فرنلیش - Fce speaking about supermarket psychology

محتوای درس

نمایش اطلاعات

7 Value for money

Speaking 1

Part 2

Talking about Photos

Why have the people chosen to shop in these different places?

1 Look at the four photographs. They show people shopping in different places.

Student A Compare photographs 1 and 2 and say why you think the people have chosen to shop in these different places.

Student B When your partner has finished, say which of these places you would prefer to shop in.

2 Now change roles. Follow the instructions above using photographs 3 and 4.

Vocabulary 1: Shopping

1 Complete each of the gaps below with a word from the box.

foodstuffs own-brand cashier value brands

trolley out-of-town receipt convenience checkout

comer range till aisles counter

Question No. / 15

I prefer a trip to a large (1) supermarket to shopping in the local(2) shop because there's so much more variety. You can choose between all the usual well-known (3) , or if you prefer, there are the store's cheaper (4) products. As well as tinned and frozen (5) food, there's a wide (6) of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and other(7) . The household goods are particularly good (8) for money, compared to other shops. Once I've walked down all the (9) , filling my (10) with enough food to last a month, I head for the cheese (11) , where I treat myself to a selection of Roquefort, feta and manchego. When I go through the(12) I try hard not to look when the amount I've spent is displayed on the (13) , and I try not to listen as the (14) reads it out. I hand over my credit card, take the (15) and hurriedly put it away in my purse, preferring not to look at it until I get home.

2 Do you plan carefully what you are going to buy? Do you ever buy things on impulse? What shops have you been in during the last fortnight? What did you buy?

Why have the people chosen to shop in these different places?

Speaking: Supermarket psychology

Supermarket chains tend to design their stores in a similar way. For example, supermarkets sell a lot of milk, so they usually put it at the back of the store, leading customers to walk past, and hopefully buy, many more products.

In which area of the supermarket would you put the following products? Why?

Products

confectionery (chocolates and sweets)

bread

alcoholic drinks

fruit and vegetables

fresh meat

Areas of the supermarket

at the back of the shop

in the middle of the shop

at the checkouts

near the entrance

near the exit

Listening 1

Part 2

Sentence completion 1.45

Right, well, the layout of most major supermarkets is roughly the same, and for more or less the same reasons. You'll notice that the entrance, for example, is usuallv situated to one side of the building: This is to ensure, of course, that shoppers walk down as many aisles as possible before they leave the store. If we had it in the middle, then they might visit only one half of the supermarket and as a result only buy half as much. The first thing you often see as you come through the entrance is the fruit and vegetable area. As well as being pleasant to the eye, this also gives customers the impression they're coming into an outdoor market. Fresh, colourful products are far more attractive than tins of convenience food so the customer is put in a good buying mood, from the start. And next to the fruit and vegetable area is the confectionery; er, crisps, chocolates, sweets and so on. Parents often come shopping with their children and we need to ensure that they are kept happy and interested so that they don't disturb mum and dad from the business of spending money. Then at the back of the supermarket in the corner, you'll probably find the fresh meat counter. This is partly to make sure that as little room as possible is taken away from the main display areas by the staff who are serving. But it's also there so as not to distract customers when we have deliveries. They really don't want to see us bringing big carcasses of meat through the store, so, er, it's brought in through the back door. And very close to the fresh meat you can expect to see the pre-packed meat. People who are put off by the sight of blood and um - dead animals - prefer to buy their meat in the form of convenience food to prevent them having to make the connection between the product and the animal. They buy a lamb chop, but they don't think of a baby lamb in the field. The freezer goods are nearby. There's a limited amount of space so the smaller suppliers often find it difficult to get room for their products. That's why you only tend to see the well-known brands here. Er, moving on to the areas at the ends of the aisles - how do we decide what to put there? Well, these are key selling sites, and sales of goods at these points can be as much as five times higher than other areas. So we generally move goods to the end-of-aisle areas when we want to sell them quickly: goods which have not been selling well, and especially those which are nearing their sell-by date. Bread, too, needs to be sold quickly, but we put the bakery section in the far corner, as far away from the entrance as possible, next to other basic foodstuffs such as milk. This is so that customers have to walk past hundreds of products to reach it. Er, it's expensive to run a bakery but it increases sales of other products. The smell, too, is an important factor as it helps to create a warm, homely atmosphere in the store.
And finally, alcoholic drinks. They're often at the far end too, very near the exit. Er, by this time the shopper is beginning to enjoy the shopping experience, so he or she will buy more alcohol if it's here than if it's by the entrance. Er, the same is true for those products we put at the checkouts; er, more sweets and chocolates, usually. The kind of things people buy on impulse as they wait to pay -er, a reward they give themselves for doing the shopping.

Question No. / 10

1 You will hear part of a radio programme in which a supermarket manager explains how supermarkets are planned. For questions 1-10 below, complete the sentences.

Customers might buy less if the supermarket entrance were located in the ( 1) of the building.

Fruit and vegetables are situated near the entrance so that customers feel they are entering (2) .

On sale next to the fruit and vegetables are products aimed at keeping (3) interested.

The (4) counter is usually to be found at the back of the store.

Pre-packed meat prevents customers relating the product to the (5) .

Usually only (6) are sold in the frozen food section.

Sales of goods at the end-of-aisle areas are often (7) greater than at other locations.

The (8) section is situated in the far corner of the supermarket.

The (9) from this section helps to provide a pleasant atmosphere.

On sale at the checkouts are products which encourage customers to buy (10) .

2 How do your ideas in the speaking task compare with those you have just heard in the listening?

Think of a supermarket you know. Is it designed in the way described in the listening?

Don't forget!

In the exam you have 45 seconds to read the Part 2 questions. Use this time to try to predict the type of information you might hear.