Vipshop Holdings Ltd (VIPS) 2021 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, everyone, and welcome to Vipshop Holdings Limited Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, I would like to turn the call to Ms. Jessie Zheng, Vipshop's Head of Investor Relations. Please proceed, ma'am.

女士們、先生們，大家好，歡迎參加唯品會控股有限公司2021年第二季度業績電話會議。現在我想轉給唯品會投資者關係部負責人鄭洁女士。請繼續，女士。

Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining the Vipshop Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. With us today are Eric Shen, our co-Founder, Chairman and CEO; and David Cui, our CFO.

謝謝你，接線員。大家好，感謝您參加唯品會2021年第二季度業績電話會議。今天與我們一起出席的還有我們的聯合創始人、董事長兼首席執行官 Eric Shen；以及我們的首席財務官 David Cui。

Before management begins their prepared remarks, I would like to remind you that the discussion today will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Potential risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those outlined in our safe harbor statement, in our earnings release and public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which also applies to this call to the extent any forward-looking statements may be made.

在管理層開始準備好的發言之前，我想提醒您，今天的討論將包含根據 1995 年美國私人證券訴訟改革法案的安全港條款做出的前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述受到風險和不確定性的影響這可能會導致實際結果與我們當前的預期存在重大差異。潛在的風險和不確定性包括但不限於我們的安全港聲明、收益報告和向美國證券交易委員會提交的公開文件中概述的風險和不確定性，這些風險和不確定性也適用於本次電話會議（只要可能做出任何前瞻性聲明）。

Please note that certain financial measures used on this call, such as non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per ADS are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Please refer to our earnings release for details relating to the reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures to GAAP measures.

請注意，本次電話會議中使用的某些財務指標，例如非 GAAP 營業收入、非 GAAP 淨利潤和非 GAAP 每份美國存託股淨利潤，並非按照美國 GAAP 列報。請參閱我們的收益發布，了解有關我們的非公認會計原則措施與公認會計原則措施的調節的詳細信息。

With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Eric Shen.

現在我想把電話轉給沉先生。

Good morning, and good evening, everyone. Welcome, and thank you for joining our second quarter 2021 earnings conference call. In the second quarter, we kept up our solid business momentum with core operating metrics continue to trend healthily. Our user base maintained its strong growth driving a continued increase in total GMV. During the quarter, our total number of active users grew by 32% year-over-year to 51.1 million, and our total GMV increased by 25% year-on-year to RMB 48.1 billion. Our most valuable user group showed especially strong growth momentum with cumulative Super VIP membership increase by nearly 50% year-on-year, contributing about the 1/3 of the total GMV in the second quarter of 2021.

大家早上好，晚上好。歡迎並感謝您參加我們的 2021 年第二季度收益電話會議。第二季度，我們保持了穩健的業務勢頭，核心運營指標繼續健康發展。我們的用戶群保持強勁增長，推動總 GMV 持續增長。本季度，我們的總活躍用戶數同比增長 32% 至 5110 萬，總 GMV 同比增長 25% 至 481 億元人民幣。我們最有價值的用戶群表現出尤其強勁的增長勢頭，累計超級VIP會員同比增長近50%，約佔2021年第二季度總GMV的1/3。

These encouraging developments was the result of our relentless efforts to calibrate our strategic focus and increase operational synergies.

這些令人鼓舞的發展是我們不懈努力調整戰略重點和增強運營協同效應的結果。

In the second quarter, we continued to robust execute on our merchandising strategy. Our buyer teams successfully collaborated with an increasing number of suppliers and brand partners. As a result, we have not only been able to attract either increasing amount of unique branded merchandise to be sold on our platform, but have been able to do so at Vipshop's favorable discount price.

第二季度，我們繼續大力執行我們的銷售策略。我們的買家團隊與越來越多的供應商和品牌合作夥伴成功合作。因此，我們不僅能夠吸引越來越多的獨特品牌商品在我們的平台上銷售，而且能夠以唯品會優惠的折扣價格做到這一點。

In addition to our traditional deeply discount inventory covering an extensive range of brands, we now also carry a considerable proportion of Made for Vipshop products. These are products especially customized for Vipshop by our brand partners. We are committed to increase the breadth and depth of our merchandising portfolio to offer users a differentiated selection of high-quality merchandise while creating dynamic price advantage for our discount sales.

除了傳統的深度折扣庫存、覆蓋廣泛的品牌之外，我們現在還銷售相當比例的專為唯品會打造的產品。這些是我們的品牌合作夥伴專門為唯品會定制的產品。我們致力於增加商品組合的廣度和深度，為用戶提供差異化的優質商品選擇，同時為折扣銷售創造動態的價格優勢。

In the second quarter, we successfully institute refinement at an operational level. User experience is one of our clear priority. To this end, we implemented several initiatives, including better matching of merchandising selection to target users and improving overall incentive for our most-valued users. On top of this, we also leverage effective marketing to attract more younger shoppers to our platform.

第二季度，我們成功地在運營層面進行了細化。用戶體驗是我們明確的優先事項之一。為此，我們實施了多項舉措，包括將商品選擇與目標用戶更好地匹配，以及提高對最有價值用戶的整體激勵。除此之外，我們還利用有效的營銷來吸引更多年輕購物者來到我們的平台。

Looking forward to the second half of 2021, we remain committed to execution of our merchandising strategy. We are dedicated to create value for our new and existing customers while also increasing the value we add for our core brand partners, we believe this will solidify our leading position in China's discount retail market.

展望2021年下半年，我們仍然致力於執行我們的銷售策略。我們致力於為新老客戶創造價值，同時也為核心品牌合作夥伴增加價值，我們相信這將鞏固我們在中國折扣零售市場的領先地位。

At this point, let me hand over the call to our CFO, David Cui, who will go over our operational and financial results.

現在，讓我將電話轉交給我們的首席財務官 David Cui，他將審查我們的運營和財務業績。

Thanks, Eric, and hello, everyone. We are pleased to report a strong set of results for the second quarter of 2021. During the quarter, we delivered solid top line growth with total net revenue reaching RMB 29.6 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 22.8%. We also witnessed a sustainable growth momentum in business development which is evidenced by our number of active customers and total orders growing by 32% and 30% year-over-year, respectively. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Vipshop's shareholders also increased by 11.3% year-over-year to RMB 1.5 billion.

謝謝埃里克，大家好。我們很高興地報告 2021 年第二季度的強勁業績。本季度，我們實現了穩健的營收增長，總淨收入達到人民幣 296 億元，同比增長 22.8%。我們還見證了業務發展的可持續增長勢頭，活躍客戶數量和總訂單量分別同比增長 32% 和 30%。非美國通用會計準則歸屬於唯品會股東的淨利潤也同比增長11.3%至人民幣15億元。

In the second quarter of 2021, we repurchased approximately USD 301 million of our ADS in accordance with the USD 500 million share repurchase program we adopted in March earlier this year, showing both our confidence in the robustness of our business model and our dedication to delivering long-term value to our shareholders.

2021 年第二季度，我們根據今年早些時候通過的 5 億美元股票回購計劃，回購了約 3.01 億美元的美國存託憑證，這既表明了我們對業務模式穩健性的信心，也表明了我們致力於實現為我們的股東帶來長期價值。

Before I get started with detailed quarterly financial highlights, I would like to clarify that all the financial numbers presented below are in RMB and all the percentage changes refer to year-over-year changes unless otherwise noted.

在開始詳細介紹季度財務摘要之前，我想澄清一下，除非另有說明，下面列出的所有財務數據均以人民幣為單位，所有百分比變化均指同比變化。

Total net revenue for the second quarter of 2021 increased by 22.8% year-over-year to RMB 29.6 billion from RMB 24.1 billion in the same period last year, primarily driven by a large number of total active customers. Growing (sic) [gross] profit for second quarter of 2021 increased by 20.6% year-over-year to RMB 6.0 billion from RMB 4.9 billion in the same period last year.

2021年第二季度總淨收入同比增長22.8%，從去年同期的人民幣241億元增至人民幣296億元，主要受到大量活躍客戶總數的推動。 2021年第二季度的增長（原文如此）[毛]利潤同比增長20.6%，從去年同期的人民幣49億元增至人民幣60億元。

Gross margin for the second quarter of 2021 was 20.1% compared with 20.5% for the same period in 2020. Total operating expenses for the second quarter of 2021 were RMB 4.8 billion compared to RMB 3.8 billion in the second quarter 2020. As a percentage of total net revenue, total operating expenses for the second quarter of 2021 were 16.4% compared with 15.8% in the second quarter of last year. Fulfillment expenses for the second quarter of 2021 were RMB 2.1 billion as compared with RMB 1.7 billion in the same period in 2020. As a percentage of total net revenue, fulfillment expenses for the second quarter of 2021 decreased to 6.9% from 7.0% in the second quarter of 2021 -- in the second quarter of 2020.

2021年第二季度的毛利率為20.1%，而2020年同期為20.5%。2021年第二季度的總運營費用為48億元人民幣，而2020年第二季度為38億元人民幣。 2021年第二季度總淨收入、總運營支出為16.4%，而去年第二季度為15.8%。 2021 年第二季度的配送費用為 21 億元人民幣，而 2020 年同期為 17 億元人民幣。佔總淨收入的百分比，2021 年第二季度的配送費用從 2020 年同期的 7.0% 下降至 6.9%。 2021年第二季度——2020年第二季度。

Marketing expenses for the second quarter of 2021 were RMB 1.4 billion as compared with RMB 1.0 billion in the same period of 2020. As a percentage of the total net revenue, marketing expenses for the second quarter of 2021 were 4.8% compared to 4.3% in the second quarter of 2020. The increase was primarily due to higher investment in advertising activities relating to customer acquisition and retention.

2021年第二季度的營銷費用為14億元人民幣，而2020年同期為10億元人民幣。占淨收入總額的百分比，2021年第二季度的營銷費用為4.8%，而2020年同期為4.3%。 2020 年第二季度。這一增長主要是由於與客戶獲取和保留相關的廣告活動投資增加。

Technology and content expenses for the second quarter of 2021 were RMB 369.9 million compared to RMB 305.4 million in the same quarter in 2020. As a percentage of total net revenue, technology and content expenses for the second quarter of 2021 decreased to 1.2% from 1.3% in the second quarter of 2020.

2021年第二季度的技術和內容支出為人民幣3.699億元，而2020年同期為人民幣3.054億元。占淨收入總額的百分比，2021年第二季度的技術和內容支出從1.3%下降至1.2% 2020 年第二季度的百分比。

General and administrative expenses for the second quarter of 2021 were RMB 1.0 billion compared to RMB 804.6 million in the second quarter of last year. As a percentage of total net revenue, general and administrative expenses for the second quarter of 2021 were 3.4% as compared with 3.3% in the same period of 2020.

2021年第二季度的一般及管理費用為人民幣10億元，而去年第二季度為人民幣8.046億元。 2021年第二季度的一般及管理費用占淨收入總額的百分比為3.4%，而2020年同期為3.3%。

Income from operations for the second quarter of 2021 increased by 18.6% year-over-year to RMB 1.5 billion from RMB 1.2 billion in the second quarter of 2020. Operating margin for the second quarter of 2021 was 5.0% as compared with 5.1% in the same period last year. Non-GAAP income from operations for the second quarter of 2021 which excluded the share-based compensation expenses and amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions increased by 16.1% year-over-year to RMB 1.7 billion from RMB 1.5 billion in the second quarter of 2020.

2021年第二季度的運營收入同比增長18.6%，從2020年第二季度的12億元人民幣增至15億元人民幣。2021年第二季度的運營利潤率為5.0%，而2021年第二季度的運營利潤率為5.1%。去年同期。 2021年第二季度非美國通用會計準則運營收入（不包括股權激勵費用和業務收購產生的無形資產攤銷）同比增長16.1%，從第二季度的人民幣15億元增至人民幣17億元2020 年。

Non-GAAP operating margin for the second quarter of 2021 was 5.9% as compared with 6.2% in the second quarter of 2020. Net income attributable to Vipshop's shareholders for the second quarter of 2021 was RMB 1.1 billion compared to RMB 1.5 billion in the same period last year.

2021年第二季度非美國通用會計準則營業利潤率為5.9%，而2020年第二季度為6.2%。2021年第二季度唯品會股東淨利潤為人民幣11億元，去年同期為人民幣15億元。去年期間。

Net margin attributable to Vipshop's shareholders for the second quarter of 2021 was 3.7% as compared with 6.4% in the prior year period. Net income attributable to Vipshop's shareholders per diluted ADS for the second quarter of 2021 decreased to RMB 1.56 from RMB 2.24 in the second quarter of the previous year. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Vipshop's shareholders for the second quarter of 2021 increased by 11.3% year-over-year to RMB 1.5 billion from RMB 1.3 billion in the second quarter of 2020. Please note that non-GAAP net income attributable to Vipshop's shareholders excludes a number of items, the details of which can be found in our earnings release.

2021年第二季度唯品會股東淨利潤為3.7%，上年同期為6.4%。 2021年第二季度，唯品會股東每股攤薄美國存託股淨利潤從上年第二季度的2.24元下降至1.56元。 2021年第二季度非美國通用會計準則歸屬於唯品會股東的淨利潤同比增長11.3%，從2020年第二季度的人民幣13億元增至人民幣15億元。請注意，非美國通用會計準則歸屬於唯品會股東的淨利潤同比增長11.3%股東排除了許多項目，其詳細信息可以在我們的收益報告中找到。

Non-GAAP net margin attributable to Vipshop's shareholder for the second quarter of 2021 was 5.0% as compared with 5.5% in the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Vipshop's shareholders per diluted ADS for the second quarter of 2021 increased to RMB 2.10 from RMB 1.92 in the second quarter of 2020.

2021年第二季度非美國通用會計準則歸屬於唯品會股東的淨利潤率為5.0%，上年同期為5.5%。 2021年第二季度非美國通用會計準則每股攤薄後歸屬於唯品會股東的淨利潤從2020年第二季度的1.92元增至2.10元。

As of June 30, 2021, the company had cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash of RMB 16.5 billion and short-term investments of RMB 3.6 billion. Looking forward to the third quarter of 2021, we expect our total net revenue to be between RMB 24.3 billion and RMB 25.5 billion, representing a year-over-year growth rate of approximately 5% to 10%. Please note that this forecast reflects our current preliminary views of the market and operational conditions, which is subject to change.

截至2021年6月30日，公司擁有現金及現金等價物及限制性現金165億元，短期投資36億元。展望2021年第三季度，我們預計淨收入總額將在人民幣243億元至人民幣255億元之間，同比增長率約為5%至10%。請注意，該預測反映了我們目前對市場和運營狀況的初步看法，可能會發生變化。

With that, I would like now to open the call to Q&A.

現在我想開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) We have the first question. This is coming from the line of Feitong Zhang from CICC.

（操作員說明）我們有第一個問題。這是來自中金公司張飛桐的電話。

This is Feitong from CICC. I have 2 questions. My first question is regarding the competitive landscape. We observed some short video platforms are doing really well this year in their e-commerce business and some brands are exploring [destocking] at these channels. How should we think about the competitive landscape of [the stock] industry going forward? Any color would be very helpful.

我是中金公司的飛通。我有 2 個問題。我的第一個問題是關於競爭格局。我們觀察到，今年一些短視頻平台的電商業務做得非常好，一些品牌正在這些渠道進行“去庫存”探索。我們該如何看待未來行業的競爭格局？任何顏色都會非常有幫助。

The second question is regarding to the third quarter guidance. How should we think about the third quarter guidance? Did we observe any impact from the pandemic in July and August that we factored in our third quarter guidance? Should we expect acceleration in the fourth quarter if the pandemic gets well contained? (foreign language)

第二個問題是關於第三季度的指導。我們應該如何看待第三季度的指導？我們是否觀察到 7 月和 8 月大流行的影響，並將其納入第三季度指導？如果疫情得到很好的控制，我們是否應該預期第四季度會出現加速增長？ （外語）

(foreign language)

（外語）

[Interpreted] Okay. Let me translate the first answer to the first question. In terms of live streaming model, there are a lot of platforms that are selling through live streaming, whether it's branded or it's slow -- in-season, slow-moving, old inventories, I think these platforms are primarily capturing a lot of customers' attention. But no matter what, the most important thing is merchandising, whether it's pricing advantages or brand advantages, that's the most important thing for customers.

[解釋]好的。我來翻譯一下第一個問題的第一個答案。從直播模式上來說，現在有很多平台是通過直播來銷售的，無論是品牌的還是慢的——當季的、滯銷的、老庫存的，我認為這些平台主要是抓住了很多客戶。 ' 注意力。但不管怎樣，最重要的是商品推銷，無論是價格優勢還是品牌優勢，這對顧客來說才是最重要的。

For Vipshop, actually, we do less live streaming, but what we focus most is to creating differentiated value for customers in terms of both brand and merchandise and the pricing advantages. So despite the fact that short video platform has some impact in terms of attracting a lot of time spent from customers but it will have just some limited impact on our own business.

對於唯品會來說，其實我們直播做的比較少，但是我們最關注的是在品牌、商品以及價格優勢上為客戶創造差異化的價值。因此，儘管短視頻平台在吸引客戶大量時間方面有一定影響，但對我們自己的業務影響有限。

In terms of the Q3 guidance, there are a few factors entering Q3. We've seen consumer sentiment is not as strong amidst a weaker macro environment, which was partially related to some natural disaster in certain province and the resurgence of COVID-19 here in the year. And recall that we had a [test phase] in the same quarter of last year as we did see some [strong recovery] from the end of COVID-19. And also Q3 is traditionally a light season and also light for the apparel industry. But turning to Q4, typically, Q4 is the peak season where apparel ticket sizes tend to be larger, and we will run promotional events as everyone else within the industry. So Q4 should hold up relatively well as long as the COVID-19 pandemic ends at that time.

就第三季度指引而言，有幾個因素進入第三季度。我們看到，在宏觀環境疲軟的情況下，消費者信心並不那麼強勁，這在一定程度上與某些省份的一些自然災害以及今年這裡的 COVID-19 死灰復燃有關。回想一下，我們在去年同一季度經歷了一個[測試階段]，因為我們確實看到了 COVID-19 結束後的一些[強勁復甦]。而且第三季度傳統上是淡季，對服裝行業來說也是淡季。但說到第四季度，通常來說，第四季度是服裝門票規模往往較大的旺季，我們將像行業內其他人一樣舉辦促銷活動。因此，只要 COVID-19 大流行屆時結束，第四季度的情況應該會相對較好。

I would like to add on something, what Eric just mentioned. Number one is that remember last Q3, we had a booming business post COVID-19. So we had a larger base for this year, so that's why we had a softer guidance for Q3 this year. So that's number one.

我想補充一點，埃里克剛才提到的。第一，請記住上個第三季度，在 COVID-19 疫情之後，我們的業務蓬勃發展。因此，我們今年的基礎更大，這就是為什麼我們今年第三季度的指導更為溫和。所以這是第一。

Number two is that we should notice that our active customer base actually grew year-over-year 32%. So that does provide a foundation for us to grow our future business, and that's also a strong indicator that our business is healthy and then that should help with our future growth.

第二，我們應該注意到我們的活躍客戶群實際上同比增長了 32%。因此，這確實為我們發展未來業務奠定了基礎，這也是我們業務健康的有力指標，這應該有助於我們未來的增長。

We have the next question. This is coming from the line of Eddy Wang from Morgan Stanley.

我們有下一個問題。這是來自摩根士丹利的 Eddy Wang 的電話。

(foreign language) I have 2 questions. First is regarding the -- can you give us the breakdown of -- by month in the second quarter because we remember that in May, during the first quarter earnings call, you mentioned that your guidance for the second quarter actually has been a little bit conservative. So we all expect that you will have a quite strong growth. But in June, actually, it seems like that the sales situation is relatively weaker than expected. So can you give us more color on that?

（外語）我有兩個問題。首先是關於——您能否給我們詳細介紹一下第二季度的月度情況，因為我們記得五月份，在第一季度的財報電話會議上，您提到您對第二季度的指導實際上有點保守的。所以我們都期望你們會有相當強勁的增長。但實際上，6月份的銷售情況似乎比預期的要弱一些。那麼你能給我們更多的信息嗎？

And the second question is, can -- also give us some color about how the apparel demand actually in July and so far in August, because if you look at the [MPS] -- the retail sales of apparel, which show a certain weakness for the apparel demand. So I'm not sure whether or not this also impact our guidance for the third quarter.

第二個問題是，能否 - 也讓我們了解 7 月份和 8 月份迄今為止的服裝需求實際情況，因為如果你看一下 [MPS] - 服裝零售額，顯示出一定的疲軟以滿足服裝需求。所以我不確定這是否也會影響我們第三季度的指導。

(foreign language)

（外語）

[Interpreted] Okay. In terms of the trend we have seen in June, as you mentioned, our guidance of 20% to 25%. Actually, in June, we've already seen slower sales due to the longer promotional event for the whole e-commerce space. In the past, the e-commerce space tend to hold 1 or 2, 3-day promotional event, but this has become a month-long promotional event, and it's becoming less and less attractive to customers. And back in June, we tried to deliver some coupons to customers to encourage their spend, but it does -- it did not do very well. So we actually had some control [on the] (added by the company after the call) overall marketing spend.

[解釋]好的。就我們 6 月份看到的趨勢而言，正如您提到的，我們的指導為 20% 至 25%。事實上，在六月份，由於整個電子商務領域的促銷活動時間較長，我們已經看到銷售放緩。過去，電商領域往往會舉辦1、2、3天的促銷活動，但現在變成了長達一個月的促銷活動，對顧客的吸引力越來越小。早在六月，我們就試圖向顧客提供一些優惠券以鼓勵他們消費，但確實如此——效果不佳。因此，我們實際上對整體營銷支出（由公司在電話會議後添加）進行了一些控制。

And entering into the first 1.5 months in the third quarter, we did see some weakness in the apparel category. It is not as strong as we had anticipated, but it's also not as bad as you probably have imagined. We think that is primarily due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 here in the year, and we are seeing the trend moving slower than before. But at the same time, we also see branded merchandise, actually, they have very good inventory because the off-line stores are not very -- not a very good place to stay because of the COVID-19. So actually, they have increased the inventory online for -- so we have to see a few -- a couple of months to see how this turns out.

進入第三季度的前1.5個月，我們確實看到服裝類別出現了一些疲軟。它沒有我們預期的那麼強大，但也沒有你想像的那麼糟糕。我們認為這主要是由於今年新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 疫情捲土重來，而且我們發現這一趨勢的發展速度比以前要慢。但與此同時，我們也看到品牌商品，實際上，他們有很好的庫存，因為由於COVID-19，線下商店不是一個很好的住宿地點。所以實際上，他們已經增加了在線庫存——所以我們必須看到一些——幾個月的時間，看看結果如何。

We have the next question from Ronald Keung from Goldman Sachs.

高盛的 Ronald Keung 提出了下一個問題。

So I have 2 questions that I'll translate to Mandarin. The first question is on how -- also in our third quarter revenue guidance of 5% to 10%. Just want to know how that user growth and ARPU is kind of put within this forecast. Just want to see whether our user growth remains quite strong or maintaining the trends in the second quarter. And would that imply kind of ARPU will decline further on a year-on-year basis? And how do we see that into the fourth quarter as what we talk about as a peak season?

我有兩個問題需要翻譯成普通話。第一個問題是如何實現的——我們第三季度的收入指導也是 5% 到 10%。只是想知道用戶增長和 ARPU 是如何納入此預測的。只是想看看我們的用戶增長是否仍然相當強勁或維持第二季度的趨勢。這是否意味著 ARPU 將同比進一步下降？我們如何看待第四季度的旺季？

And then my second would be on marketing spending that we spent around 30 -- 37% more in marketing spend in the quarter. You mentioned about some control during June in couponing, but this is still quite an increase. And so are we expecting more spending as we head into the second half? And how should we think of sales and marketing as a percentage of revenue, which is one of the metrics which has been around 4.8% of revenues in the second quarter? (foreign language)

第二個是營銷支出，本季度我們的營銷支出增加了 30% 至 37% 左右。您提到6月份對優惠券進行了一些控制，但這仍然是一個相當大的增長。那麼，進入下半年後，我們是否預計會有更多支出？我們應該如何看待銷售和營銷佔收入的百分比，這是第二季度佔收入 4.8% 左右的指標之一？ （外語）

(foreign language)

（外語）

I take on the second question regarding the marketing expenses. So with respect to marketing expenses, this is probably the area that we have more discretion, and the marketing expenses, we split it between new user acquisition and existing user retention. So we have more discretion in terms of how we allocated the spending. And then as you can see, in the second quarter, we grow our active customer base by 32%. And we would expect that we will continue to grow our customer base. And in terms of the strategy, we will be carefully evaluate how to execute in terms of the marketing strategies. And the objective for us is to maintain our marketing expenditure at a stable level, not to -- in terms of the percentage of revenue, we expected that number should remain stable. We would try to improve our efficiencies in terms of how we spend that dollar.

我回答第二個問題，關於營銷費用。因此，就營銷費用而言，這可能是我們擁有更多自由裁量權的領域，而營銷費用，我們將其分為新用戶獲取和現有用戶保留。因此，我們在如何分配支出方面擁有更多的自由裁量權。正如您所看到的，在第二季度，我們的活躍客戶群增長了 32%。我們預計我們將繼續擴大我們的客戶群。在策略方面，我們會仔細評估如何執行營銷策略。我們的目標是將營銷支出保持在穩定的水平，而不是——就收入的百分比而言，我們預計該數字應該保持穩定。我們會努力提高我們使用這些錢的效率。

[Interpreted] Okay. Back to your question about [ARPU] (added by the company after the call) trends. As you may have noticed, our ARPU for the second quarter decreased by 7% year-over-year, but for Q3 and Q4, we don't expect similar deceleration -- the decline will be much moderated. We have spent a lot of time in reacting -- in reactivating our old customers as well as attracting new customers. But recall in the second quarter of last year, we actually started spending money on attracting new customers. So when entering into this year, we saw an increasing number of new customers and who may need some time to ramp up their spending, which is due after impacting the overall ARPU.

[解釋]好的。回到您關於 [ARPU]（由公司在電話會議後添加）趨勢的問題。您可能已經註意到，我們第二季度的 ARPU 同比下降了 7%，但對於第三季度和第四季度，我們預計不會出現類似的減速 - 下降幅度將大大減緩。我們花了很多時間來做出反應——重新激活我們的老客戶並吸引新客戶。但回想一下去年第二季度，我們實際上開始花錢吸引新客戶。因此，進入今年，我們看到新客戶數量不斷增加，他們可能需要一些時間來增加支出，這是在影響整體 ARPU 之後的結果。

But we think the general trend for ARPU going ahead will be stabilized. We are confident because we've seen very strong growth in Super VIP memberships, [growing] (corrected by the company after the call) about 50% year-over-year in the second quarter, and we found that they have been very loyal and spending much more than an average customer. Actually, Super VIP members spend almost 10x an average customer. So as long as we can grow our Super VIP members, we are confident that the ARPU will improve over time.

但我們認為未來 ARPU 的總體趨勢將趨於穩定。我們充滿信心，因為我們看到超級 VIP 會員數量增長非常強勁，第二季度同比[增長]（由公司在電話會議後修正）約 50%，而且我們發現他們非常忠誠並且花費比普通顧客多得多。事實上，超級VIP會員的花費幾乎是普通顧客的10倍。因此，只要我們能夠發展超級VIP會員，我們就有信心ARPU會隨著時間的推移而提高。

We have the next question. This is coming from the line of Thomas Chong from Jefferies.

我們有下一個問題。這是來自 Jefferies 的 Thomas Chong 的消息。

I'll ask questions on behalf of Thomas Chong. So I have 2 questions. The first question is about could management share some colors about the outlook for the second half of the year and also 2022, including the revenues and the gross profit margin and net profit margin? And then my second question is we mentioned about attracting young users. Do we have any updates about the initiations -- the user acquisition? (foreign language)

我將代表 Thomas Chong 提問。所以我有兩個問題。第一個問題是，管理層能否分享一些有關下半年和 2022 年前景的信息，包括收入、毛利率和淨利潤率？然後我的第二個問題是我們提到了吸引年輕用戶。我們有關於啟動（用戶獲取）的任何更新嗎？ （外語）

(foreign language)

（外語）

[Interpreted] So in terms of first question on the outlook of the second half and beyond, we think discount sale is actually resilient and long-term business and many consumers have a mindshare for discount sale. With our customer base continuing to expand, we are very optimistic that we're going to have a relatively stable growth outlook. And in terms of net margins, we've mentioned many times, we will continue to balance our top line growth and profitability. And we've been very profitable for many quarters. And in the future, we will continue to maintain a solid level of profitability.

[解讀]所以，就第一個問題而言，下半年及以後的前景，我們認為折扣銷售實際上是有彈性的、長期的業務，許多消費者對折扣銷售有一定的認知。隨著我們的客戶群不斷擴大，我們非常樂觀地認為我們將擁有相對穩定的增長前景。在淨利潤方面，我們多次提到，我們將繼續平衡營收增長和盈利能力。我們已經連續多個季度實現了盈利。未來，我們將繼續保持穩健的盈利水平。

And on your second question on new customer acquisition, we have various customer acquisition channels. And in the past, we have been leveraging a lot of traditional channels like digital advertising to acquire younger shoppers, especially those who are born after 2000. We have been seeing a very decent ramp-up in the contribution of the shoppers who are born after 2000, up by 6% year-over-year in the second quarter. And in the future, we will try to be more active in exploring more innovative customer acquisition channels, such as live streaming, short video, et cetera, to attract an increasing number of younger shoppers to our platform.

關於你關於新客戶獲取的第二個問題，我們有多種客戶獲取渠道。過去，我們一直利用數字廣告等許多傳統渠道來吸引年輕購物者，尤其是 2000 年後出生的購物者。我們看到 2000 年後出生的購物者的貢獻有了非常可觀的增長。 2000年第二季度同比增長6%。未來，我們將更加積極地探索更多創新的獲客渠道，例如直播、短視頻等，吸引越來越多的年輕消費者來到我們的平台。

The next question comes from the line of Nelson Cheung from Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Nelson Cheung。

So I have 2 follow-up questions. The first question is regarding your guidance and your outlook. So looking beyond the third quarter revenue guidance and your expectation on fourth quarter, do you have any preliminary view on next year or medium term normalization growth of the discount merchandising industry? And do you expect Vipshop to grow faster than the industry growth in the future?

所以我有兩個後續問題。第一個問題是關於您的指導和您的展望。那麼，除了第三季度的收入指引和您對第四季度的預期之外，您對折扣商品行業明年或中期的正常化增長有什麼初步看法嗎？您預計未來唯品會的增長速度是否會超過行業增長速度？

So my second question is also regarding the new user profile. So wondering if management can provide more qualitative color in terms of user mix from lower tier cities and their spending behavior from the new acquisition channel like the short video platform. (foreign language)

所以我的第二個問題也是關於新的用戶配置文件。因此，我想知道管理層是否可以在低線城市的用戶組合以及短視頻平台等新獲取渠道的消費行為方面提供更多定性的信息。 （外語）

(foreign language)

（外語）

[Interpreted] Okay. In terms of the industry outlook versus Vipshop, you should be well aware that we are a fundamentally solid business. And if compared to traditional e-commerce platforms, we might see less -- we might face greater competition, but if you look at the apparel-related [segments] (corrected by company after the call), we are the #1 in discount sale. We are very confident that our core competency in discount sale will outpace other peers in this particular segment.

[解釋]好的。從行業前景和唯品會的角度來看，你應該清楚我們是一個基本穩固的企業。如果與傳統的電子商務平台相比，我們可能會看到更少 - 我們可能會面臨更大的競爭，但如果你看看與服裝相關的[細分市場]（由公司在電話會議後更正），我們在折扣方面排名第一銷售。我們非常有信心，我們在折扣銷售方面的核心能力將超過這一特定領域的其他同行。

As you may know that the general e-commerce industry still grow like 20% year-over-year. But for us, we are looking for relatively steady growth for the long-term future.

如您所知，總體電子商務行業仍同比增長 20% 左右。但對我們來說，我們正在尋求長期的相對穩定的增長。

In terms of users and user behavior across different tiers of cities, we have been seeing very stable trend in terms of GMV contribution. On user acquisition and for ARPU, there is not so much change in their behavior of different tiers of cities.

從不同級別城市的用戶和用戶行為來看，我們看到GMV貢獻的趨勢非常穩定。在用戶獲取和ARPU方面，不同級別城市的行為沒有太大變化。

Let me add on something on this. So I think we want to diversify ourselves with other e-commerce platform in terms of that we're only focusing on apparel-related categories. And while the other e-commerce platforms may carry and many more other categories. So we are confident that we have the -- maybe the leading leaders in terms of how we process apparel's sales and inventories. So we should outperform in these categories as compared other e-commerce platforms.

讓我對此補充一些內容。因此，我認為我們希望通過其他電子商務平台實現多元化，因為我們只專注於服裝相關類別。而其他電子商務平台可能包含更多其他類別。因此，我們有信心，在處理服裝銷售和庫存的方式方面，我們可能擁有領先的領導者。因此，與其他電子商務平台相比，我們在這些類別上應該表現得更好。

We have our next question. This is coming from the line of Natalie Wu from Haitong International.

我們有下一個問題。這是來自海通國際的Natalie Wu 的專線。

I'm asking a question on behalf of Natalie. My first question is concerned about new initiatives of the company. So can management share any color to help us understand are there any new initiatives or businesses that we are now taking a trial in? And can we share about their recent development?

我代表娜塔莉問一個問題。我的第一個問題是關於公司的新舉措。那麼管理層能否分享任何顏色來幫助我們了解我們現在正在嘗試的新舉措或業務？我們可以分享一下他們最近的發展嗎？

My second question is more concerned about our user engagement, user experience. Just now, I think management mentioned that there were some refinements in second quarter about improving the user experience on the platform. Just wondering what specifically were those refinements. And are there any operating metrics that could help us understand the improvement in user engagement? (foreign language)

我的第二個問題更關心我們的用戶參與度、用戶體驗。剛才，我認為管理層提到第二季度在改善平台用戶體驗方面進行了一些改進。只是想知道這些改進具體是什麼。是否有任何運營指標可以幫助我們了解用戶參與度的改善情況？ （外語）

(foreign language)

（外語）

I'll add something on this. As I mentioned earlier, as of the end of Q2, our paid Super VIP grow by nearly 50%. So Super VIP members tend to spend a lot more than an average customer. So it's already contributed 1/3, 1/3 of our total GMV. So in Q2, we actually further increased our incentives to our Super VIP members, including an extra 5% off on selected merchandise. We provided a better targeted product to Super VIP members and improved our services.

我會對此添加一些內容。正如我之前提到的，截至第二季度末，我們的付費超級VIP增長了近50%。因此，超級VIP會員的消費往往比普通顧客高得多。所以它已經貢獻了我們總GMV的1/3、1/3。因此，在第二季度，我們實際上進一步增加了對超級 VIP 會員的激勵措施，包括精選商品額外 5% 的折扣。為超級VIP會員提供更有針對性的產品，提升服務水平。

So in May, we also added a certain line of privileges for Super VIP members. And in the future, we will continue to provide more active membership privileges to improve their shopping experience. And hopefully, that will translate to more active customers into Super VIP memberships.

所以在5月份，我們還為超級VIP會員增加了一定的特權。未來，我們將繼續提供更積極的會員特權，以改善他們的購物體驗。希望這能夠讓更多活躍客戶成為超級 VIP 會員。

[Interpreted] Okay. Back to your first and second question. The first question is the new business development. Actually, we have been very focused on our core business. We've made it clear that we will reinforce our execution of merchandising strategy and everything we do centers on that strategy. We are focused on discount sale and enhance our buyer capabilities to that end. We are trying to optimize our brand portfolio and traffic acquisition with brands to enhance our competitiveness, and we are consolidating our long-term core competency in the discount retail market. So 99% of our management focus is on discount retail and the execution of merchandising strategy. Of course, we are trying a lot of efforts in innovative areas. We've been investing to [fuel] (corrected by company after the call) our innovation, but that's not our current priorities.

[解釋]好的。回到你的第一個問題和第二個問題。第一個問題是新業務的發展。事實上，我們一直非常專注於我們的核心業務。我們明確表示，我們將加強營銷策略的執行，我們所做的一切都圍繞該策略進行。我們專注於折扣銷售，並為此增強我們的買家能力。我們正在努力優化品牌組合和品牌流量獲取，以增強我們的競爭力，並鞏固我們在折扣零售市場的長期核心競爭力。所以我們99%的管理重點是折扣零售和銷售策略的執行。當然，我們在創新領域也做了很多嘗試。我們一直在投資[燃料]（公司在電話會議後更正）我們的創新，但這不是我們當前的優先事項。

In terms of enhancing our user experiences through some operational refinements, you have to be aware that all of consumers are looking for good brands, good merchandise with good prices and good quality, and that should be matched with good services. So we've been investing heavily in bringing our user experience to the next level, including a hassle-less return or exchange, leveraging our relationship with Shunfeng Express delivery.

在通過一些運營改進來提升用戶體驗方面，大家要看到，所有的消費者都追求好的品牌、好的商品、好的價格、好的品質，同時還要搭配好的服務。因此，我們一直在大力投資，利用我們與順豐快遞的關係，將我們的用戶體驗提升到一個新的水平，包括無麻煩的退貨或換貨。

And on the other hand, we have been increasing our efforts on our front end and back end in terms of customer service. We have seen that our core metrics evaluating customer service standards like MPS is improving very significantly. So in the future, we will continue to invest in our efforts in bringing -- in enhancing our customer service and enhancing our user experience.

另一方面，我們在客戶服務方面也不斷加大前端和後端的力度。我們已經看到，我們評估 MPS 等客戶服務標準的核心指標正在顯著改善。因此，未來，我們將繼續投入努力，增強我們的客戶服務並增強我們的用戶體驗。

We have the next question from the line of Robin Leung from Daiwa.

我們有來自大和的 Robin Leung 的下一個問題。

This is Robin asking on behalf of John Choi. I have 2 questions. Given the user growth is strong over the past 4 quarters but ARPU still showing a year-on-year decline, should we expect the ARPU to ramp up in 2022 when the new users normalize and the spending from the older users that we acquired this year to ramp up the spending, would it be first half next year or the second half of next year? And should we expect to see less couponing by that time? And also the second question is on regulations. Are we seeing any positive or negative impact on our company? (foreign language)

這是 Robin 代表 John Choi 提出的問題。我有 2 個問題。鑑於過去 4 個季度的用戶增長強勁，但 ARPU 仍呈現同比下降，當新用戶正常化以及我們今年獲得的老用戶的支出正常化時，我們是否可以預期 ARPU 在 2022 年會上升？增加支出是明年上半年還是下半年？到那時我們是否應該看到優惠券減少？第二個問題是關於法規的。我們看到對我們公司有什麼積極或消極的影響嗎？ （外語）

(foreign language)

（外語）

[Interpreted] Okay. On your first question on ARPU trend, we have mentioned our ARPU is on a decline in the second quarter, but it's going to be at a moderate pace in the quarters ahead because it takes time for new customers as well as our old customers, which means historically they'd spend money on our platform but recently haven't come to spend. So it takes time for these 2 types of customers to ramp up their spending. But on a quarter-over-quarter basis, we have seen very apparent pickup in their spending. So actually, we are not too worried about that. As long as we can grow our user base, ARPU is going to improve over time.

[解釋]好的。關於你的第一個問題關於ARPU趨勢，我們已經提到我們的ARPU在第二季度有所下降，但在未來幾個季度將會以溫和的速度下降，因為新客戶和老客戶都需要時間，這意味著過去他們會在我們的平台上花錢，但最近沒有來花錢。因此，這兩類客戶需要時間來增加支出。但從環比來看，我們看到他們的支出明顯增加。所以實際上，我們對此並不太擔心。只要我們能夠擴大用戶群，ARPU 就會隨著時間的推移而提高。

And we've also mentioned that we are going to invest heavily in our SVIP [membership programs] (corrected by company after the call). We want to improve their ARPU going ahead. So with their -- as their spending has contributed 1/3 of our total net GMV, we're going to translate more customers into SVIP members and that would help us to improve the ARPU over time.

我們還提到，我們將大力投資 SVIP [會員計劃]（公司在電話會議後更正）。我們希望繼續提高他們的 ARPU。因此，由於他們的支出貢獻了我們總淨 GMV 的 1/3，我們將把更多客戶轉化為 SVIP 會員，這將幫助我們隨著時間的推移提高 ARPU。

On your question on regulation, overall, we believe the recent developments in terms of internet regulations such as anti-trust, unfair competition as well as data security, especially the ban on forced exclusivity on merchants will benefit the Vipshop to some extent. That means we will have a more open and transparent market with fairer competition. We will have more opportunity to partner with an increasing number of brands, which will further enrich our branded merchandise selections on our platform. So generally, we are very welcoming these regulatory developments because Vipshop is going to benefit from them more or less.

關於你提到的監管問題，總體而言，我們認為近期反壟斷、不正當競爭、數據安全等互聯網監管方面的進展，特別是對商家強制排他性的禁令，將在一定程度上對唯品會有利。這意味著我們將擁有更加開放、透明、競爭更加公平的市場。我們將有更多機會與越來越多的品牌合作，這將進一步豐富我們平台上的品牌商品選擇。所以總的來說，我們非常歡迎這些監管進展，因為唯品會或多或少會從中受益。

Thank you. Due to time constraint, that concludes our Q&A session for today. I would now like to hand the conference back to Jessie for any ending remarks. Please take over.

謝謝。由於時間關係，今天的問答環節到此結束。現在我想把會議交還給傑西，讓她發表結束語。請接手。

Thank you for taking the time to join us today. If you have any questions or follow-up, please don't hesitate to contact me. We look forward to speaking with you next quarter.

感謝您今天抽出時間加入我們。如果您有任何疑問或後續事宜，請隨時與我聯繫。我們期待下個季度與您交談。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our conference call for today. Thank you all for your participation. You may disconnect your lines now.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，我們今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的參與。您現在可以斷開線路。

[Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]

[本文字記錄中標記為[已翻譯]的部分是由現場通話中的口譯員朗讀的。]