📘 Part 3: Shopping

This episode's vocabulary

Accessible (adj.) - able to be reached or easily obtained.

Traction (noun) - the fact of an idea, product, etc. becoming popular or being accepted.

On offer (phrase) - available to be bought or used.

Disposable (adj.) - a disposable product is intended to be thrown away after use.

Make a day/night/evening/weekend of it (idiom) - to make an activity longer or combine a series of activities so that they last for the whole of that particular period of time.

Buyer (noun) - someone who buys something expensive such as a house.

Next to (phrase) - almost.

Better off - to have more money than you had in the past or more money than most other people.

Rampant (adj.) - (of something bad) getting worse quickly and in an uncontrolled way.

Consumerism (noun) - the situation in which too much attention is given to buying and owning things.

Void (noun) - a feeling of unhappiness because someone or something is missing.

Dopamine high (adj.) - high on dopamine.

Caught up in something (idiom) - so involved in an activity that you do not notice other things.

Personalization (noun) - the act of making something suitable for the needs of a particular person.

Shift (noun) - a change in position or direction.

Questions and Answers

M: Is location the key factor that attracts customers?

R: I'm sure it's one of them. But not the only one. You could have a shop in the most accessible and visible place possible. But if you're selling stuff that's totally useless, then you still won't gain much traction.

M: What kinds of shops are popular in your country?

R: God, it's easier to see what's unpopular, frankly. Despite the options on offer online, people still seem to prefer physical close stores, since trying things on in the moment is easier than ordering a load of them online and then sending the ones that don't sit back.

M: Why do young people enjoy going to boutiques?

R: I have absolutely no idea what those are. Could you rephrase the question, please?

M: Why do young people enjoy going to expensive stores?

R: Oh, do they? I guess, well, young people are much fonder of following trends. So maybe that's why they would go to stores that focus on brands. And, well, they don't usually have children, so they might have more disposable income. That's debatable.

M: Why do people like shopping more now than in the past?

R: Well, lots of reasons. There's good choice and people love the novelty of new different things. Plus, it's something you can make a day out of with your friends. So there's more social element, whereas in the past, it was more about survival, or, well, basic survival, yes.

M: Do you think shopping is good for a country's economy?

R: In the near future, probably yes. Since it encourages production and possibly innovation, though it depends what's on offer, I'm not sure, centrally planned and controlled economies do very well in this regard, because they often fail to meet the demand. However, shopping in a free market economy tends to be more economically viable because of this element of choice.

M: And what's your opinion about online shopping? Do you think it's better than going to the offline store?

R: Well, that depends entirely on what you have your eye on, and what sort of class of buyer you fall into. I mean, if you're someone with a lot of money to burn, then you could just order a range of everything, and then send back what you don't want, as with the previous example with clothes. But if you're someone who has next to nothing in terms of money, then you'd be better off getting things right the first time since you can't afford to buy all that stuff and then return it.

M: Can shopping be addictive?

R: If you're given to rampant consumerism and just start buying stuff to fill some sort of void in your life or chase some kind of dopamine high, then you could probably get caught up in some kind of addiction. But that goes for everything, not just shopping.

M: How have shopping habits changed in recent years?

R: Oh, I've read a book about this, and then probably forgot everything. But it was all to do with personalization and a few other aspects. I can't recall the other ones right now. But the one that sticks out in my mind, like I said is definitely the personalization, not just in terms of product, but also payments like buy now, pay later, and service like with delivery to your door, it's a pretty amazing shift, to be honest.

M: And how important are prices and quality in influencing consumer behaviour?

R: Well, we kind of touched on that already. It depends on the kind of person that you are. You know, if you don't have much money, then clearly, well, usually clearly, price will play a crucial role in what you buy since you want to maximize your bank for your buck, I suppose. But then if you have more money to spend on things then you might focus on the quality of a product. So that's where the brand comes in. And the related higher price.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

R: Whoa, you don't need to shop anywhere else for them.

Discussion

M: Right. So the key factor could be the location of a store or of a shop, of a shopping mall. Is it? Well, yeah, it's one of them. One of the key factors. And usually a shop should be in an accessible area, should be accessible. To people or for people?

R: Both, I think, I guess accessible to is the main one but also for is fine.

M: Yeah, like a shop, it should be accessible to people, it should be visible. Right? As visible as possible. So visible like vision, so people can see it. But if the shop sells things which are useless, things that people don't really need, it won't gain much traction. What is this, traction?

R: Traction is just a grip on something. So if you've got lots of traction, then you have a good grip over something. If you don't have much then you don't have much of a grip on the market and don't make much money. So like grip is like how you hold something. So kind of when you ride a bicycle, for example, you just you hold... What do you hold? The handles.

R: Brakes. Well, yeah, the handle brake for the handle. Or sorry, the handles and the brakes.

M: Yeah, the handle. So you kind of you should have a grip on the handles. Kind of you hold them.

R: Yes.

M: And here, traction could also mean like the effect of an idea, product becoming popular or being accepted. For example, like, in our digital age, it takes less time for new words or phrases to gain traction. So to become popular, right? And Rory used this one about a shop. So it won't gain much traction, it won't become popular, it won't attract customers. Yeah? Correct?

R: Yeah.

M: Yay. Yeah. Give us another example with traction. Gain traction. Okay, dear listener? Gain traction.

R: So I guess you could say that smartphones have gained a lot of traction over the course of the last 20 years.

M: Yeah, smartphones have gained a lot of traction. So have become really popular. What kinds of shops are popular? And Rory goes, well, it's easy to say which ones are unpopular. So popular - unpopular. Like online stores, then physical close stores. So we have online shops and physical shops, right? Or offline shops. Also, you can call them traditional shops, or brick-and-mortar shops. Brick and mortar? Like bricks. The shops are made of brick, so they're real, offline. Yeah? So traditional physical stores or shops. And we see like close stores or close shops.

R: I think close stores is easier to say than close shops.

M: And what about other kinds? Like what do you think, like flower shops, technology shops.

R: Well, flower shops are not very popular. I don't think. But neither are bookstores. Everybody orders books online or downloads them to their Kindle or something like that. Maybe tech stores because you got to buy a new phone. But how often do you have to do that? And they're sort of a necessity. So does that mean they're popular?

M: Yeah. I'd say like close shops. Close. Close. Yeah? Like close the door. Not my clothes, it's very difficult. Just close. Close the door. So tech shops, bookstores maybe? And what? Coffee shops?

R: Well, coffee shops, cafes.

M: And people prefer physical close stores, because they usually try things on. Right? So when you choose a dress, you should try it on. Like wear it for some time to see if it fits. And then the question about boutiques. Why do young people enjoy going to boutiques and Rory goes, I have absolutely no idea what those are. Those like boutiques. And then he says, can you rephrase the question, please? Rephrase? Paraphrase the question. So, dear listener, if you don't understand one word in a question, in speaking part three, or you don't understand the question itself, it's possible. Like what do you mean, I don't understand the question. So your strategy is can you rephrase the question, please? Rory, could you say it again with a nice intonation?

R: I have absolutely no idea what those are. Could you rephrase the question, please?

M: And the examiner will paraphrase the question, which is absolutely fine. It doesn't affect your band score. Well, if you ask this question after each question, maybe it's a bit strange.

R: Then it might.

M: Yeah. So boutiques, a small shop that sells fashionable clothes, shoes or jewellery. Oh, there you go, shoe stores, jewellery stores.

R: So it's sort of understandable that I had no idea what the heck that was because I don't know anything about fashion.

M: Usually we say designer boutiques like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada. Yeah. So designer boutiques like fashion boutiques, right? But also boutiques might be... May not sell brands. But just like in London, there are some boutiques. They might make their own clothes and may not be known. outside of London, for example, so, yeah, like local boutiques. So this is your strategy. Okay? And then the examiner paraphrases the question, so why do people enjoy going to expensive stores to buy clothes or shoes or jewellery for example? Yeah? Like jewellery boutiques, what's the most famous jewellery boutique?

R: I have no idea. I still... Like this is a new word for me. I'm finding out a lot today.

M: No, are you joking? Really? You didn't know like what a boutique was?

R: No, why on earth would I know what that is?

M: Really?

R: You're talking to someone who wears the same black T-shirts all the time.

M: Can you believe it? And then Rory gave an answer why people enjoy buying expensive clothes but he struggled, yeah? Because he really didn't know what to say. Because Rory has no idea, really, like he doesn't know why people would go to an expensive store. So, you mentioned that they have a lot of money. So they have nothing to spend this money on. Another thing is quality. These fashion pieces could be a fashion statement or, for example, it could mean a certain status. So if you have Cartier, this means that okay, you have loads of money and you are like well-off person. Yeah. You are rich. In shops, we can say that there is greater choice now. So there is more variety of goods. And also people love the novelty of new. Like novelty? New things. So new shops have opened up. New boutiques have opened up. So the novelty of these stores. These new things, different things.

R: Allegedly, again, I haven't bought new clothes in about a year. Ah, Rory, you are in Istanbul, come on, do some shopping, for crying out loud.

R: Ah, when? When do I have time for that?

M: Oh my god... Well, you have like the weekend. Maybe half a day. Come on. Man up, Rory. Do some nice shopping.

R: I love how you think I have the time for this.

M: Well, after your course. You do the course and then you celebrate.

R: By spending an obscene amount of money on things.

M: No, not obscene... Well...

R: I will. I will buy myself a new phone, that's happening. But then it's my birthday. So maybe it's best just to wait for that. Are you going to buy me a new phone for my birthday?

M: No, sorry.

R: Oh...

M: I can get you some stickers for your new phone. You know? Like some hearts so you can stick them on your phone.

R: Nice. Thank you.

M: Shopping is also a social activity and, Rory, you said something about friends and make a day out?

R: Yeah, you can make a day out of something, which just means you turn it into something you spent the whole day doing. If you want to. I think that would be my own personal vision of hell, to be honest.

M: So if I spend the whole day shopping, I make a day out of shopping.

R: Yeah.

M: Or for example, if the weather is fine, if the weather is fine, we'll make a day of it and take a picnic. So make a day of it. So the weather is nice, it's sunny. So we'll make a day of it and take a picnic. Make a day of it. So there is more social element now to shopping than in the past. Because in the past, it was just about survival. So people went shopping to survive. Not just like to have fun and just do some window shopping. You can say like do window shopping when you just look at the windows without buying anything. Just check out what they have. Yeah, but now it's yeah, more social. Shopping malls and just, yeah. Popping in there just for fun. Is shopping good for a country's economy? Not economics, economy, the economy of a country. Okay? Shopping encourages production. And perhaps it encourages innovation.

R: But that just means making things and designing new things.

M: It depends on what's on offer.

R: What's on offer is like what you can buy.

M: Oh, okay, so what's on offer in a shop?

R: Yeah, or in an economy.

M: Ah, right. Okay. So they're offering some goods. So what's on offer. And then the Rory goes into theory. Centrally planned and controlled economies.

R: But that is not very complicated. But that is just when the government sets targets for what should be produced and when.

M: Shopping in a free market economy.

R: That is when the people who are buying things and their demands drive whatever it is that gets bought.

M: And this free market economy tends to be more economically viable.

R: But that just means it tends to work. Or it tends to work well.

M: Yeah, viable, able to work as intended. Companies can be viable, or my plan can be economically viable. Or economies could be financially viable. So they work. Shopping online or online shopping? Is it better than shopping offline? Or is it better than traditional stores, physical stores, and Rory told us, that depends entirely on what you have your eye on. To have your eye on something. So when you shop around for different things, you...

R: That just means you're looking for things.

M: Buyers, or shoppers or customers. So people who buy things, yeah? We can paraphrase them as a buyer. So what kind of buyer you are. And if you are someone with a lot of money to burn. So if someone is very rich, they have a lot of money to burn, which means that they have loads of money. So if you've got a lot of money to burn, you can go to boutiques and spend it all on one ring. But if you are someone who has next to nothing...

R: That just means someone who's very poor.

M: Yeah, if people have next to nothing in terms of money, so they have not enough money, they'd be better off getting things right the first time, so they would be better off, so it would be better for them to do something. So they would be better off if they get things right the first time. Because they can't afford to buy all that stuff and return it. Some people, yeah, they buy things, then they wear them once or they don't wear them and then they return the thing. Yeah? But if people have next to nothing, they would be better off getting things right away. They can't afford to buy new things, so they don't have enough money to buy them. Shopping addicts, people, yeah? And the adjective is addictive. And Rory, tell us about rampant consumerism. Yeah, that's the collocation of the day.

R: That just means that all you care about is buying things and having things and consuming the products. That doesn't mean anything terribly deep.

M: You can use it in an essay, dear listener, in IELTS essay, rampant consumerism.

R: Can you?

M: Oh, yeah, yeah. That's fine. That's a very specific term.

R: Oh, wow, okay.

M: Yeah, if the essay is about shopping. Yeah. So rampant is an adjective, something bad. And when you do something in an uncontrolled way. For example, rampant corruption. So like, really bad, it's getting worse quickly or rampant inflation. Disease is rampant. Okay? So it's usually about something bad. And here, the collocation is rampant consumerism. Could you use it in a sentence?

R: Rampant consumerism is slowly draining us of our resources.

M: Yeah. Or one of the problems in today's society is rampant consumerism. People are just buying things. More stuff, buy, buy, buy, buy, buy all the time. Some people buy things to feel some sort of void in their life. Void? Like a hole, a black hole. Like this emptiness. So they want to fill it with different stuff. Void - a large hole or empty space. Sometimes you say like, oh, she stood there staring into the void. So staring, looking into the space. Or people chase some kind of dopamine high. They chase, they run for it. They search for it. They want it. Dopamine high is a noun, right?

R: Yeah. It just means like, oh, making you release the hormones in your head to make you feel good. It's not a good thing. Do not release the dopamine high, please.

M: You could get caught up in some kind of addiction. Yeah? Oh, yeah, people could get caught up in some kind of addiction. So get caught up in. Wow. It's what, a phrasal verb with two propositions, get caught up in addiction. Shopping habits changed or have changed over the years. They've changed recently. And Rory used his one of his strategies. Oh, I read a book about this. Or like, oh, yeah, I remember watching at YouTube talk about this and I forgot everything about it. Did you really read a book about this?

R: I did. Yeah. I can't remember what it was called. But it was talking about like the next developments in marketing and how products would cater to people.

M: Ooh...

R: But I forgot it because, okay, maybe it wasn't so... Like recently, I think it was about 10 years ago. But I did read a book about it.

M: Yeah. So you can say this, and then you can say, oh, but I forgot to ever say about it. It was all to do with personalization. So it was all about personalization. Personalization? How we make things personal for each person. I can't recall the other ones, I can't remember, recall the other ones, but the one that sticks out in my mind. One thing that I do remember, one thing that sticks out in my mind is the personalization. In terms of products, and also in terms of payment. For example, now, people can pay via their smartphone, QR code, they can send you a document, you use it, you pay it, you pay for something in a bank, you can pay using crypto thing. What do you call it? Crypto money, Bitcoins.

R: But you could also pay in instalments, that's what by now, pay later means.

M: Right, pay by instalments pay not the full sum, but by part. So you can take out a loan in a shop and their like local loan. You see? Personalization. And also service, which includes delivery to your door. Yeah? With a drone or with a robot. Can you imagine that soon, like robots will deliver things? You just order some food online, McDonald's, and then there's a drone flying into your window delivering beautiful burgers and french fries. Yum, yum, yum. With a cheese sauce.

R: God, that sounds terrifying.

M: It does, but also cool. Right? You just open the window and off it flies.

R: Absolutely terrifying.

M: Prices and quality could influence our shopping behaviour and our choice, obviously. Okay? It's about how much money a person has. Yeah?

R: Well, it's also about the kind of person they are. Like some people will take out tremendously large loans, in order to buy things that make them look like a higher class of person, which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. But it does go on all the time, apparently.

R: No, but really, Rory, like, imagine that you have like, just imagine, imagine you have millions. And every month you have millions. And then like, would you go to a really cheap store to buy a T-shirt? Or would you like a nice quality T-shirt? Like for example, Lacoste?

R: No.

M: No? Really?

R: No.

M: Like t-shirts aren't... Like most clothes actually aren't so bad. I'm just thinking like what I would spend a lot of money on. Probably... Maybe jeans.

M: Oh jeans. There we go.

R: I wouldn't spend hundreds of pounds on jeans though. I'd maybe spend like maximum 80 pounds perhaps. I think that's like reasonable.

M: Oh...

R: I spent 75 pounds on jeans before, but they have lasted a very long time. And they do look nice. So I'm not so bothered about them.

M: Yeah, you see? So they should be durable. And usually, expensive jeans are durable. Usually... Right, dear listener. Money, shopping, rampant consumerism, enough of that. Look at our Rory, he doesn't need money. He doesn't need, you know, expensive T-shirts, maybe expensive jeans.

R: I do need money. I just don't need like super expensive things. I say this as I am renting out a room in the middle of Istanbul by myself. So that wasn't exactly inexpensive. But I think like having your own space is extremely important. That is my own personal belief, other people may disagree.

M: True. Thank you very much for listening! And we'll get back to you in our next episode! Bye!

R: Bye!

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