Vipshop Q2 2024 Earnings Results & Report

Vipshop EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $3.91
• Consensus EPS: $0.48
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$3.43
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.51
• EPS Beat Rate: 6 of last 8 quarters

Vipshop Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $25.08 billion
• Expected Revenue: $26.61 billion
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$1.53 billion
• YoY Revenue Growth: -4.10%

Vipshop (NYSE:VIPS) (NYSE: VIPS) operates an online discount retail platform in China. Through its Vipshop website and mobile applications, the company offers branded products at promotional prices, with a focus on limited-time and seasonal sales.

Its product categories include apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty and personal-care products, home goods, consumer electronics, and other lifestyle merchandise. Vipshop sources products from brand owners, retailers, and other suppliers, and supports transactions through online retail, warehousing, fulfillment, and customer-service operations.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Guangzhou, China, Vipshop primarily serves consumers in mainland China. The company completed its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012. Vipshop was co-founded by Shen Ya, who has served as the company's chairman and chief executive officer.

Vipshop Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• In Q2 2024, net revenues fell 3.6% YoY to RMB26.9 billion as GMV was pressured by a high comparable base and cautious consumer spending.
• Consolidated gross margin widened to 23.6% from 22.2% and non-GAAP net margin remained strong at 8.1%, reflecting disciplined cost management and operational efficiency.
• Active SVIP members rose 11% YoY, now accounting for 40% of online spending, highlighting the resilience and loyalty of the top-tier customer segment.
• GMV from the “Made for VIP” customized product line jumped over 140% YoY, underscoring the success of exclusive, differentiated merchandise offerings.
• Q3 2024 net revenue is guided to RMB20.5–21.6 billion (down 5–10% YoY), and the company accelerated its share buyback with ~US$200 million used in Q2 and a new US$1 billion repurchase program launched.

Presentation

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, good day everyone, and welcome to Vipshop Holdings Limited's second quarter 2024 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.

[Jessie Zheng, Head of Investor Relations at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining Vipshop's second quarter 2024 earnings conference call. With us today are Eric Shen, our Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO, and Mark Wang, our CFO. 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.

[Jessie Zheng, Head of Investor Relations at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

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 statements 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.

[Jessie Zheng, Head of Investor Relations at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

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

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Good morning and good evening, everyone. Welcome, and thank you for joining our second quarter 2024 earnings conference call. In the face of multiple headwinds in the external environment, we had a slower momentum in our business. Our team focused on staying agile to respond quickly to external changes and achieving operational excellence. In the second quarter, sales was under pressure of the high base and amid the cautious customer sentiment. Apparel category held up relatively well.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

GMV generated from core brands and SVIP members showed resilience for the full quarter. We see this as an indication of the fundamental strengths of our business. Customer traction remained muted, reflecting our cautious approach to marketing spend amid a challenging backdrop. However, active SVIP members increased by 11% from a year ago and accounted for 40% of our online spending. That's encouraging as a hardcore customer cohort with the most resilient spending power continues to recognize the unique value of shopping with us.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Given that we are facing ongoing uncertainties in the near term, we focus on the long-term thinking that positions us for continued growth in the years ahead. Even as the patterns of spending evolving, the key factors that determine where customers choose to shop have not changed. We are sharpening our focus on enriching merchandising offering, highlighting affordability throughout our assortment will ensure a worry-free experience. Together, these have been the core competence that has helped us navigate difficult times.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Among the business highlights, we are pleased with the steady flow of the quality brands inventory. Thanks to our merchandising capability from strong team of talents across categories, we now adapt more quickly to emerging trends, which is important to driving growth by delivering what customers look for. In the first half, we select more than 600 well-known brands to our platform, including a mix of mass brands, new trendy brands, and affordable luxury brands in much richer selections.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Our layered approach to brand portfolio is well-suited to meet the ever-changing customer needs across income and age cohorts in different regions. We are also encouraged by the steady progress in the Made For VIP line of customized products. In the second quarter, GMV from Made For VIP increased more than 140% from a year ago. Our know-how and expertise in apparel enabled brand partners to customize more differentiated product at great price, which were welcomed by many customers.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

We see a meaningfully higher portions of customers repeatedly purchase customized products than they do in the general apparel category. And the conversions for Made For VIP has been consistently higher than the average levels seen within the same brand and the same category. Beyond that, we continue to focus on delivering value, providing the right brand of great pricing and quality to our customers. We consistently optimize the ways we work with brand partners to ensure we could generate more savings for our customers.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Recently, we launched some new channels, future time-limited promotions and Everyday Low Price. These are designed to help our customers make the most of their budget, while also providing reliable resource for brand partners to present their best deals. On the other hand, in enhancing quality control, we have been working hard this year to help customers select a trusted portfolio of brand products by increasing quality inspections throughout our supply chain. In addition, we are adapting and refining our approach to customer engagement.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

In the second quarter, for SVIP members, we continue with the launch of private sales and special offerings, both online and offline. We intended to increase the depth of our loyalty program to serve them uniquely. For young customers, we tailored the layout and design of our homepage, created specialized channels, and made personalized recommendations that better cater to their preferences. In the face of the temporary volatility on the top line, we continue to work on the long-term efficiency through process optimization and technology enhancement across business line, among other things.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

For example, we continuously upgrade our merchandise platform to further improve the productivity of our team while serving brand partners. This has motivated brand partners to invest while generating best ROI on technology, AI capabilities, and are increasingly applied to search, recommendation, and intelligent shopping assistant to provide the customer with inspiration and improve conversions. We have a fundamentally solid business model that's also inherently flexible, but we have much more work to do, and we are on it, so that we can quickly pivot as customer priority changes.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

As we move ahead, we believe that as long as we stay close to our customers, continue investing in our merchandising capabilities, and consistently execute on discount retail fundamentally, we will be positioned for continued growth over the long term. At this point, let me hand over the call to our CFO, Mark Wang, to go over our financial results.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Okay. Thanks, Eric, and hello, everyone. We delivered another quarter of solid profitability despite ongoing pressure on the top line growth. As we remain responsive to the evolving environment to weather external challenges, we managed to optimize our operational efficiency and achieve healthy margins. Specifically, consolidated gross margin increased to 23.6% from 22.2% a year ago, thanks to higher-margin category mix from apparel sales and a series of cost-saving measures.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Non-GAAP net margin attributable to Vipshop shareholders remained at a high level at 8.1%, reflecting our disciplined approach to managing our business. In the midst of macro and competitive dynamics, our goals are to balance growth with profitability and protect the long-term health of our business. Our outlook for the near term has softened. We remain confident in our unique positioning to drive sustainable and profitable growth in the long run. With that, we are committed to returning significant cash to our shareholders.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

We accelerated our pace of share buyback with over $200 million having been utilized during the second quarter. In addition, a new share repurchase program of up to $1 billion will be in place after we fully utilize the remaining amounts under the existing program. As we mentioned on our last earnings call, we plan to commit no less than 75% of our full-year non-GAAP net income attributable to Vipshop's shareholders through discretionary share repurchase and dividend distributions. Now, moving to our detailed quarterly financial highlights.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Before I get started, I would like to clarify that all financial numbers presented below are in renminbi, and all the percentage change are year-over-year change, unless otherwise noted. Total net revenues for the second quarter of 2024 were RMB 26.9 billion, compared with RMB 27.9 billion in the prior year period. Gross profits increased by 2.2% year-over-year to RMB 6.3 billion, from RMB 6.2 billion in the prior year period. Gross margin increased to 23.6% from 22.2% in the prior year period. Total operating expenses decreased by 4.2% year-over-year to RMB 4.3 billion, from RMB 4.5 billion in the prior year period.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

As a percentage of total net revenues, total operating expenses decreased to 16.0% from 16.1% in the prior year period. Fulfillment expenses decreased by 0.8% year-over-year to RMB 2.16 billion, from RMB 2.18 billion in the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, fulfillment expenses was 8.1% compared with 7.8% in the prior year period. Marketing expenses decreased by seventeen point, seventeen point zero percent year-over-year to RMB 740.7 million, from RMB 892.5 million in the prior year period.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

As a percentage of total net revenues, marketing expenses decreased to 2.8% from three two, from 3.2% in the prior year period. Technology and content expenses increased by 10.0% year-over-year to RMB 487.92 million, from RMB 443.0 million in the prior year period. As a percentage of total net revenues, technology and content expenses was 1.8% compared with 1.6% in the prior year period. General administrative expenses decreased by 6.5% year-over-year to RMB 900.7 million, from RMB 963.1 million in the prior year period.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

As a percentage of total net revenues, general and administrative expenses decreased to 3.4% from 3.5% in the prior year period. Income from operations increased by 16.5% year-over-year to RMB 2.2 billion, from RMB 1.9 billion in the prior year period. Operating margin increased to 8.3% from 6.9% in the prior year period. Non-GAAP income from operations increased by 11.6% year-over-year to RMB 2.6 billion, from RMB 2.3 billion in the prior year period. Non-GAAP operating margin increased to 9.5% from 8.2% in the prior year period.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Net income attributable to Vipshop's shareholders was RMB 1.9 billion, compared with RMB 2.1 billion in the prior year period. Net margin attributable to Vipshop shareholders was 7.2%, compared with 7.5% in the prior year period. Net income attributable to Vipshop's shareholders per diluted ADS was RMB 3.49, compared with RMB 3.75 in the prior year period. Non-GAAP net income attributable to VIPshop shareholders was RMB 2.2 billion, compared with RMB 2.4 billion in the prior year period.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Non-GAAP net margin attributable to VIPshop shareholders was 8.1%, compared with 8.6% in the prior year period. Non-GAAP net income attributable to VIPshop shareholders per diluted ADS was RMB 3.91, compared with RMB 4.30 in the prior period. As of June 30, 2024, the company had cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash of RMB 21.6 billion, and short-term investments of RMB 1.9 billion.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Looking forward to the third quarter of 2024, we expect our total net revenue to be between RMB 20.5 billion and RMB 21.6 billion, representing a year-over-year decrease of approximately 10% to 5%. Please note that this forecast reflects our current and preliminary view of the market and operational conditions, which is subject to change. With that, I would now like to open the call to Q&A.

[Operator]

Thank you. Dear participants, as a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Dear analysts, who are proficient in both languages, translate your question into Chinese as well. Thank you so much for your understanding. Please stand by, we'll compile the Q&A roster. This will take a few moments. Now we're going to take our first question, and it comes from line of Thomas Chong from Jefferies. Your line is open. Please ask your question.

[Thomas Chong, Managing Director and the Regional Head of Internet & Media at Jefferies]

Thanks management for taking my question. My first question is about the consumer sentiment in the macro uncertainties. Any color that can be shared about the monthly GMV trend expectations for the full year? And my second question is about the competitive environment. Can management comment about how we should think about the apparel and the standardized category? And how is the GMV growth for these two categories quarter to date? And any color about the contribution about the apparel category right now? Thank you.

[Jessie Zheng, Head of Investor Relations at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

Okay, in terms of your question on the macro environment, we see that consumption continues to be quite muted due to macro uncertainties. We don't know whether the consumption momentum is going to be sustainable. And, as consumers are being quite cautious, discerning, and selective, we feel that it's quite uncertain going forward. Quarter to date, we see such trend continuing, and that's why we see our GMV growth quarter to date is pretty comparable to what we have seen in Q2. Not too much improvement from the prior quarter.

[Jessie Zheng, Head of Investor Relations at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

On the second question, in terms of apparel and non-apparel trends, we continue to see apparel outperforming non-apparel categories.Quarter to date, we only see slight decrease in terms of GMV in apparel categories versus a wider, larger decrease in non-apparel categories. This is pretty much due to heightened industry competition with everybody is looking at price comparisons and offering subsidies, which we don't actually follow. We choose not to follow at all costs.

[Jessie Zheng, Head of Investor Relations at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

That, to some extent, makes our standard sized items more successful to competition. In the second half, we plan to continue to stabilize our competitive edges with apparel categories, and especially we're going to continue to grow our SVIP customers and improve their frequency and average ticket size, and on the other hand, we're making a series of adjustments as to standardize the items.

[Jessie Zheng, Head of Investor Relations at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

So we're trying to narrow its loss. And we try to bring this business segment back to status at least. We plan to leverage our SVIP members to increase their cross-category purchases, as well as increase the intention from non-SVIP customers as well.

[Thomas Chong, Managing Director and the Regional Head of Internet & Media at Jefferies]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. Now we're going to take our next question. And the question comes from the line of Alicia Yap from Citi. Your line is open. Please ask your question.

[Alicia Yap, Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Citigroup]

Hello. Thank you. 欢迎光临，晚上好。有两个问题，首先想请问一下，就是，刚刚我们有说到这个，就是，唯品会的特制品牌，现在大概我们这个特制品牌有多少SKU，然后在这个季度占比GMV大概多少，然后这个售价啊，还有这个利润率是不是比较高？啊，如果可以分享这一点这个信息哈。然后第二个问题呢，其实是想，就是了解一下，就是这个SVIP会员，我们知道他们的这个粘性是比较高，但是不知道，管理层有没有就是观察到他们这个SVIP的这个行为，最近是不是也有一些变化，比如说他们会不会也在寻找，就是，就是比较，就是优惠，价格比较低的一些产品，或者是他们的这个购买频率其实是以前，会有略低了哈。我自己翻译一下。

[Translator]

Thanks, management, for taking my questions. I have two questions. First is that, just wondering if management can share some of the operating metrics for the Made for VIP, the customized products, you know, in terms of the numbers of SKU under these customized products, and how much of that is actually contributing to this quarter GMV, and also, you know, the ASP and the margins is higher than the normalized product. And then the second question is, just wondering, because I know that the SVIP members should be remaining very sticky and resilient.

[Translator]

Just wonder if management has also observed any change of their behavior recently. For example, are these SVIP member also looking for more lower ASP, those value for money products, or they are actually buying slightly less frequent than before? Thank you.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

我回答一下。第一个问题，就关于那个特制商品啊，因为我们整个网站上，如果说穿戴类，我们卖出去大概有40%以上，我们是属于比较跟别人不一样的商品，这里面呢，有一些是品牌专门给我们的订做的，那么还有一些呢，就是我们那个品牌专门给我们分货的，就是说其实有些品牌它给不同的平台嘛，但是呢，专门给我们一盘货。那么另外呢，还有一些是低折扣的商品，因为本来我们是做低折扣出身的嘛，所以说比如说这种三折以下的或者低折扣的，基本我们都拿掉。所以说总体是这样子，就是说整体这个，就是说不同的货品，我们穿戴的销售超过40%。那么这里面呢，就是说我们其实在接下来还会继续坚持，因为我们的要求还是知名品牌嘛，那么有更多的好东西，那么更多的折扣。另外呢，就是说我们也尽量希望大家卖的货不一样，那么这样的话呢，避免这种叫恶性竞争啊。那么我们说的就是我们在这里面还会继续加强，因为我们说唯品会是做特卖，就是好货低价，那么这是我们不变的，所以说后续我们在这个方面还会积极做大做深。那么第二方面呢，就是问SVIP啊，就是说我们SVIP还这个盘子还是基本比较稳，但是呢，今年我们会发现，像用户的客单，就说单价，客单价-...

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

其实没有变，那么唯独在购物频次上面有个很小的跌幅，可能跌个两个点到三个点。所以说总体而言呢，我们觉得可控，就是它的年，比如说一个季度的购物频次，从随便说啊，可能从十五单变成可能十四点五单，只是一个微小的变化，所以说我们倒这个，倒不觉得特别变化。另外呢，我们其实今年在Q2、Q3，我们还会继续加大我们的SVIP的占比，那么我们会把更多的非SVIP转化成SVIP，因为我们认为像我们的SVIP的服务非常好，那么包括我们也给它精选，那么我们，我们整个网站也不卖这种乱七八糟的东西。所以总体而言呢，我们认为把SVIP牢牢地巩固住，还是我们以后一个长期的策略。那么哪怕因为SVIP其实多了以后啊，会提高我们的退货率啊，因为SVIP买多退多嘛。但是呢，我们认为总体换算下来还是值得的，因为我们的SVIP的消费的up比非SVIP消费很多，很多消这个整体的up要大很多。所以总体而言呢，我们从目前的SVIP盘基本还稳，那么我们希望是继续加大扩大。

[Translator]

In terms of customized products, actually is part of our unique offerings on our platform. Within apparel categories, we have over 40% unique offerings, including customized products, exclusive access to brand inventory and deep discounted products like those SKUs with 70% of retail price. So it's a combination of the great merchandise at a great price, prices that we offer to our customers. And in the going forward, we will continue to deepen our differentiated product offerings to avoid direct competition with our peers. On the second question, regarding SVIP customer retention.

[Translator]

Actually we see, we have a very solid foundation of SVIP customers, whose average ticket size remain quite stable. But we do see their shopping frequency has been a little slightly less than before, roughly about, roughly 2-3%, as compared to the time they used to shop on our platform. We think these frequency of under pressure is quite manageable.

[Translator]

We don't see a very significant change in the behavior of SVIP customers, and we do see a lot of potential of growing our SVIP customer base in the coming quarters, especially leveraging our service capabilities, leveraging their trust on our platform, because we will focus on brand, quality branded offerings instead of you know, and stay away from cheap knockoffs. So, so that's, that's why we are confident that we will continue to grow the base of SVIP customers as well as their output.

[Translator]

But immediately with higher SVIP contribution, we will see return rate tick up a little bit. And mathematically, it is very attractive. We do have very attractive returns in terms of ROI, because they, in terms of output, spend much more as compared to a non SVIP customer. Um, thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. Now we're going to take our next question. The next question comes from the line of Andre Chang from J.P. Morgan. Your line is open. Please ask your question.

[Andre Chang, Equity Research Analyst at JPMorgan]

管理层晚上好，那我这边有两个问题请教。第一个就是关于我们接下来怎么考虑这个投资跟我们的margin。我们如果根据这个三季度，现在看来这个预估可能会下滑5%-10%的营收，那这表示说公司可能还是倾向于更谨慎地使用手上的这个财务资源，可能就不会刻意地去降价或者是激进的获客，然后还是专注在这个用我们的这个货盘去吸引这个比较自然的这个客户回流跟交易。那是不是这个margin这样子来说的话，那是跟这个二季度比，因为跟这个过去几个季度有一定的这个normalization吧，就可能正常化了一些，那我们要怎么想这个下半年的margin？对，那另外一个问题就是说，那再加上这个财务的投资啊，我注意到二季度这边的这个运营现金流，变成一个比较，就是一个流出啊，就以我们这个获利来说，比较少见。能不能请管理层comment一下，就说这个现金流的外流是因为什么？那让我翻译一下我的问题。

[Translator]

Thank you, management, for taking my question. My first question is about margin and the investment. Judging from this 5%-10% year-on-year decline over the third quarter revenue, does that mean the company will remain highly disciplined on investment of a marketing user acquisition? So the second, third quarter, second half margin will remain, you know, supported.

[Translator]

Considering you, there's a, like, no normalization of margin in the second quarter versus the previous few quarters, how should we think about the margin trend in third quarter and the second half? And my second question is about the operating cash flow. Despite very decent profit, we see, you know, operating cash outflow in the second quarter, which is rare. Can management highlight what's the reason behind it? Thank you.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

对，我回答第一个问题，就是关于整个公司对未来的这个发展的资金分配，就是说我们其实整体，还是会积极获客，只是有一个严格的标准，就是LTV评估的标准，就是到了这个点，我们就停了，就是说不再，因为我们觉得花过来的新客带回来的话太贵了，几年都回不了本，所以说我们就停。但是，我们目前这个策略已经比去年的策略已经那个尺度更大了一些，因为我们觉得现在环境不好，我们还是要加大获客，但是会有个度。所以说今年我们也会积极去寻找更多的获新客渠道，对吧，包括跟很多平台合作等等，就是说获更多的渠道，但是我们还是坚持这个度，就是说如果超过我们的标准，那我们就不同。所以说总体而言，我们市场费用，我们估计今年下半年就因为我们没看到一些很好的渠道，如果有好的渠道，其实它成本都是可控的。所以总体而言，市场费用我们也不会太大。那么另外，就是我们其实在前端的劳动力方面，我们其实都比较稳。那么我们其实现在整体的环境，就是外面的，其实电商的竞争环境，包括品牌的那个整体的环境也很难，包括外面的收费也很多，包括流量费，另外各种各样的，什么那个退货险等等，其实费用很高。但是我们做到今年我们不调，就是说也不会提高，就是我们还是保持我们这一口价，我们避免给我们品牌更大的负担。那么另外，我们有可能会在那个物流费用上，可能会比原来的正常会高一些，因为我们现在整体的退货率会比原来高，那就会变成这个物流操作费用会高一些。所以整体，其实我们整个的投资还是比较稳健的。我们预计在今年下半年，而且我们也是有这个原则，就是说因为我们现在的那个增长是负增长，就是我们不能说今天我们碰到这个负增长，我们瞎搞一通，结果把利润也搞没了。所以说总体而言，我们总体还是比较稳健的，我们自己预估Q3到Q4，利润我们不会有去年这么好，但是我们认为也不差，肯定是一个很稳健的状态。所以这是我回答的第一个问题。第二个问题，我们Mark来回答。

[Translator]

Oh, okay. First, let me translate Eric's comments in terms of a question on investment. We continue to proactively acquire customers, and we have to some extent relaxed our thresholds as to LTV in terms of customer acquisition. So we are prudently investing in new channels, but we continue to be quite disciplined the way we still continue to evaluate the effectiveness and the efficiency of customer acquisition from different perspectives. And after all, we haven't found a very good channel for us to acquire customers, so we will remain disciplined in terms of marketing spend for the second half.

[Translator]

Margin-wise, on the GP margin side, we are confident it's going to remain quite stable. Because our brand partners are under a lot of pressures nowadays, they have to bid for, invest additional dollars for traffic and for return of goods, et cetera. But our philosophy of working with brand partners is always to create a win-win situation. So we are not going to increase our take rate for brand partners. We don't want to create additional burdens for them. So GP margin will remain quite stable. And on the expense side, we do foresee a little bit higher fulfillment expenses with the return rates still going slightly higher.

[Translator]

So we probably don't see too much operating leverage from fulfillment. Overall, we believe that in the second half, we will continue with our prudent investment. So margins and net profit in absolute dollar amount will be quite manageable as compared to last year. Although net profit may not be as good as the second half of last year, it should be quite comparable.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

...Okay. For the second question regarding the operating cash flow. Okay, let me answer your question. Okay. The net cash from operating activities for the second quarter decreased primarily due to the following reasons. The first one is the revenue decline year over year. Okay? And the second reason is this year, 618 promotion, I mean, the shopping festival, started in the middle of May. So which means we need to pay the related costs and expenses to our suppliers in June instead of July.

[Mark Wang, CFO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

And the third reason is that State Administration of Taxation advocates the implementation of fully digitalized the E-fapiao system this year, and which means the recipient of fapiao is earlier, a little bit earlier. So in this connection, we pay our supplier a little bit faster than that in last year. So this is three main reasons for the operating cash flows change.

[Operator]

Excuse me, Andrew, any further questions?

[Andre Chang, Analyst at JPMorgan]

No, thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you so much. Now we're going to take our next question. And the next question comes from line of Ronald Keung from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. Please ask your question.

[Ronald Keung, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs]

Hey, 谢谢, Mark. 那我想问两个, 第一就是这个我们GMV和revenue中间可能差了五-五个点左右, 所以想听一下我们这个return rate是不是这个退货率是不是提高了？那同时既然我看到那个订单量是下降, 但GMV是flat, 能不能够理解是大家买的这个单票反而AOV是提高, 这个就跟好像红光黄金有一天有一点不一样, 是不是大家可能买多一些, 维持这个单价, 但是最后退多一些, 那所以我们这个单量是降GMV是flat, 然后退货率感觉是提高。第二呢, 就想问一下, 我们这个科技的technology and content这一块, 可能是我们三项费用里边唯一就提高的, 所以想知道我们投入在哪儿, 然后现在收入可能有一些压力的情况下, 这一块是不是有一些加码增效的空间？那让我翻译一下. Thank you, management.

[Translator]

I have two questions. One is I see that the re, GMV and revenue has a gap, so is that the return rates have gone up? When I see the order volume, it has gone down while GMV has been flat. So thinking about these relationships, is it fair to say people are buying a bit, still buying a bit more despite the macro environment to get the free delivery and then return more of the items? Is that some of the dynamics that we're seeing?

[Translator]

Second is, I see the technology and content cost has gone up versus the kind of muted revenue. So where are we investing in technology? Do we see some room to streamline or cut some of these costs given the headwinds on the revenue side? Thank you.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

好，我回答第一个问题就是我们看到就是说，其实我们现在的退货率啊，就是我们去年受退货率的影响比较大，今年的退货率的影响比去年少。那么比如说啊，大概如果财报上看啊，大概是比如说去年我们影响三个点吧，就是退货率高了，会影响财报的收入三个点，今年可能是两个点，就跌两个点。那么另外我们看到，其实那个单量是下降，但是我看到客户的客单件单其实没什么变化。所以总体而言呢，这里是没看到用户说，因为我们这些数都是退去后的啊。所以总体而言呢，我们看到就，那个，就买的东西没有说便宜，那么东西的价值其实差不多，只是买的会少了一些。那么这是第一个。第二个呢，就是问技术这块，啊我们这块呢，其实技术这块呢，我们从去年开始，我们投了蛮多在大模型这块，那么大模型这块，除了人才，还有就是要有服务器、买卡等等啊，我们也花了不少钱。但这块的话呢，就是说，因为这个是一个长期持续渐进的过程，所以说呢，我们认为其实，毕竟我们上面有这么多的用户，那么这么多的数据，那么包括这么多可改进的，用大模型来改进追踪等等的，那么我们认为还是有价值。所以说最近我们也没有减这方面的投入，那么就是持续让他们发生，因为毕竟看到这个整体的技术费用占比会高，但是呢，就是说不是高很多，我们认为希望未来给我们带来价值，所以说我们这块呢，就持续投入。

[Translator]

In terms of your question on GMV and the revenue gap, it's a result of the return rate. Our return rate actually is trending a little bit higher, but has moderated a lot from the growth of last year. It's translated into impact on revenue. Last year we had 2% impact on revenue from return rate, 3% versus 2% for this year. Return rate has been managed relatively well and has started to stabilize on our platform. In terms of average order size versus the total number of orders, we actually do not see too much change with average order size as consumers are still sticking to the brands they prefer.

[Translator]

So they don't, you know, intentionally buy cheaper, they are just buying slightly less, as compared to before, because they are becoming more selective, and a little bit discerning, especially when they want to choose when and where to shop. So we don't see too much change in terms of consumer behavior, especially the SVIP customers. And the second question regarding our technology and content investment. Since last year, we have made meaningful investments in large models, including talent, service, etc.

[Translator]

We will continue to invest on this front, because we believe technology enhancement is very important to driving long-term value, especially given our large scale of customers and the data. We do see a lot of room for improvement. We believe our prudent investment in technology and content will be value accretive over the long term. As a percentage of total revenue, technology and content is going to be a little bit higher, but not too much, and it's totally manageable.

[Translator]

Thank you, management.

[Operator]

Thank you. Now we're going to take our last question for today. And the question comes to line of Jialong Shi from Nomura. Your line is open, please ask your question.

[Jialong Shi, Managing Director and Head of China Internet Research at Nomura]

Thank you, management, for taking my questions. I have two questions. The first question is, we have recently heard from some channel checks that since the middle of this year, some e-commerce platforms seem to have lowered the requirements for low prices in certain categories, including the apparel category. I would like to ask, as Vipshop is a very important channel in the apparel category, have we seen competitors showing any loosening in low price requirements in apparel? If so, what would be the impact on us in the second half of this year?

[Jialong Shi, Managing Director and Head of China Internet Research at Nomura]

The second question is a follow-up, actually two follow-ups. One is, in our current revenue and gross profit, what is the approximate proportion coming from the standard product category? The second follow-up is, what is the current number of SVIP members and what is their approximate GMV contribution? Thank you. I will translate for myself.

[Jialong Shi, Managing Director and Head of China Internet Research at Nomura]

I have two questions, and one question is about our hearsay from our industry checks. We heard from some channel check that some major Chinese e-commerce platforms appear to have loosened the requirement on low prices for certain categories, including apparel category. I just wonder if VIPS has seen any changes in the operating environment, and if there is a loosening on low prices by competitors, what are the possible impacts on the second half outlook?

[Jialong Shi, Managing Director and Head of China Internet Research at Nomura]

My second question is a follow-up, and we just wonder what is the percentage of sales and the gross profit generated by the standardized items? And also, what is the latest quarterly number of SVIP customers and their contribution to the online GMV? Thank you.

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

那么第一个问题是问整体现在那个低价的情况啊，那么总体我们看今年，今年开始，因为确实整体的环境都不好嘛，所以说各个平台其实都在搞低价。那么我们最近看那个情况还是持续的，就是说大家还是搞低价，另外呢，促销活动接二连三做，那么各个平台尽可能地低。那么所以说我们总体看到未来应该还是这样的情况。那对我们来讲呢，我们其实整体，因为我们是搞知名品牌，那么我们是搞知名品牌低价，那么所以说我们是希望那么尽可能地提供好东西给用户，而不是差东西啊。那么包括我们自己，其实今年我们在网站上还清了很多不靠谱的品牌商家等等啊。所以说理论上呢，我们认为不是追求生意，但是呢，我们追求用户买到以后觉得有价值。那么所以说我们自己认为，后续我们如何能更好地发挥我们的品牌特卖的优势，那么就是在说接下来因为这个竞争还会持续啊，所以说我们其实要想办法做得更好。那么第二点呢，就是问关于那个，标品跟非标品的毛利情况啊，那么总体而言呢，就是我们其实标品跟......

[Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at Vipshop Holdings Ltd]

就是穿戴的毛利会高过标品，但是呢，就是说我们如果看净利的话，因为标品的退货率比较低嘛，所以说总体而言，那么就是说，其实标品给我们公司的利润贡献也不错。所以说我们今年也在想，今年就是说目前我们标品丢得多，穿戴丢得少，那么我们争取在标品上面再发力，把生意再多一些回来。那么这样的话呢，就是对我们的利润反正也是好，好事情。

[Translator]

...Okay, in terms of your first question on low price strategy, we continue to see low price competition going on within the industry. There are a lot of promotion subsidies, and we will continue to see that momentum going forward. But for Vipshop, we continue to focus on quality brand merchandise, and we try to offer our customers with good products at great prices. We are not chasing for business scale. We focus on delivering value to our customers, and we'll continue with that strategy. In addition, on the quality side, we focus on building a trusted portfolio of brands to our customers.

[Translator]

Actually, starting from this year, we cleaned up quite a lot of merchants or brand partners with low quality product offerings. So we only focus on, you know, those quality brands and focus on quality products. On the second question, regarding our GP margin for apparel and non-apparel.

[Translator]

Apparel carry a little bit higher GP margin than non-apparel categories. But to the bottom line, actually, because standardized items have much lower return rates, so they have pretty good contribution flowing to the bottom line. In the second half, we'll try to bring the business of standardized items back to growth track so that they can have positive impact on the NP margin as well. Lastly, on SVIP customer base, we have 7.4 million active super VIP customers by the end of second quarter. They accounted for roughly 47% of our online spending.

[Operator]

Thank you. Due to time constraints, this concludes today's Q&A session. At this time, I will turn the conference back to Jessie for any closing remarks.

[Andre Chang, Equity Research Analyst at JPMorgan]

Thank you for taking the time to join us today. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact our IR team. We look forward to speaking with you next quarter.

[Operator]

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now all disconnect. Have a nice day.

Participants

Executives

• Jessie Zheng, Head of Investor Relations
• Eric Shen, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO
• Mark Wang, CFO

Analysts

• Thomas Chong, Managing Director and the Regional Head of Internet & Media at Jefferies
• Alicia Yap, Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Citigroup
• Translator
• Andre Chang, Equity Research Analyst at JPMorgan
• Andre Chang, Analyst at JPMorgan
• Ronald Keung, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs
• Jialong Shi, Managing Director and Head of China Internet Research at Nomura