Make Your Way 5, Schulbuch mit Audio-CD und CD-ROM

Discuss with your partner how many different ways of shopping you can think of. 6 Read the text and decide if these sentences are true, false or not given. 7 Do you think e-commerce will one day take the place of traditional shopping? • What do you think are the most popular items bought over the Internet? • What kind of people do you think use e-commerce the most? • What are the possible advantages of shopping on the Internet? • What disadvantages can you think of? • Then discuss these questions. Read the text and compare your answers. E-commerce continues to grow but is still relatively small-scale compared to more tradi- tional methods of shopping. Latest figures show that Americans spent around $127 billion over the Internet in 2007, an increase of 18.4% over 2006. However, this only accounted for about 3.2% of all sales in the country. Shopkeepers have little to fear for the time being at least. The top selling items on the Internet over the Christmas holiday period 2007 were video games, consoles and music. These items are not surpris- ing when you consider the fact that nearly 70% of online shoppers were under the age of 45. Interestingly, suspicion and lack of trust were the main reasons given by people who have not yet made purchases over the Web. 67% were worried about their credit card details being made public, 59% expressed con- cern about what might happen if the sale went wrong, and 54% thought their e-mail details would fall into the wrong hands. Most people interviewed also said they prefer the “hands-on” experience of traditional shops. Almost all those who regularly buy over the Internet named convenience as the biggest attraction, while ease of checking out different prices was in second place. true false not given 1 Shoppers spent about $61 billion in e-commerce in 2006. 2 Online sales are expected to triple by 2020. 3 Internet shopping is not an immediate threat to shopkeepers. 4 Most people use the Internet to buy entertainment items. 5 Many people think the Internet is not safe for shopping. 6 People like being served by real people in a real shop. 7 Many people like shopping on the Internet because it is easy. 8 A lot of people complain about insufficient product information to make an informed decision when buying. 9 A high percentage of people are considering starting an e-commerce business themselves. 175 5 Compact unit 5: Shop till you drop Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv