Financial Times

3. Match the numbers (1-7) with the information they represent in the article (a-g).

1. 80%. a)M&S online sales target for next year

2. ₤4.2 billion b) average annual Internet shopping growth

3. 36% c) increase in Internet shopping sales in July

4. 182% d) M&S current annual online sales

5. ₤125 million e) Dixons' increase in Internet sales

6. ₤250 million f) number of Littlewood’swebsites

7. ____ g) Internet shopping sales in July

4. Complete the sentences below with the following words.

contributed doubled encouraging items record

We have …. sales - the figures are the highest ever.

Many things …. to the success of the store.

We had a sales increase of 200%. In other words, sales …. .

We want more customers to shop online, we are …. them with special offers.

We have many …. for sale: books, DVDs, CDs, etc.

5. Answer these questions about the article in full sentences.

What caused an increase in Internet shopping?

What are retailers doing to help more people shop online?

What kind of things does M&S sell?

How does M&S encourage people to shop online?

What has Littlewoods done?

What do Littlewoods' sites include?

Discussion

How important is it that a website is easy to use?

Describe a website you like using and say why you like it.

Online advertising

Before you read

1 Answer this question.

Do you read the adverts you see online? Why (not)?

2 Match the words (i-6) with their meanings (a-f).

shift a) got smaller, went down

media b) move

alternatives c) people who say what they think will happen in the future

forecasters d) different options or choices

overtake e) television, radio, magazines, newspapers, Internet, etc

declined f) be more than

Reading

3. Read this article adapted from the Financial Times and answer the questions.

Online ads to overtake us newspapers

Online advertising will be bigger than US newspaper advertising in terms of size in three years' time. Newspaper groups say that advertising sales are down this year, in spite of a strong economy.

A study forecasts that online advertising will grow by more than 21 per cent per year to reach $62bn in three years, making it bigger than newspaper advertising, which is expected to total $60bn. All the television stations will continue to take the biggest share of advertising dollars.

The shift in advertising spending from traditional media to online and other digital media, like mobile phones, is taking place across the globe. Already, some forecasters expect spending on online advertising to overtake newspaper advertising in the UK and Sweden this year.

The survey also believes that this year, the amount of time people spend reading newspapers is, for the first time, going to be less than the time they spend online.

Last year, media usage per person per year declined 5% to 3,530 hours. The study found that while people typically watched television for at least 30 minutes per session, they usually watched short videos made by ordinary people on the Web for five to seven minutes.

Financial Times

4. Decide whether these sentences are true or false.

1. Advertising sales in newspapers are not as high as last year,

2. The USA does not have a strong economy.

3. Online advertising will probably increase over the next three years.

4. TV has the largest share of advertising.

5. At the moment, there is more online advertising than newspaper advertising in the UK.

6. The survey says that people will spend more time online than reading newspapers this year.

7. Last year, people usually watched TV for less than 30 minutes each time.

8. Many people watched video clips online for about six minutes.

Discussion

Find examples of online advertising and say why you think they are successful or not.