I. Language Practice

1. Practise the fluent reading and correct intonation:

Exö cuse me, (please). ö Pardon me. `Sorry to ... (in`trude, inter`rupt, inter`fere). `Look (ö here!) I say... (Say). `Just a ö minute! ö Hi! ö Hey! ø Yes? ø Well? `What ö is it? `What can I ö do for you? `What do you ö want? ø What? ö Sorry! `No `need to be ö sorry. `Sorry to ö trouble (`bother) you! It’s no ö trouble at ö all. Ex`cuse my ö troubling you. `No `trouble at ö `all. I `beg your ö pardon! `No `pardon ö needed! I `beg ö `yours. I `beg your `pardon for `being ö late. `Better ø late than ö `never. I must aöpologize. You ö needn’t. Why ö should you? It’s `nothing to ö speak of. It’s `unforögivable! It’s `unö`pardonable!

2. Listen to the speaker; read and memorize the following words and phrases:

1. to distribute - распределять, размещать

2. to market - продавать, сбывать

3. equipment - оборудование, оснащение

4. to shop - делать покупку в магазине

5. leisure - досуг, свободное время

6. a retailer - розничный торговец

7. overhead(s) - накладные расходы

8. a wholesaler - оптовик, оптовый торговец

9. quantity - количество

10. to bypass - обойти

11. trend - тенденция

12. to call for - предусматривать

13. preselling - реклама до поступления в продажу

14. department store - универсальный магазин

15. discount stores (houses) - магазины учененных товаров

16. chain stores [t•ein] - (амер.) сеть розничных магазинов цепного подчинения

17. ownership - владение, право собственности

18. vending machines - торговые автоматы

Text. Distributing the Product

Some products are marketed most effectively by direct sale from manufacturer to consumer. Among these are durable equipment-for example, computers, office equipment, industrial machinery and consumer specialties such as vacuum cleaners. The direct marketing of products such as cosmetics and household needs is very important.

Direct marketing by mail has been expanded to virtually all types of products and services. Working people find it easy to shop in their leisure hours by catalog because catalogs generally contain extensive product information. For retailers, the use of catalogs makes it possible to do business considerably beyond their usual trading area and with a minimum of overhead. Also important are credit cards, which have made it relatively easy to purchase by mail or telephone even such high-priced items as appliances, electronic equipment, and cameras. At least half the nation’s 50 leading corporations have mail-order divisions.

Television is a potent tool in direct marketing because it facilitates the demonstration of products in use. Also carving its own niche is telephone marketing, called telemarketing, a technique used in selling to businesses as well as to consumers. Most consumer products, however, move from the manufacturer through agents to wholesalers and then to retailers, ultimately reaching the consumer.

Wholesalers distribute goods in large quantities, usually to retailers, for resale. Some retail businesses have grown so large, however, that they have found it more profitable to bypass the wholesaler and deal directly with the manufacturers or their agents. Wholesalers first responded to this trend by adapting their operations so that they moved faster and called for a lower margin of profit.

Retailing has undergone even more change. Intensive preselling by manufacturers and the development of minimum-service operations, for example, self-service in department stores, have drastically changed the retailer’s way of doing business. Supermarkets and discount stores have become commonplace not only for groceries but for products as diversified as medicines and gardening equipment. More recently, warehouse retailing has become a major means of retailing higher-priced consumer goods such as furniture, appliances, and electronic equipment. Chain stores-groups of stores with one ownership-and cooperative groups have also proliferated. Special types of retailing, for example, vending machines and convenience stores, have also developed to fill multiple needs.

II. Exercises on the Text:

3. Give Russian equivalents to:

direct sale from manufacturer to consumer; durable equipment; consumer specialties; household needs; direct marketing by mail; usual trading area; high-priced items; mail-order divisions; also carving its own niche; for resale; to call for a lower margin of profit; to undergo even more change; self-service;have drastically changed; warehouse retailing; higher-priced consumer goods; to fill multiple needs.

4. Compose the questions, using the following words:

1. products, are, what, by direct sale, marketed?

2. it, who, easy, to shop by catalog, finds’?

3. have, what, relatively, it, easy, by mail or telephone, made, to purchase?

4. leading corporations, have, how many, mail-order-divisions?

5. television, why, is, direct marketing, a potent tool, in?

6. is, telemarketing, what?

7. grown, why, so large, some retail business, have?

8. wholesalers, how, to this trend, did, first, respond?

9. undergone, even more change, has, retailing?

10. become, more recently, has, a major means of retailing higher-priced consumer goods, what?