Selling online / Negotiating I

Selling and buying online is very often called e-commerce:

It is electronic commerce (EC) which offers us the opportunity to buy and sell on the Internet

A system used to conduct business transactions over a computer network

A simple form of EC is taking an order over the telephone

E-commerce can refer to:

Business transactions between companies or between companies and their customers

Transferring money through the InternetA new term dotcom frenzy (going mad for

the world of Internet) appeared in the late 1990s

A new term – clicks and mortar is becoming very popular:

It is a business that combines online selling with traditional offline selling ( in stores)

A store using this cliks and mortar sell its products in a shop beside offering the same products online

The Internet part is called clicks and traditional selling is called mortar

An example: Tesco

It is an international supremarket chain based in the United Kingdom (food, clothes, electronic, financial services...)

Tesco has successfully combined old economy with the world of e-commerce

Today Tesco sells goods in stores and on the Internet

Another example: Webvan

It was an online “credit and delivery” grocery business that went bankrupt in 2001

It is a good example of how a good business can be spoiled: the application of online selling trapped the business – there were big demands with short-term profitability, instead of growth and market expansion

An example of failure: e-toys

It was a high-profile company that built a great service

It started selling toys online in AmericaThe problem was their low profit (no

profit- no futher business) which caused the company to run out of cash and go into liquidation

Amazon: almost the only online seller

Amazon is today called the only pure-play (exclusively) online seller that has a well known brand

It has good e-fulfilment systems (taking orders and delivery) and it is very efficient, but some say that its long-term profitability is not certain

To set up Amazon.co.uk it was necessary to: Achieve lots of sales and secure profit The only way to have this is to do a fantastic job for

customers so they keep coming back You must have a good website (it must be easy and

quick to use) It must give lots of information about the items and

offer low prices When somebody orders, you must provide a fast

delivery which is reliable If anything goes wrong you need an excellent customer

service team (on the phone or by e-mail)

Many companies report an increase in online selling:

Easyjet and Ryanair (airline companies) now have more than 90% tickets sold online

This proves that online selling increases where the goods don’t have to be physically delivered. Physical delivery brings up problems of warehousing and the need for good infrastructure

The choice of goods to sell online:

Some goods and services may be more suitable for selling online (holidays and travel)

Some other products may produce problems: groceries and shoes

What happens when you find out that the product you got is not suitable, or it is not at all what you ordered?

Selling online and high-street retailing: differences and similarities

You don’t need shop assistants when you buy online (but there are some people on the phone ready to help)

If you buy in a shop, delivery is not a problem

Similarities: customer satisfaction, quality, reliability of goods are equally important in both cases

New developments: teenagers buy a lot online

They buy games, CDs and clothingThe problem is they are too young to own

credit cards, so they sometimes manage to do this with the help of their parents

Visa calculates that they spent a total of 153 billion dollars in the US last year!

The parents are more likely to buy them something in a real shop than to give them credit cards

Internet users in Croatia

1,4 million people have an access to internet

Many of those who have access do not use it (34%)

Internet users in Croatia are 56% men and 44% women ( most younger than 34)

The biggest part of users have a high school diploma

Neckermann and Quelle

Thanks to their online services these companies have increased their sales

Neckermann has earned over 100 million kunas thanks to a good service provided for over 350 000 buyers

They have many employees and the figures are still rising

It is a good idea to start an online selling business in Croatia (low competition, possibilities for new markets...)

Modern life with little time to walk around the stores is another reason to surf the Internet and have your goods delivered at home

On these websites you can see the articles in detail, check the prices and be sure to receive your money back if you are not content

The advantages of using the Internet for business:

It is simple and it saves time and moneyIt saves the effort and the cost of

bureaucracyYou can go through a mass of information

in very short timeYou can keep up with your competition

Negotiating tips

Be friendly. Have clear aims. Tell the other side what you want. Listen carefully. Pay attention to the other side’s body language. Don’t change your plan during the meeting. Never be the first to make an offer.

Negotiating: stating aims

We would like to have it in a month’s time.We must have delivery by the end of next

week.Our company has a strong “time is money”

policy.

Making concessions:

If I have to finish in one month, I’ll need to have an extra designer.

That could be all right – as long as I get some money in advance.

We might deliver the goods immediately if your payments are on time.

If I finish in one month, will you agree to reduce the number of pages?

I think we could arrange that if we receive half the amount in the next 24 hours.

Rejecting suggestions:

We would prefer to pay you a fixed amount.

I am very sorry, our company does not approve of third parties.

Actually, we already have a skilled personnel to do that.

Bargaining:

How about paying me half when I start the work?

Would you consider lowering your prices if we make arrangements for delivery?

How about contacting new clients for this new product?

Focussing the discussion:

Let’s talk about the time for setting up the website.

Allow me to concentrate on our long-term profits.

Our priority is to have the goods as soon as possible.

Talk about companies / present simple and present continuous

Which of these companies would you like to work for?

A family owned companyA multinational companyYour own company (be self-employed)

Which of these business sectors would you work in?

Telecommunications/mediaEngineeringRetailingTourismBanking and financeFood and drinkTransport

Present simple:

Form: He/she/it works. I work. They work.

He doesn’t work. They don’t work.

Does he work? Do they work?

Use: we use the present simple tense to:

-give information about permanent activities

(Valentino makes luxury chocolates.)

-describe a state that doesn’t change: (He looks like his father.) -talk about routine activities, repeated

actions or habits: (I often travel abroad on business.) -some verbs are always used in the

present simple (not with –ing): What do you mean? I remember her

name.

Present continuous

Form: I am going. He/she/it is going. They are going.

I am not going. Am I going?

Use: We use the present continuous to:-describe activities in progress at the

moment of speaking(She is talking to him on the phone right

now.)

-describe temporary situations:

(The delegation is staying at the Hilton until Friday.)

- refer to future arrangements:

(He is starting a new job next week.)

- describe changing situation:

(We are developing a new marketing strategy.)

Complete these sentences with either the present simple or the present continuous:

We normally _______ (hold) ous sales conference in Spain, but this year we _______ (hold) it in Poland.

Although we ________ (use) our own sales representative at the moment, we generally _________ (use) agents in Japan.

It normally _______ (take) us two years to develop a new product.

We don’t often ______ (raise) our prices more than 5%, but this time we __________ (raise) them 10%.

Usually our Sales Director _________ (deal) with important customers.

We usually ________ (recruit) from within the company, but this time we _________ (advertise) externally.

We _______ (rent) offices until our new headquarters are ready.

The company ________ (want) to achieve record sales this year.

Complete this job advertisement with the following verbs (present simple or continuous):look, have, offer, employ, be, offer,

prepare, consider, need, grow

We ____ one of the largest mobile phone retailers in Europe. We _____ independent and impartial advice on mobile phones. We ____ more than 800 stores in 10 countries, and we ________ fast.

We ______ over 3000 workers. Currently we _______ the next stage in our development, and we ______ for major growth outside Europe.

We ____ for people who are reliable, confident and enthusiastic. We _____ experienced people who want to work for an expanding company.

We _____ a competitive salary and private health insurance. We are willing to reward staff with attractive performance-based bonuses.