lululemon athletica inc

Comparable Sales

We use comparable sales to evaluate the performance of our company-operated store and e-commerce businesses from an omni-channel perspective. It allows us to monitor the performance of our business without the impact of recently opened or expanded stores. We believe investors would similarly find these metrics useful in assessing the performance of our business.

Comparable sales includes comparable company-operated store and all e-commerce net revenue. E-commerce net revenue includes our buy online pick-up in store, back-back room, and ship from store omni-channel retailing capabilities in addition to our websites, other region-specific websites, digital marketplaces, and mobile apps. Comparable company-operated stores have been open, or open after being significantly expanded, for at least 12 full fiscal months. Net revenue from a company-operated store is included in comparable sales beginning with the first fiscal month for which the store has a full fiscal month of sales in the prior year. Comparable sales excludes sales from new stores that have not been open for at least 12 full fiscal months, from stores which have not been in their significantly expanded space for at least 12 full fiscal months, from stores which have been temporarily relocated for renovations or temporarily closed, and sales from company- operated stores that have closed. Comparable sales also excludes sales from our selling channels other than company-operated stores and e-commerce. The comparable sales measures we report may not be equivalent to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

In fiscal years with 53 weeks, the 53rd week of net revenue is excluded from the calculation of comparable sales. In the year following a 53-week year, the prior year period is shifted by one week to compare similar calendar weeks.

Non-comparable sales includes all net revenue other than comparable sales.

Sales Per Square Foot

We use sales per square foot to assess the performance of our company-operated stores relative to their square footage. We believe that sales per square foot is useful in evaluating the performance of our company-operated stores. Sales per square foot is calculated using total net revenue from all company-operated stores divided by the average ending square footage of the stores for each period during the year. In fiscal years with 53 weeks, the 53rd week of net revenue is excluded from the calculation of sales per square foot. The square footage of our company-operated stores includes all retail related space, including selling space as well as storage and back-office areas. The sales per square foot metric we report may not be equivalent to similarly titled metrics reported by other companies.