#0224 – Holiday Promotions, - Ang, mater, ESL Podcast McQuillan Jeff mp3+PDF

#0224 – Holiday Promotions

#0224 – Holiday Promotions, - Ang, mater, ESL Podcast McQuillan Jeff mp3+PDF

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 224 – Holiday Promotions
GLOSSARY
to come up with
(something)
– to think of something, usually a new idea or a
solution to a problem
* How did you come up with that idea? I’ve never heard anything like it before.
holiday promotion
– activities to increase sales during the holiday season,
usually in November and December
* The store’s holiday promotions are incredible! They sell everything at 30% off
of its regular price.
inroad
– progress; advancement
* Japanese car companies rapidly made inroads into the U.S. automobile
industry.
gift-buying market
– the economic market of people (group of buyers) who buy
presents
* Was there an increase in the gift-buying market during February for Valentine’s
Day?
retail sales
– sales of small number of products to individual buyers (not to other
businesses)
* Because it was extremely hot last August, retail sales of air conditioners
increased significantly that summer.
sales cycle
– the same time of year when there are very high or low sales
* Most types of products have predictable sales cycles. For example, sales of
school supplies and children’s clothing are highest right before the school year
begins.
innovative
– new and creative; original
* Everyone admires her innovative ideas for making this a better team this year.
brick-and-mortar store
– a business that serves customers in a real store, not
through a website
* My mother likes to see and touch what she’s buying, so she prefers shopping at
brick-and-mortar stores.
computer savvy
– knowledgeable about computers
* Today, children are often more computer savvy than their parents are.
1
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2006). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 224 – Holiday Promotions
more likely than ever
– more likely now than anytime before; more probable
than before
* Harold’s boss yelled at him yesterday in front of all of the other employees, and
now it’s more likely than ever that he’ll quit his job.
to capitalize on
– to take advantage of, to profit from
* The team capitalized on its early lead and won the game by more than 20
points.
to slash prices
– to greatly reduce prices, usually during a sale
* When one company slashes prices, many competing companies feel pressured
to do the same because they fear losing their customers.
inventory
– a complete list of what is in a place, such as the products a store
has available for sale
* We are closing our store for two days to do an inventory of what we have in the
store.
stock
– the number of products that a store has available for sale
* I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have that product in stock, but I think our downtown
store does.
gimmick
– an unusual or clever trick to encourage people to buy something
* His sales gimmicks were so annoying that most people left the store without
buying anything.
to jump-start
– to start quickly
* He jump-started his career in business by getting a graduate degree when he
was very young.
to count on (someone)
– to rely on someone; to depend on someone
* I can’t attend the meeting so I’m counting on you to tell me what was discussed.
2
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2006). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 224 – Holiday Promotions
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. How does this company plan to enter the gift-buying market?
a) By opening a brick-and-mortar store.
b) By thinking of creative ideas for holiday promotion.
c) By slashing prices.
2. This company’s customers:
a) Like to buy products online.
b) Like to buy products from companies that use sales gimmicks.
c) Like to buy products at brick-and-mortar stores.
______________
WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?
promotion
The word “promotion,” in this podcast, means the things a business does to
increase sales: “The new store is offering a great promotion this month: if
customers buy two sweaters, a third sweater is free.” “Promotion” can also refer
to activities that encourage people to support an idea or belief: “The Center for
the Promotion of Peace works to prevent wars in Asian countries.” As a verb, “to
promote” means to help sell a product: “Authors often promote their books by
signing them in a public place, like a bookstore.” The verb “to promote” can also
mean to help something happen: “Supporting private businesses is one way that
governments can promote economic growth.” Another meaning of “promotion” is
a move to a better job: “She received a promotion to vice-president of sales
because of her excellent work on the sales team.”
stock
In this podcast, the word “stock” means the amount of products that a store has
available to sell: “We need to order more AA batteries because we’re out of
stock.” Or, “Are any of the blue dishes still in stock, or have we sold them all?” A
“stock” can also be a share in a company, making you one of the owners: “I wish
I had bought stock in that company ten years ago.” A “stock” is also a liquid used
to make soups: “My mother makes an excellent vegetable stock by boiling
carrots, onions, and potatoes in water for two hours.” As a verb, “to stock up”
means to buy a large quantity of something to use later: “We stocked up on so
much toilet paper when it was on sale that we won’t need to buy anymore this
year.”
3
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2006). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 224 – Holiday Promotions
CULTURE NOTE
Stores in the United States often offer “sales” to attract customers. Sales are
short periods of time when the prices of certain of products are reduced or
lowered. There are many different types of sales.
Some sales offer low prices for specific categories of products. For example, a
“white sale” offers lower prices for “household goods” such as towels, dishes,
sheets, blankets, and small kitchen electronics, such as a coffee maker. “Back-
to-school sales” happen in late August, before the academic year begins in
September. During a back-to-school sale, school supplies (such as paper,
notebooks, pens, and pencils), children’s clothing, and backpacks cost less than
usual.
Other sales, such as Memorial Day sales and Labor Day sales, are related to
specific U.S. holidays. The most famous of these sales is the “day-after-
Thanksgiving sale,” which happens in late November on Friday after the
Thanksgiving holiday. This day is also called “Black Friday,” because the phrase
“in the black” means to make money (“in the red” means to lose money). This is
the biggest shopping day of the year and many people stand in lines in front of
stores for hours so that they can be the first ones to enter the store when it
opens. Prices on certain items are extremely low, and some stores offer free
gifts to the first 100 customers who enter the store that day.
An “early-bird sale” offers low prices to shoppers who arrive at the store early in
the morning, sometimes as early as 6:00 a.m. Recently some businesses,
especially “car dealerships” (stores selling cars), offer “employee-pricing sales.”
These sales offer the general public the same “discounted” (lower) prices that are
normally offered only to the store’s employees.
______________
Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – b; 2 – a
4
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2006). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ESL Podcast 224 – Holiday Promotions
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 224: Holiday
Promotions.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 224. I'm your host, Dr.
Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in
beautiful Los Angeles, California. How are you today?
In this podcast, we are going to talk about buying things, or actually, selling
things for the holiday season. Remember, this episode will also have a Learning
Guide on our website. The Learning Guides include all of the vocabulary,
definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions that we don't talk about on
the podcast, cultural notes and a free trip to Los Angeles. Well okay, not a free
trip to Los Angeles, but everything else is on the Learning Guide! You can find
those that at eslpod.com. Now let's get started.
[Start of story]
My boss asked me to come up with some holiday promotion ideas so that we can
make inroads into the gift-buying market. For us to stay competitive, our
company has to increase retail sales for this important sales cycle. My boss is
expecting some innovative ideas from me.
Since we’re an online business and not a brick-and-mortar store, we can’t just
put signs in the window or do other types of traditional advertising. Lucky for us,
though, consumers are increasingly computer savvy and are more likely than
ever to buy online. That’s something we want to capitalize on.
Like other companies, we’re willing to slash prices to attract holiday shoppers.
We have a large inventory and we don’t have to worry about running out of stock.
The trick is, how do we increase sales without resorting to gimmicks? Dressing
up salespeople to look like Santa Claus may work for some businesses but not
ours.
I’m just hoping that I can come up with some fresh ideas to jump-start this sales
season. I know that my boss is counting on me.
[End of story]
5
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2006). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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