, every team member in every store gets the opportunity to turn a bonus and I don't know anyone else that's doing that. That's something we see as a real positive in terms of driving the positivity in our business at the moment.

我們對這些投資感到非常樂觀，因為我們為每家商店、每家商店的每位團隊成員都提供了獲得獎金的機會，我不知道還有誰在這樣做。就目前推動我們業務的積極性而言，我們認為這是一個真正的積極因素。

And these investments we are putting in, because we're putting some good numbers on the Board, it's giving us some space to do the kind of things that we need to do to make appropriate IT investments, appropriate investments behind our personalization work, appropriate investments behind supply chain. It's allowing us to put ourselves in a much better place going forward.

我們之所以進行這些投資，是因為我們向董事會提交了一些不錯的數字，這給了我們一些空間來做我們需要做的事情，即進行適當的 IT 投資、對我們的個人化工作進行適當的投資、對供應鏈進行適當的投資。它使我們在未來的處境更加有利。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Thanks, Kelly.

謝謝，凱利。

Krisztina Katai, Deutsche Bank.

克里斯蒂娜·卡泰，德意志銀行。

Hi, good afternoon and congrats on a very strong quarter.

大家下午好，恭喜本季業績表現強勁。

Thank you, Krisztina.

謝謝你，克里斯蒂娜。

Hi, Jack. I wanted to ask about your produce business, in particular the usual 10% to 15% discount you have relative to traditional grocers. So can you just update us on where the gaps are today?

你好，傑克。我想詢問一下你們的農產品業務，特別是與傳統雜貨店相比你們通常享有的 10% 到 15% 的折扣。那麼，您能否向我們介紹目前的差距在哪裡？

And then, two, is that we hear a lot of food retailers talk about leaning into the fresh department in particular. So do you see them doing anything differently price wise or merchandising wise to drive traffic or frequency?

其次，我們聽到許多食品零售商談論特別傾向新鮮食品部門。那麼，您是否看到他們在價格或商品方面採取了不同的措施來增加流量或頻率？

Well, we've talked about this in the past, Krisztina. We pay a lot of attention to produce pricing. We've been very encouraged by particularly our organic produce pricing. Even the guys are chasing after produce. They're not chasing after organic produce, they are chasing after some of the conventional products.

好吧，我們以前討論過這個問題，克里斯蒂娜。我們非常重視產品定價。我們的有機農產品定價尤其令我們感到鼓舞。甚至連男人也在追逐農產品。他們追求的不是有機農產品，而是一些傳統產品。

So what we've found is we've widened our gap in organic produce, which is what our customers, we're well over 45%. I can't remember, did we quote the number?

因此，我們發現我們在有機農產品方面的差距已經擴大，我們的客戶已經遠遠超過 45%。我不記得了，我們引用過這個數字嗎？

Yeah, personally, we quoted something I'm not supposed to quote.

是的，就我個人而言，我們引用了一些我不應該引用的內容。

45% of our produce businesses are organic produce. I've said it now. So that's something, and it continues to grow and we're encouraged by it. And so from a proposition point of view, this organic gap's important to us. And I think as we look at that, we're in very good shape against everybody in that space.

我們的農產品業務中有 45% 是有機農產品。我現在已經說了。所以這是一件好事，而且它還在繼續增長，我們對此感到鼓舞。因此，從命題的角度來看，這種有機差距對我們來說很重要。我認為，從這個角度來看，我們在該領域與所有人相比都處於非常有利的地位。

We're not seeing a very aggressive environment. There's some occasional aggressive promotions, which people put on the front page of ads. But it's not something, we're well away from that type of customer that's responding to that coupon clipping that we had many years ago.

我們沒有看到非常激進的環境。人們偶爾會推出一些積極的促銷活動，並將其放在廣告的頭版。但這並不是什麼問題，我們距離多年前對剪下優惠券做出反應的那類客戶還很遠。

So our produce pricing's in good shape. Our mix of produce is evolving towards, I think, something that emphasizes our differentiation in being organic produce. We're working very close with growers; growers so that we can get more and more of that available going forward. But yeah, produce is in good shape.

因此我們的農產品定價狀況良好。我認為，我們的產品結構正在朝著強調有機產品差異化的方向發展。我們與種植者密切合作；種植者，以便我們在未來獲得越來越多的可用資源。但確實，農產品狀況良好。

Got it. And then just as a follow-up, I think you said that you grew frequency with existing customers and then you also saw new customer additions. So, maybe can you talk about what you're seeing purchase behavior-wise with your two-core customer segments that you're targeting? And where you are with them on wallet share today versus even maybe a year ago relative to where you would like to be? Thank you.

知道了。然後作為後續問題，我想您說過，您增加了現有客戶的頻率，然後您也看到了新客戶的增加。那麼，您能否談談您所針對的兩個核心客戶群的購買行為？與一年前相比，您目前的錢包份額與他們的錢包份額相比如何，以及您是否希望達到這樣的水平？謝謝。

Yeah, sure. Krisztina, this is Curtis. I think that's a piece that we're excited to get after as we get into loyalty and we gather more and more data, so we can have a more crisp answer there. But certainly, really pleased with the frequency piece. That's a big opportunity for us and how often folks come in and saw that go in the right direction for us.

是的，當然。克里斯蒂娜，這是柯蒂斯。我認為這是我們在忠誠度方面感到興奮的事情，我們收集了越來越多的數據，因此我們可以得到更清晰的答案。但可以肯定的是，我對頻率部分感到非常滿意。這對我們來說是一個巨大的機會，人們經常來這裡並看到我們朝著正確的方向發展。

As far as the two segments, we believe we're gaining share of wallet and everything we look at tells us we are. So really pleased with the direction we're headed on customer engagement. And looking forward to getting even more and more data to better engage with them and tell that story.

就這兩個部分而言，我們相信我們的錢包份額正在增加，我們所看到的一切都告訴我們這一點。我對我們在客戶參與方面的發展方向感到非常滿意。並期待獲得越來越多的數據，以便更好地與他們互動並講述這個故事。

And it's not -- we still get lots of opportunities to go share a wallet with those target customers. As we've talked in the past, we're talking a really small number, a few crumbs at the table, and we can grow this thing a lot faster than we have been growing over the last couple of years.

但事實並非如此——我們仍然有很多機會與目標客戶分享錢包。正如我們過去所談論的，我們談論的是一個非常小的數字，桌上只有幾塊麵包屑，但我們可以比過去幾年更快地發展這個東西。

And that's where the loyalty and we personalize it. Yeah. Thanks, Krisztina.

這就是忠誠，我們將其個性化。是的。謝謝，克里斯蒂娜。

Thanks. Best of luck.

謝謝。祝你好運。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Edward Kelly, Wells Fargo.

愛德華凱利，富國銀行。

Hi, guys. I think that's me.

嗨，大家好。我想那就是我。

Hi, Edward.

你好，愛德華。

Nice quarter by the way.

順便說一句，這是一個不錯的季度。

Thank you.

謝謝。

So I wanted to ask about digital. You know, 30% growth in digital is pretty impressive, on top of 25% last quarter. How do you think about where digital penetration can go over time, you know, currently at 14%? You will -- I guess, you know, lab will breach, I guess, as you get into next year. Thoughts around, you know, how you think about the sustainability of the digital growth as well?

所以我想問一下有關數字的問題。你知道，數位業務成長 30% 是相當令人印象深刻的，而上一季的成長率為 25%。您認為數位滲透率隨著時間的推移會如何發展？目前數位滲透率是 14%？我想，你知道，到明年，實驗室就會被突破。您知道，您如何看待數位成長的可持續性？

Sorry, I think you cut out there? Can you --?

抱歉，我想您剛才停在那裡了？你可以嗎--？

Sorry, you just cut for a minute. It was a follow-up to the sustainability of what was it you asked about?

抱歉，你剛才停了一下。這是您所問的永續性問題的後續問題嗎？

Yeah, the sustainability of digital growth and where you think penetration can go over time.

是的，數位成長的可持續性以及您認為滲透率隨著時間的推移會達到何種程度。

Okay, yeah, we are very pleased with how our digital business is going in it. It reflects the fact that we're very indifferent to how the customer shops with us. We believe that our assortment and our proposition fits well with our target customers. And they will be an omnichannel who will choose how best to access our products.

好的，是的，我們對我們的數位業務的進展非常滿意。這反映出我們對顧客如何在我們這裡購物非常漠不關心。我們相信，我們的產品種類和產品主張非常適合我們的目標客戶。他們將成為全通路消費者，選擇如何最好地取得我們的產品。

We want them in our stores. We want them to come and pick up from our stores. And we want them to get delivery via some of our different mechanisms of getting it to people's homes. That increase, that 14% is something that -- I'm not sure how much, it'll probably tweak up a little bit. I don't think it's going to go over the long term dramatically more than that. I don't see that, and it certainly will be what it will be though, and we'll take what happens, how our customer shapes us in that direction.

我們希望它們出現在我們的商店中。我們希望他們來我們的商店取貨。我們希望他們能夠透過我們的一些不同機制將貨物送到人們的家中。這個成長，那個 14% 是——我不確定會成長多少，它可能會稍微調整一下。我認為從長遠來看，這種情況不會發生太大的變化。我沒有看到這一點，但它肯定會是這樣，我們會接受發生的事情，看看我們的客戶如何塑造我們朝著這個方向發展。

We want to understand our customer better and make sure we're reflecting the assortment that's appropriate to that target customer. So the sustainability of our, I think it might tweak up a little bit. And that's not what I would have said a couple of years ago coming out of the pandemic. I think things have changed a little bit and customers are feeling more comfortable about using digital in our environment than maybe they were pre-pandemic.

我們希望更了解我們的客戶，並確保我們提供的產品適合目標客戶。因此，我認為我們的可持續性可能會略有調整。這不是幾年前疫情爆發時我會說的話。我認為情況已經發生了一些變化，與疫情之前相比，客戶在我們的環境中使用數位技術感覺更加舒適。

Remember, we're only at 2% of our sales pre-pandemic, so there has been quite an evolution. I think as we start to understand the customers, that will tweak up a little bit more. But I don't think it's going to be huge.

請記住，我們的銷售額僅為疫情前的 2%，因此變化很大。我認為，隨著我們開始了解客戶，情況會有所調整。但我不認為它會有多大。

And I just add a little color, it's really all three partners driving it. So it's not all an Uber Eats story. We're really pleased with DoorDash's year two growth. They continue to ramp up.

我只是添加了一點顏色，這實際上是由三個合作夥伴共同推動的。所以這並非全是 Uber Eats 的故事。我們對 DoorDash 第二年的成長感到非常滿意。他們繼續加大力度。

And Instacart, our longest term partner, has had a great year and is driving growth as well. So it's really balanced across the three partners as far as that penetration jump we saw up to 14%.

我們最長期的合作夥伴 Instacart 今年表現優異，也實現了成長。因此，就滲透率躍升至 14% 而言，這三個合作夥伴之間的情況確實很平衡。

Great. And just a quick follow-up on SG&A. Obviously, you've had investment in SG&A this year. Are you at the point where you cycle out of 2024, and we can start to think about more normalized SG&A growth on a per-store basis, like a more normalized comp to leverage SG&A? I know you're not going to get guidance for 2025, but I'm just kind of curious where you are in the investment cycle.

偉大的。簡單跟進銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A)。顯然，您今年在銷售、一般及行政費用方面進行了投資。您是否已經到了 2024 年周期結束的階段，我們可以開始考慮在每家商店的基礎上實現更正常化的銷售、一般和行政費用增長，例如更正常化的比較以利用銷售、一般和行政費用？我知道你不會得到 2025 年的指導，但我只是有點好奇你處於投資週期的哪個階段。

Yeah, it definitely should be more normalized as we get to 2025. We won't get super specific this early yet on exactly what that looks like, but it's not going to be in the 80% range that it's going to look like here this year. There's certainly some one-timers with investment. There's the incentive comp piece that goes the other way or normalizes back to 100% next year.

是的，到 2025 年，它肯定會更加規範化。目前我們還不能非常具體地說明具體情況，但不會達到今年 80% 左右的水平。當然也有一些一次性的投資。還有激勵補償部分，它反過來或明年恢復到 100% 的正常水平。

So it'll normalize for next year. The underlying pressures will still be there with new stores, with wages, with e-commerce. But again, even the e-commerce people we just discussed will be a little bit muted. We've got our step change here this year of having those partners jump on and that'll normalize a little bit as well. So should be a more normal year next year.

所以明年情況就會恢復正常。新店、工資和電子商務仍將帶來潛在的壓力。但同樣，即使是我們剛剛討論過的電子商務人士也會有點沉默。今年，我們在這方面取得了重大進展，合作夥伴也紛紛加入進來，這也會逐漸正常化。所以明年應該會是比較正常的一年。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Karen Short, Melius Research.

Karen Short，Melius Research。

Hi. It's Karen Short from Melius. Good to talk to you again. It's been a while.

你好。她是 Melius 的 Karen Short。很高興能再次和你交談。已經有一段時間了。

Hi, Karen.

你好，凱倫。

It's been a while. So I had a couple of questions related to comps. So can you just give an update on, first thing is cannibalization. The second is waterfall on new stores. And then the third is -- actually this is a little more tangential. When you think looking forward if an assuming Kroger and Albertsons actually does change hands to C&S, how do you think about that opportunity?

已經有一段時間了。所以我有幾個與 comps 相關的問題。那麼，您能否簡單介紹一下最新情況，首先是蠶食。第二個是新店瀑布效應。第三個是──其實這有點離題。展望未來，假設 Kroger 和 Albertsons 確實轉手給 C&S，您如何看待這個機會？

Sure. So I'll take the first two and I'll leave the third for Jack because he likes to answer that one. So cannibalization, certainly, as we expand the number of stores, we went from 30 last year to 35 this year, there'll be a little bit of incremental cannibalization.

當然。因此我會回答前兩個問題，第三個問題留給傑克，因為他喜歡回答這個問題。因此，當然，隨著我們擴大門市數量，從去年的 30 家增加到今年的 35 家，會出現一些漸進式的蠶食現象。

Our pipeline is approximately 50/50, kind of non-established to established. So we don't see a ton of cannibalization in the non-established markets. We feel that more in the established markets. That's playing out about as we expected, and it's a little bit of a drag that offsets.

我們的管道大約是 50/50，即未建立的和已建立的。因此，我們並沒有看到非成熟市場出現大量蠶食現象。我們在成熟市場中感受到的更多。這與我們的預期一致，但也帶來了一些阻力。

The second part of your question was just that new store waterfall. That comps have been really strong in the last few vintages, a little bit better than our box economics. They've started a little bit lower from a volume perspective. And we think they're going to get to the right place in the longer term.

你問題的第二部分就是新店瀑布。在過去的幾年中，同類產品表現非常強勁，比我們的盒子經濟狀況要好一些。從交易量來看，他們的起步有點低。我們認為從長遠來看，他們會到達正確的位置。

I think the only thing I'd note on that comp waterfall from new stores is that -- as they come out a little bit lower volume, they just don't carry the same weight versus the core. So as a penetration to the total, they're a little bit lower but we're seeing nice strong double digit comps as they hit their first year comp.

我認為，關於新店的瀑布效應，我唯一要注意的是——由於它們的銷量稍微低一些，所以它們與核心店相比，所承受的重量不一樣。因此，從整體滲透率來看，他們的滲透率略低一些，但我們看到，當他們達到第一年的水平時，他們的滲透率就達到了強勁的兩位數。

And now the Kroger and Albertsons, I'll let Jack cover that one.

現在，我讓傑克來負責克羅格和艾伯森。

Yeah, Karen. I think Kroger and Albertsons, whether it happens or it doesn't happen, I've really got no idea. I've got no more insight than anyone reading the newspapers like everyone else.

是的，凱倫。我認為，對於 Kroger 和 Albertsons 來說，無論這是否會發生，我真的不知道。我並不比任何讀報紙的人更有見識。

So the way we look at it, both of these companies have got some good brands in all sorts of different markets where we operate and some where we don't operate. And we actually see ourselves as not competing with either of them. So we see ourselves as a complementary retailer.

因此，從我們的角度來看，這兩家公司在我們營運和未營運的各種不同市場中都擁有一些優秀的品牌。我們實際上認為自己並沒有與他們任何一方競爭。因此我們將自己視為一家互補零售商。

And I've always talked about this. We're not trying to win traffic from the big conventional supermarkets. We're trying to win a share of wallet of our target customers. And it's not meant to sound arrogant in any way.

我一直在談論這個。我們並不是想從大型傳統超市贏得客流量。我們正在努力贏得目標客戶的青睞。這並不意味著聽起來很傲慢。

But it doesn't matter if we keep focusing in on looking after our target customers and trying to understand them better and grow that share of wallet with that target customer. It almost doesn't matter what the other guys do. If anything, I just want to be as close to them as I can if they've got big traffic. Because we feed off the traffic of some of these higher volume kind of conventional grocers.

但如果我們繼續專注於照顧我們的目標客戶並試圖更好地了解他們並增加目標客戶的錢包份額，這並不重要。其他人做什麼幾乎不重要。如果有的話，如果他們的交通繁忙，我只是想盡可能地靠近他們。因為我們依賴一些銷售量較大的傳統雜貨店的客流量。

So I hope that makes sense. But we're focused in on the customer side of it, not so much of what might be happening corporately with two very big businesses.

所以我希望這是有意義的。但我們的重點是客戶方面，而不是兩家大企業之間可能發生的情況。

No. That makes sense. And then just a follow up on new store productivity, obviously, it was very high. But how do you think about that going forward, given the heavy weight on new store openings in 4Q?

不。這很有道理。然後對新店生產力進行跟踪，顯然，生產力非常高。但是，考慮到第四季度新店開業的壓力，您對未來的發展有何看法？

Yeah. I think we never really count on more than what we kind of talked about historically in the approximately 75% range. I think that gets a little better with the smaller square footage and we expect the top-line to be about the same in those new stores, but we don't count on anything more than that.

是的。我認為我們從未真正依賴超過我們歷史上談論的大約 75％ 的範圍。我認為，隨著店鋪面積的縮小，這種情況會有所好轉，我們預計這些新店的營業額將大致相同，但我們不會指望更多。

We kind of take the openings as they come quarter by quarter and then we address it in the reforecast from there. So we are pleased with the new stores and the momentum particularly in the newer markets, and we're happy with the openings we've seen as Jack mentioned from sea to shining sea. So we've seen some good ones on the West Coast, we've seen some good ones in Florida, and some good ones in the East Coast, and it's given us a lot of encouragement for the expansion plan forward.

我們按照每季出現的空缺情況進行統計，然後在重新預測中加以解決。因此，我們對新店和新市場的發展勢頭感到滿意，我們也對傑克提到的從海邊到閃亮海邊的新店開幕感到滿意。因此，我們在西海岸看到了一些很好的例子，在佛羅裡達州看到了一些很好的例子，在東海岸也看到了一些很好的例子，這給了我們很大的鼓勵，讓我們能夠繼續推進擴張計劃。

Okay, thank you so much.

好的，非常感謝。

Thanks, Karen.

謝謝，凱倫。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Thank you. And there are no more questions in the queue for today. I would now like to turn the call over to Jack Sinclair for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

謝謝。今天隊列中沒有其他問題了。現在我想將電話轉給傑克辛克萊 (Jack Sinclair) 做最後發言。請繼續。

Well, as always, we appreciate your interest in our business. Thanks very much for taking some time to listen to us today, and we look forward to talking to you again in the near future. Take care, everyone.

嗯，一如既往，我們感謝您對我們業務的關注。非常感謝您今天抽出時間聽我們講話，我們期待在不久的將來再次與您交談。大家保重。

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

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。你們都可以斷開連線。