Business Matters

Online
Shopping
Pre-Reading
A. Warm-Up Questions

1. Do you shop online? Why or why not?

2. What are your favourite online shopping websites?

3. What items or services do you purchase online?

4. How do you pay for the things you buy online?

5. Discuss the pros and cons of the following:

• shopping online
• shopping at a store or mall

B. Vocabulary Preview

Match up as many words and meanings as you can.

Check this exercise again after seeing the words in context on page 2.

1. mammoth a) assigned or related to a specific place

2. facet b) the sale of things to customers

3. retail c) to give a way to do something

4. whopping d) very big

5. variety e) very big

6. enable f) to explain by showing who or what caused something

7. localized g) an area

8. attribute h) a number of different things

9. geography i) aspect

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 Online Shopping
Business Matters

Reading
ONLINE SHOPPING

1. Everyone has noticed the mammoth impact can buy and sell hundreds of different items like
technology has had on business. Although all appliances, books, computers, clothing, cosmetics,
facets of the business world have been affected and even cars.
in some way, one seems especially supported by
4. The online auction business model is successful.
the public—the shopping industry. Consumers are
Other sites that have adopted this business
spending more of their time and money without
model include Amazon, Overstock, and uBid.
ever leaving the comfort of their own homes.
Success could be attributed to a variety of
Although many people still like to spend a day at
factors. Consumers are not constrained by time or
the mall and prefer to see items before they buy
geography. The auction lasts for days, and bidders
them, online shopping has become a major player
can shop any time, day or night, from anywhere
in the retail world, with more and more people
in the world, as long as they have access to the
joining the ranks as Internet shoppers.
Internet and a computer.
2. Consumers can buy almost anything via the
5. Online shopping, in general, has its advantages
Internet, and electronic sales appear unstoppable.
and disadvantages. Online stores, like the auctions,
Back in 2007, the US Census Bureau reported that
are available around the clock. People can shop
American consumers spent $32.2 billion at online
from home or work. In contrast, a visit to the mall
retailers in the third quarter of 2007. Amazingly,
requires consumers to travel via some form of
that jumped just over one percent from the second
transportation during the stores’ business hours.
quarter of 2007 and increased a whopping 18.9
Physical stores aren’t necessarily losing business.
percent from the same time period in 2006. What
It’s simply far more convenient to click on an item
a difference a year makes! These days, many
on the store’s website. However, when shopping
people spend more money online than they do
in person, consumers can actually examine items
offline. In fact, Cyber Monday is one of the most
before they make purchases. Shopping online
popular shopping days of the year. On the Monday
forces the consumer to be dependent on pictures,
after Thanksgiving, retailers try to convince people
text descriptions, and reviews. Online shoppers
to shop online.
have the advantage of comparing competing
3. Clearly, electronic shopping is becoming more and stores without driving to the actual stores, but
more popular. However, it isn’t just about buying visitors to a physical store don’t face the same
from a retailer. Consumers can play the role of the security and privacy concerns.
seller as well. One of the more popular sites that
6. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent in online
allows the consumer to be the retailer is eBay.
retail stores each year, and online shopping is
The online shopping website enables people to
predicted to grow steadily in the upcoming years.
participate in auctions to sell items. The site was
Mobile devices will continue to play a huge role in
originally founded in 1995 and has become a major
how people shop. Consumers use mobile devices
player in the world of online business. Although
to search for items, compare prices, read reviews,
it started in San Jose, California, eBay now has
and make payments.
localized websites around the world. Consumers

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 Online Shopping
Business Matters

Vocabulary Practice 1
A. Definitions

Define these business terms based on what you read in the main reading.

# Business Term Definition

1 business model

2 sales

3 factors

4 consumer

5 profits

B. Big Adjectives

Which of the words from the

vocabulary on page 1 mean “big”?
Explain why company executives
would like those words to be
used to describe their sales.

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 Online Shopping
Business Matters

Pair Work (Partner A)

A. Reading

Read the short article to the right, Traditional Forms of Payment

but do not show it to your partner.
Once consumers make their purchases, they must then pay the retailers
Your partner will ask you questions
for whatever product was purchased or whatever service was rendered.
about your article.
While cash is accepted in stores, it isn’t accepted for online sales. Paying
with old-fashioned currency, bills and coins, is reserved for in-person
sales made at a physical location. Some methods of payment are identical
whether the items are being purchased online or in a store. For example,
a credit card is a popular choice. Credit cards are essentially “loans” from
the issuer so the merchant profits immediately and the buyer “pays back”
the loan either in full or over time. Debit cards are also accepted for online
or in-person sales. When a buyer uses a debit card, money is withdrawn
from the user’s bank account. Occasionally, buyers write a cheque for
a purchase or service. A cheque tells the user’s bank to pay the money
from their account. It’s similar to cash, but safer for the buyer of large
purchases because he doesn’t have to carry a large amount of currency.
The seller, on the other hand, has to trust that the cheque is legitimate. In
lieu of a financial institution’s chequing account, people can get money
orders. This, too, is similar, but safer than carrying cash. It’s also safer
for the seller because it means that the buyer had to prepay to get the
amount shown on the money order. Whereas cheques can bounce if there
aren’t enough funds, a money order cannot. Perhaps the most fun way
to shop is with a gift card. A gift card looks like a credit card and contains
a pre-paid amount of money. Recipients of a gift card can take it to the
merchant from which it was purchased and buy anything they want until
the prescribed amount is spent!

B. Sharing Information

Work with your partner. 1. Who uses electronic payments?

Ask the questions to the
2. What company is mentioned as an e-commerce business?
right about your partner’s
reading. Write the answers 3. Where is this business located?
in your notebook.
4. When was this business founded?

5. What is becoming antiquated and why?

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 Online Shopping
Business Matters

Pair Work (Partner B)

A. Reading

Read the short article to the right, Modern Forms of Online Payment
but do not show it to your partner.
Nowadays, consumers have the opportunity to make a significant amount
Your partner will ask you questions
of purchases via the Internet. The e-shopping world doesn’t lend itself
about your article.
to cash because consumers don’t visit a store and might never meet the
retailer in person. Therefore, more electronic forms of payment have been
developed for the ever-growing world of online shoppers. One choice is
a wire transfer, which literally transfers money from one entity’s bank
account into another’s. If someone were to sell something on eBay and
another person were to buy it, the buyer can transfer funds from a bank
account. The seller can watch the money appear in his or her own account
and neither party leaves home. Another popular way to pay for things
online is via PayPal. PayPal is an e-commerce business that was founded in
Palo Alto, California, in 1998. This booming business allows payments and
transfers to be completed through the Internet. It’s growing in popularity
because buyers and sellers are not dependent on cheques, money
orders, or cash. Electronic money refers to scrip that is only electronic in
format. Scrip is any currency substitute. Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT)
and direct deposits are versions of electronic money. With the advent of
electronic forms of payment, paper money is becoming an antiquated
form of payment.

B. Sharing Information

Work with your partner. 1. What type of payment is referred to as old-fashioned currency?
Ask the questions to the
2. What are some popular choices of payment other than cash.
right about your partner’s
reading. Write the answers 3. What is a credit card described as?
in your notebook.
4. Why does a cheque bounce?

5. What funds are available on a gift card?

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 Online Shopping
Business Matters

Writing
Write a paragraph about one of the following topics:

1. an experience you have had making an online purchase

2. why you prefer shopping online

3. why you prefer shopping at the mall

4. method of payment you use most frequently

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 Online Shopping
Business Matters

Vocabulary Practice 2
Work with a partner to fill in the table below.

Form of Payment Definition Example

credit card

debit card

cheque

money order

gift card

electronic money

scrip

wire transfer

PayPal

currency

cash

bills

coins

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 Online Shopping
Business Matters

Group Work
Work with three classmates to develop your own online store.

1. What is the name of your company? 6. Draw a logo for your store.

2. What product or service do you sell?

3. Describe your product or service.

7. Who will buy your product? (What is your

typical customer’s age, gender, and ethnicity?)
4. How do customers pay?
How do customers receive their item?

8. How much money do you need

to start your online store?
5. How is your product different from others?

9. What do you expect your profits to be?

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