We offer a _ to customers who buy in bulk.

A) Refund               b) Discount            c) Delivery

We ask customers who are not fully satisfied to _______ their purchases within 7 days.

A) Discount             b) Refund               c) Return

In order to get a full ______, customers must send back goods in the original packaging.

A) Discount             b) Refund               c) Return

Goods will be ______ within 24 hours of your order.

A) Dispatched         b) Purchased          c) Exchanged

Goods are kept in our _______ until ready for delivery.

A) Stock                  b) Storage               c) Warehouse

Exercise B: Match the terms on the left to their definitions on the right.

1) Credit card details             A) The time when you can change                                                                                      your mind and cancel an order

Cooling off period                  B) The name, number, and expiration                                               date on your credit card

Money back guarantee           C) The way you choose to buy the                                              goods you want

Method of payment                D) When you can pay some time after                                              you buy, but at no extra cost

Interest-free period                 E) When the goods you require are not                                                                                                available

Out of stock                           F) A promise to give you your money                                              back if you are not happy

After-sales service                  G) The help you get from a company                                               when you start to use their product

“The Arrival of Virtual Pocket Money”,
an article from the Financial Times by John Willman

       They like using the internet. They have lots of money to spend. And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us. Teenagers are just the sort of people an Internet retailer wants to sell to, and the things they want to buy-games, CD’s, clothing-are easily sold on the Web.

       But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own a credit card. Most have to use a parent’s card. ‘Kids are frustrated with the Web.’ Says Phil Bettison, European Managing Director of WorldPay, an Internet payments company. ‘They want a facility that allows them to spend money’.

       That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyberspace are springing up on both sides of the Atlantic. If successful, these products could provide an important stimulus to online sales.

       In general, teenagers spend enormous amounts: Visa calculates it totaled $153 billion in the US last year, while the UK market estimated $29.4 billion. Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school-88% in the US, 69% in the UK.

       One in eight of those with Internet access have bought something online-mainly CD’s and music. In the US, 12-17 year olds spend an average of six hours a month online according to Jupiter Research. One in six buys things over the Internet, with CD’s, books, games, videos and clothing being the most popular items.

       In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children: ‘Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street. A child who sees a pair of shoes in a shop can usually persuade the parent to buy them. They’re more like to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online,’ says Mike Young of Mondex, the electronic payments company.

       One way to help them convert notes and coins into cybercash is through prepaid cards such as InternetCash in the US and Smart cards in the UK. Similar to those for pay-as-you go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as $20 or $50 with a concealed 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.

Exercise A: Answer the following questions as True/False based upon the reading.

Adults spend a greater proportion of their money online than teenagers.

Most teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards.

3. More than 66% of teenagers in the US and the UK have internet access.

Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online

Children find it easier to persuade parents to buy in a shop than online.

Exercise B: Place a “T” next to the statements that are true about company negotiations.

· Be friendly

· Have clear aims

· Tell the other side what you want

· Don’t listen carefully

· Pay attention to the other’s body language

· Don’t change your plan during the meeting

· Never be the first to make an offer

· Be strong and try to win

· Prepare carefully before you negotiate

· Ask a lot of questions

· Make sure you have only one option

· Summarize often the points you agree on

· Change your strategy during the negotiation, if necessary

· Never show any emotions

Main Strategies and Key Phrases for Business Negotiations

· State your aims/your goals- “We’d like to..”, “We must…”

· Make concessions- “I can do that if you..”, “That could be all right as long as…”

· Rejecting suggestions- “We prefer…”, “We’d rather..”

· Bargaining- “How about…?”

· Focusing on the discussion- “Let’s talk about…”

Negotiations Case Study

Background Information:

              Lifetime holidays is a package holiday firm. It has many high street shops and a large catalog of holidays. However, it is currently facing problems. Fewer people are visiting its shops, and demand for its holidays has fallen. Most of its customers are aged over 50, so it now wants to appeal to a wider range, especially those aged 30 to 50. The solution seems to be to sell holidays online. 

                   As Lifetime has no experience of e-commerce, they want to join with an existing online company, DirectSun. DirectSun is a low-budget holiday website. It offers cheap flights to a small range of destinations and can arrange accommodation, insurance, and car rentals. It has a good customer base, but it wants a bigger catalog of holidays to offer.

                   The two firms have met several times and are now ready to negotiate the details of a possible joint venture.