ESL Podcast 832 - Creating an Online Store

well on (one's) way - making good progress toward something

Igor is getting really good grades and is well on his way to becoming the top student.

online store - a website where people can buy products

Do you prefer to buy books from online stores, or physical bookstores?

to get off the ground - to launch; to begin something; for something to start for the first time

We hope to get this project off the ground by the end of the summer.

to pour in - to receive a lot of something, especially money

The director was very pleased when the critics' praise started pouring in.

to make money hand over fist - to make a lot of money; for something to be very profitable

If only we had invested in technology companies 20 years ago, we'd be making money hand over fist!

to get ahead of (oneself) - to get too excited about something so that one begins thinking about what will happen in the future before one has finished all the preparations

Wendy got ahead of herself, buying paint and curtains before she had even bought the house.

marketing plan - a plan for how one will find buyers and interest them in buying one's products and services

Our marketing plan calls for a mix of newspaper ads, email campaigns, and radio announcements.

to drive traffic - to encourage and direct many people to go to a particular website or store

Many companies are using social media sites to drive traffic to their online stores.

to install - to connect and configure a piece of hardware or software so that it works with one's computer system

How long did it take you to install the new scanner?

shopping cart - the part of a website where individuals can see a list of the products they have decided to buy and then "check out" (pay for the products)

Once you have everything in your shopping cart, click "Check Out" and then enter your credit card information.

secure - safe; without risk of one's personal or financial information being stolen

Li keeps his online accounts secure by using a different password for each one.

to process orders - to receive, fulfill, and ship products that have been ordered and paid for by people

It usually takes us just 2-3 days to process orders after we receive the payment.

to track orders - to observe and monitor the status of orders, including when orders were placed, when they were paid for, and when products were sent and received

This computer program makes it easy to track orders. Just click here to see the most recent status.

to capture - to observe and record; to save data

This website captures each visitor's email address and country or origin.

database - a computer program that saves and organizes a large amount of information

The university has a database that records personal and academic information for each student.

to mine - to analyze a large amount of data to find interesting or useful patterns or rules

Grocery stores mine information about shoppers' buying history to plan their future promotions.

to house - to store; to keep something until it is needed

Where are you going to house all that camping gear during the winter months?

inventory - stock; all the products that are being stored until they are purchased and sent to the buyer

Businesses try to minimize their inventory to save money, but if inventory is too low, they don't have enough products to mail to customers.

the next big thing - the most recent thing to become very popular very quickly among many people; the latest fad or trend

Do you remember when roller skating was the next big thing?

ecommerce - the practice of selling things on a website, not in a physical store

Ecommerce makes it easier for customers to find the lowest price for the things they want to buy.