Talking About Online Shopping - Spoken English Lesson

Hi, I’m Rich. Welcome to Oxford Online English!  

In this lesson, you can learn how  to talk about online shopping.

What was the last thing you bought online?  What are the best online shopping websites,  

in your opinion? Have you ever had a really good  – or bad – experience when shopping online? You’ll  

learn some useful language to talk about these  topics and answer these questions in this lesson.

One more thing: do you want to  watch this video with subtitles?  

You can! Turn them on now by  clicking the ‘CC’ icon; on a phone,  

find the subtitles by tapping the  settings button on your screen.

Now, let’s start your lesson. Hey – nice shirt!

Thanks!

Is it new?

Yes, I bought it last week on Asos.

I’ve heard of Asos, but I’ve never  actually ordered anything from there.  

Would you recommend it?

Yes, I think it’s great. I use it at least once  a month. They have a huge range of clothes and  

the prices are very reasonable. Some people  say their customer service is a nightmare,  

but I’ve never had any trouble. Where do  you shop for clothes if you don’t use Asos?

Well, I used to shop at Next, which is a shop  I’ve always liked. Their clothes have always  

been quite expensive, but over the last year  or two the quality has been going downhill.  

So recently I started shopping at Zara. I think  the clothes are much better value for money.

OK, so you would recommend  Zara as a good place to shop?

Yes. So far, so good. I only started using  their website two months ago, mind you… 

Here’s a question: do you know which prepositions  to use when you talk about online shopping? 

When we talk about physical shops, we  use ‘at’ – so you can say, for example,  

‘I bought it at Walmart’. 

When we talk about online shops, we usually use  ‘on’ – so you can say ‘I bought it on Amazon’.  

This is because we talk  about being *on* a website. 

We also say, ‘I bought it online’ or ‘I bought it  on the internet’. We often hear students making  

mistakes with these phrases, so be careful! In the dialogue, you heard some vocabulary  

to talk about online shopping.  Look at some phrases you heard. 

What do these phrases mean? Could  you explain the meanings in English? 

Try it now! Pause the video. Imagine you’re an  English teacher, and you need to explain what  

these phrases mean in English. What would you say?  Pause the video and say your definitions aloud. 

How was it? Could you do it? 

‘A huge range’ means that they have  many different products. For clothes,  

this would mean that they offer many different  items, different styles, colours, and so on. 

‘Reasonable’ means ‘fair’. If the prices  are reasonable, they’re not too high.  

It doesn’t mean that the website is cheap,  

but if you use the word ‘reasonable’, you probably  mean that something is good value for money.

A nightmare is, literally, a bad dream, but  you can use it to describe something terrible. 

Finally, if something goes downhill, it gets  worse. ‘The quality has been going downhill’  

means that the quality of their products  has been getting worse and worse. 

There are other useful words and phrases in the  dialogue. We recommend listening to each dialogue  

several times and noting down any phrases  you think are useful or interesting.

Next, you heard how to talk about shopping  websites you use for buying clothes.

Look at some questions. Think about how you could answer these.

When you answer the questions,  try to include some details.

For example, when you answer question one,  don’t just say, ‘I like shopping on Amazon’.

Instead, you could say, ‘I love buying  clothes online. My favourite website is  

Asos because the prices are very reasonable,  and their customer service is excellent.’

You could also say,  

‘I usually buy clothes online two or three times  a month. I would recommend staying away from Frox  

because the quality of the clothes  has gone downhill recently.’

OK? Pause the video and try  to answer the questions now. 

Could you do it? If not, go back  and listen to the dialogue again.

Ready to move on? Let’s look at your next topic. 

In this dialogue, you will hear us comparing  two websites – Amazon and AliExpress.  

Have you ever used these websites?  If you have, how do they compare?  

Think about your answers before you listen.

So, what about things like electrical goods?  Which website would you use if you wanted to buy,  

say, a battery for your mobile phone?

Until recently I would have said Amazon  is better without a doubt, but a while ago  

a friend of mine introduced me  to a website called AliExpress.

AliExpress? I’ve never heard of  that. How does it compare to Amazon?

I think the main reason people use it is because  it’s cheaper than Amazon, but I’ve also found  

that they often have products that you  can’t get hold of on other websites.

OK, that’s interesting. What’s  their customer service like?

Well, it’s true that you’ll see lots of complaints  about it if you read the online reviews – but  

I’ve only had to send something back once,  and they sent a replacement straight away.

Right. Well, that sounds pretty reasonable.

Yes, I thought it was fair enough.  

The only thing I would say about  AliExpress is that their delivery times  

are not the best. You wouldn’t want to order  something from them if you were in a hurry!

Can you see the estimated delivery  times when you place the order?

Yes, you know what to expect – you just have to be  patient! The last thing I bought from AliExpress,  

which wasn’t available on Amazon by the way, was  a part for a printer. They said it would take  

over a month to arrive, but in fact it  arrived safe and sound after only a week!

So you were a satisfied customer! How did you get on? Did you agree  

with our comparison? Let’s have a  look at some of the language we used. 

Look at these sentences. Which words are missing?  You heard them in the dialogue – try to remember. 

OK? Let’s check. You can use ‘without  

a doubt’ to emphasise the point you’re  making – you could also say ‘definitely’.

‘Get hold of something’’ means to find something  that you need. If you say ‘Replacement parts are  

hard to get hold of’, you mean that it’s difficult  to find a shop or website which sells them.

If someone asks you, ‘What is their customer  service like?’, they are not asking you if  

you like it or not. ‘What is it like?’ means  ‘tell me about it’ or ‘describe it to me’.  

If you’re talking about customer service, or  shopping, you’re probably asking whether the  

other person recommends it or not. It’s like  asking: ‘Is the customer service good or bad?’  

It’s not exactly the same, but it's similar.

Finally, if you say that something  is not the best, you’re saying that  

it’s not so bad, but it could be better. As before, there is more language in the  

dialogue which you might find useful! We won’t  give you every single word and phrase we use.  

You should also do your own work to  get the most from these dialogues.

Now, let’s see if you can talk about this topic. 

Try to provide a detailed answer, perhaps  using some of the vocabulary you saw before.

For the first question, you could say ‘When  I need to buy electronic products, I usually  

use a website called Banggood. They don’t have  as many of the top brands as Amazon, but the  

prices are great, and they often have products  that you can’t get hold of anywhere else.’

For the second question, you could say: ‘The  last time I bought something on Banggood  

was about three weeks ago. I couldn’t  find the product on any other website,  

and it arrived safe and sound after only  two weeks. I was a very satisfied customer.’ 

Of course, there are many possible answers!  

Now it’s your turn. Pause the video  and try to answer the questions now.

How did you get on? Were you  able to express your ideas?

Next, you’ll see how to talk about  good online shopping experiences. 

This time, you’ll see some key  phrases before you hear the dialogue.  

What are the missing words?  Try to find them as you listen. 

Pause if you need more time to  read. Ready? Here’s the dialogue. 

Do you find that there are some websites you use  more since you’ve been living outside the UK?

Yeah - absolutely. One of my favourites is a  website called Moonpig where you can buy greetings  

cards – like birthday cards and Christmas cards –  and have them delivered in the UK. British people  

often send greetings cards to friends and  family on their birthdays, or at Christmas,  

and this can be more difficult to  organise if you’re living overseas.

Right. I guess in some countries birthday  cards or Christmas cards are hard to find.

Yes, that’s true, and even if you can get hold  of them, it’s hard to gauge how long they will  

take to arrive in the UK. So, some years ago I  got into the habit of ordering cards on Moonpig.  

The website is really intuitive,  so it’s easy to find what you need.

That’s always a plus. It  sounds good – how does it work?

First you choose your card, then you can  personalise it with a photo if you want to – or  

just write your own message. After that you just  confirm the address that you want it sent to.

Sounds like a good service. I gave  up on trying to send birthday cards;  

now I just send people text messages,  but I’ve always felt it’s a little  

lazy. It’s nice to get a real  card in the post, you know?

Yep – I’m with you. It’s a good service. The cards  are posted in the UK, so they only take a day or  

two to arrive. It’s straightforward  to use once you get the hang of it,  

reasonably-priced and they  haven’t let me down yet! 

Could you find the missing words? Let’s check. Do you know what these mean? 

‘Intuitive’ means easy to understand. If a  website is intuitive, you can find what you need  

and do what you want without difficulties,  and without having to think about it too much.

A ‘plus’ is a conversational way  to say ‘advantage’ or ‘benefit’.

If you ‘get the hang of something’, you  learn how to do something – or you learn  

how to use something. You can say, for example,  ‘It’s easy when you get the hang of it.’

If someone ‘lets you down’, they disappoint you  by not doing what they said they were going to do.  

If a website is very reliable, you can  say, for example ‘They never let me down’.

What about you? Are you usually a  satisfied customer when you shop online?  

Tell us about a positive experience.

Pause the video now and try  to make a few sentences.

For example, you could say, ‘Most of the time  I enjoy shopping online. I often order birthday  

presents online. Although it’s very convenient,  it makes me a bit nervous because obviously they  

need to arrive on the right day. So far, so  good. They haven’t let me down yet! Last year,  

I ordered a bunch of flowers for my Mum and I was  worried that they might get damaged. I was very  

pleased when she told me that they had arrived  safe and sound – and on the 8th of November!’ 

Done? Great! Let’s look at our last point. 

Speaking of being let down, I’ve just had a  really strange experience shopping online.

Really? What happened?

Well, I have an old laptop that I  bought overseas a long time ago.  

Last year, I needed to buy a replacement  battery – and I couldn’t find one anywhere.  

No one seemed to stock the exact type I needed.

Yes – I think the manufacturers do that on  purpose. They just want you to buy a new computer.

Right. Well, I persevered and eventually I  found a company which had the battery – but they  

said that it would take two months to deliver it.  I didn’t have any alternatives, so I went for it.

OK, and what happened?

Well, first of all the ordering  process was really tricky.  

The website was so clunky – it looked like it was  made in the 1990s and hadn’t been updated since.

I hate it when that happens. It’s so annoying!

Yup, but I was determined!  

So then, I spent about six weeks tracking my  battery as it made its way around the world.  

It showed that arrived in the country, but  then it disappeared off the radar completely.  

I contacted the company and they had no idea  what had happened, and they sent me a refund.

OK, well that’s something, at least.

I was ready to just call it quits, but then, last  week, I received a package from the same website.

Don’t tell me… Your battery finally arrived?

Well, not exactly… The  package contained a battery,  

but it was for a phone, not for a laptop.  But, it had my name and address, and so on.

That’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Did they  mix up your order with someone else’s?

Who knows? Anyhow, I gave up  on them. It’s too much hassle. 

Here are some sentences from the  dialogue. Can you fill the gaps? 

Could you remember? Let’s check. What do these highlighted words mean?  

Do you know, or can you guess from the context?  Pause and think about it if you need more time. 

‘Stock’ as a verb means to  have something for sale.  

You can use it in the verb phrase ‘have something  in stock’. If a shop has something in stock,  

it’s available and you can buy it. If something  is out of stock, it’s not available right now. 

‘Clunky’ means that something is badly designed  

and difficult to use. If you website is made on  a budget, it’ll probably be clunky. It’s mostly  

used to talk about technology which is  not well-designed or which is out-of-date. 

‘Call it quits’ means that you’ve been  trying to do something for a while,  

but now you’re giving up and you’re not going  to try any more. After a long, frustrating  

customer service experience, you might  decide to just call it quits and go home! 

Finally, ‘hassle’ is a useful word  to talk about bad customer service.  

Something which is a hassle is both difficult and  annoying. If you describe something as a hassle,  

you’re suggesting that it doesn’t need  to be this difficult. For example,  

if a website makes you fill out loads of forms  to get a refund or cancel your subscription,  

you can describe that as a hassle – they’re  making it more difficult than it needs to be.

Now, it’s your turn. Have you ever had  a bad experience with shopping online?  

Tell us what happened.

When you’re ready, pause the video  and say your answer out loud.  

Or, write your answer down and share your  experience with other students in the comments!

That’s it for this lesson. Thanks for watching!

See you next time!