📘 Part 3: Online shopping

This episode's vocabulary

Convenient (adj.) - suitable for your purposes and needs and causing the least difficulty.

At the touch of a button (idiom) - very easily and with little effort, as if it could be done by pressing a single button.

Shopper (noun) - a person who is buying things from a shop or a number of shops.

Customer service (noun) - the part of an organization that answers customers' questions, exchanges goods that are not satisfactory, etc.

First port of call (idiom) - the first place where one stops to visit, accomplish something, or begin a process.

Insurance (noun) - an agreement in which you pay a company money and they pay your costs if you have an accident, injury, etc.

Warranty (noun) - a written promise from a company to repair or replace a product that develops a fault within a particular period of time, or to do a piece of work again if it is not satisfactory.

Eventuality (noun) - a possible happening or result.

To void (verb) - to remove the legal force from something, such as a legal agreement.

Personable (adj.) - having a pleasant appearance and character.

Entitled (adj.) - feeling that you have the right to do or have what you want without having to work for it or deserve it, just because of who you are.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, let's talk about online shopping. Why is online shopping so popular these days?

R: Well, probably for the same reason that anything is. It's cheap, convenient, easy to use. You can get everything you need just at the touch of a button with a little extra cost for delivery that might even be cheaper than the money you'd spend on petrol, to be honest.

M: What's the difference between shopping online and in a store?

R: I suppose you can't really try on or try out the products in advance, can you? However, you also don't have to compete for space with other shoppers. Then again, you do have to wait for what you want to be delivered, most of the time anyway. I think those are the big differences.

M: What should customers do if there are problems with products they bought online?

R: I think customer service is usually the first port of call, isn't it? Most things have insurance or warranties that cover these kinds of eventuality. They could also try fixing it themselves. But that could void the warranty, I suppose.

M: What kind of service should customers expect from a company?

R: Well, ideally, one that's quick and to the point and doesn't add to what you have to do. So often these days, you call companies and have to go through a million options or speak to robots before an actual person. And they aren't that good.

M: What is good service?

R: Well, I'm hardly an expert, but if I were to guess, I'd say being effective, easy to access, with well-trained and personable people, it means you don't have to wait long and you feel better for having had it and you get what you want at the end of it. Or near enough, anyway.

M: What is bad service?

R: The opposite of what I just said. No one likes waiting for ages and then at the end of it, not getting what they want at all.

M: Is it important for a company to provide after-sales service?

R: Well, I think that depends entirely on what you bought. If it's something expensive or high maintenance, then you're probably entitled to some decent service after you buy something. If you haven't paid much, I doubt it would be necessary even.

M: What about the future? Do you think more people will buy more things online?

R: Yeah, I don't see why not. Because it's there and you have more of a reason to do it now than before, because of the cost of living.

M: And do you think that traditional shops will disappear and in the future, we'll have only online shopping?

R: Couldn't even begin to guess, to be honest with you. I suppose, there will be fewer shops. They won't disappear but just find a different purpose. But more people will shop online, probably as it becomes easier to access.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers! This is the end of the test!

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