Observe –замечать, следить

Coined – придуман

Observe – замечать, следить

Eclipse – затмевать

Stock – запас

Sheer -истинный

Niche -нишевой

Profound – полный, основательный, глубокий

Reliance – опора, надежда

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR:

The Long Tail.... No, it's got nothing to do with dogs, monkeys or elephants - it's actually a way of describing the business models of many online e-companies such as Amazon, Netflix and iTunes. The phrase was coined in 2004 by Chris Anderson, the editor in chief of Wired Magazine, an American technology magazine. Anderson observed that the majority of Amazon's sales didn't actually come from the most popular books that were sold, but rather from the ones that were considered least popular. The top twenty percent of sales, while the most popular, were actually eclipsed by the bottom eighty percent, the so called Long Tail. Amazon's business model, storing stock in warehouses rather than in a traditional shop, allow it to stock many books that only a small number of people are interested in.

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR:

But the sheer volume of these niche books made available to purchase allowed Amazon to sell them in greater volume than the current best sellers. This idea has had a profound impact on how people see e-commerce. Businesses are able to offer products that they know are not very popular as long as the storage and distribution costs are low. Customers have a higher chance of finding products that interest them due to the much bigger choice available to them. They are also more likely to be prepared to pay more for a product that they value highly.

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR:

The net result of this is that we are in the middle of a huge change in the way we experience culture and content. Whereas previously consumers were forced to accept the most popular TV shows, books and movies; the products that companies knew would sell in large enough quantities to cover their costs, now we are free to enjoy what we want, how we want it. Let's take TV as an example. Traditional TV stations broadcast their most popular shows in prime time slots when they can be sure that the majority of viewers will tune in. These are very important for the stations as the advertising fees they can charge are much higher than at other times.

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR:

As a result the shows broadcast tend to be the most mainstream - shows with broad appeal, but not necessarily the most interesting ones. Cable TV and the Internet have changed all that. The Long Tail allows broadcasters to show a higher volume of less popular shows in the knowledge that overall, they will be as popular and profitable as the old primetime system. For businesses that understand this the possibilities are great, diversification of the products they offer allow them to spread their profits over a much larger area and there is less reliance on the success of a relatively small number of shows For the consumers the benefits are great.

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR:

We are no longer tied to the restrictive TV schedules of the past. We can choose whatever we want to watch, and certainly with streaming Internet video or download services, we are able to choose when we want to watch these shows. The effect of this on our culture as a whole is a greater freedom of expression, more chances for smaller producers to get their work to the public and more choices for the consumer. And all of this is possible while making a great profit at the same time!

1. Good website usability is one of our two top priorities. If the website isn’t easy to use and reliable, the customers won’t make purchases.

2. Selling only high-quality products is the second of our two top priorities. If quality is low, customers won’t come back.

3. A broad product range is essential. We need to offer our customers a selection.

4. Diverse payment and delivery options are important. We don’t want to lose customers who may need to pay for or receive goods in ways that we’re not accommodating. (размещать)

5. We need to continue to understand our customers’ needs. What are they looking for when they come to us? Let’s make sure they always find it!

6. Let’s continue to provide some of the best customer service and technical support in the industry. Our goal is to quickly resolve every issue with our products or website with a friendly professionalism.

7. Don’t forget the importance of product knowledge in customer service. Know the details about the products we sell.

Good website usability makes it easy for customers to shop online.

Customers want selection, so we offer a broad product range.

Our customer service personnel have excellent product knowledge.

If you have questions about using the website, give our technical support a call.

We attract many types of customers because of the diversity of our products

We need to sell at a high volume in order to continue to offer low prices.

Hello Sally,

How are you? I just want to write quickly to tell you that those shoes you saw in the mall are on sale on the store’s website! So they’re cheaper online than in the store. Actually, they have such good online deals (хорошие предложения), I just bought myself a pair. They’re more expensive than the first pair I liked, but I like them better.

Best,

Jenny

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Hi Jenny,

Thanks for letting me know! Actually, they’re not the exact same shoes, but they’re better than the pair in the store. The heel is a little higher than the heel on the ones we saw. So I bought them! I think I know which pair you bought. They’re the black ones with the buckle (пряжка), right? They’re more interesting than the ones we saw in the store.

Hugs,

Sally

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Hey Sally,

The only problem is, getting them from the store is speedier than getting them online. I hate having to wait a week for them to be delivered. That said (тем не менее), the customer service people online are a lot friendlier than the people in the store. I had to call them about sizes, but they sorted everything out (они разобрали все) and were really nice.

Best,

Jenny

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Hi Jenny,

It’s too bad they’re not as friendly in the store as they are in the online customer service. Luckily shopping online is almost as much fun as going to the mall. Anyway, I showed my roommate the shoes online, and she thinks they look the same as the ones in the store. Oh well…. I’ll let you know when they arrive!

Hugs,

Sally

§ The navigation looks nice but isn’t logical. This is a major usability issue. We need to consider how customers will use the site. All of the things that they want should be available from the home page. Right now there are too many clicks to get to the pages with the products. Let’s consider adding a navigation bar at the top that will allow users to go directly to different product categories.

§ The design is really creative, but the most important things on the home page are difficult to find. I think the main issue is that you have to scroll to find the login area and the ‘Start Shopping’ button, though these are the first things our customers need when they come to our site.

§ The site colors need to be rethought (переосмыслено), as the black text on the gray background is difficult to read. It would be better to incorporate the brand colors (фирменные цвета) into the design. A simple white background with blue and yellow navigation buttons to match the logo might work well.

§ The styles are also a bit problematic, as some of the pages have the product thumbnails to the right of the product descriptions and some have them to the left. They need to be consistent. (последовательными)

§ The shopping cart doesn’t work properly if you add more than one item to it. The most common error is that some of the items simply disappear from the cart. This is definitely a problem tech will have to sort out. (разобраться)

§ In general, our major issues have to do with functionality: internet users are accustomed to websites working a certain way. It’s nice to be original, but users don’t want to have to figure out how the site works. They’re visiting the site to see the products and then hopefully purchase. So let’s make that as easy as possible for them!

Write a paragraph describing an e-commerce site you have used or heard about. Comment on the site's functionality and product range. How does it compare to similar sites? Type in the input box. Write 150-200 words. Your answer will be sent to a teacher for review.

Дата добавления: 2015-09-29