E-commerce

56. Read part of an interview about e-commerce. Match the questions (a-e) with the correct paragraphs (1-5).

a. How does e-commerce work?□

b. What is the future for e-commerce?□

c. Do customers like shopping online?□

d. What kind of business do you run?□

e. What do e-tail stores need to succeed?□

1. We sell mobile phones and accessories, and we only operate online. We’re a B2C business. That means ‘business to customer’, so we don’t sell to other businesses – that’s B2B. We’re obviously not C2C either, which is individual people selling to each other online.

2. Yes, it’s becoming very popular and successful. It’s world-wide shopping, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It’s so convenient – people can browse through online catalogues, compare prices easily, and there’s less paperwork, so it’s cheaper for the retailer. We can pass these savings onto the consumer.

3. Well, the best sites, or e-tail stores, have an electronic storefront giving categories that are easy to understand. You can read reviews about the products, go to chat rooms to talk about them, and when you’ve made your choice, simply click your mouse and add it to your electronic shopping cart.

4. The retailer needs to build consumer confidence. You need a website that is easy to navigate and it must download quickly. You need customer support services, things like FAQs (frequently asked questions), information about the order, and guarantees about delivery. A secure server for transactions using credit cards and a privacy policy are also very important.

5. I think everyone will shop online soon. All e-tail stores will use virtual reality to sell their goods – it’s going to generate billions of euros.

57. Find the words in the text that mean:

1. extra, additional products (paragraph 1) ______

2. work, do business (1) ______

3. matches someone’s needs (2) ______

4. someone who sells (2) ______

5. customer (2) ______

6. help (4) ______

7. promises (4) ______

8.buying and selling (4) ______

 

58. Complete the table with the adjective or noun in the text (and questions).

Noun Adjective

__________ commercial

convenience __________

success __________

__________ confident

security __________

__________ private