GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH FOR ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

END TERM TEST

Career plan

Ideas you have for future career

Career opportunities

Chances to start/improve your career

Career move

Something you do in order to progress in your job

Career break

Period of time away from your job to, for example, look after your children

Career ladder

A series of levels or steps in your working life

A bargain

Something you buy cheaply or for less than the usual price

Cooling-off period

The time when you can change your mind and cancel and order

Credit card details

The name, number and expiry date on your credit card

Method of payment

The way you choose to buy the goods you want

After-sales service

The help you get from a company when you start to use their product

The high street

The street in a town when you can find most shops and banks

Discount

A price reduction often expressed as a percentage of the original price

Nine-to-five job

A job with standard working hours from 9 AM to 5 PM (or close to that range), Monday to Friday

Anti-social hours

Unusual working hours (E.g. night shift)

Commission

A fee or percentage allowed to a sales representative or an agent for services rendered.

Pension

A sum of money paid regularly as a retirement benefit or by way of patronage.

Manufacturer

Another name for a 'producer'

A warehouse

A large building for storing goods

To dispatch/ despatch

To send goods to a place

To purchase

A formal word meaning to buy

To refund

To give someone their money back (e.g. because they are not satisfied with what they have bought)

An order

A request by a customer for goods or services

An invoice

A document sent by a seller to a customer that lists the goods sold and says how much they cost

Supplier

A person or company that supplies a particular type of product to a customer

Turnover

The amount of money a company receives from sales in a particular period

Wholesaler

A person or company that sells goods in large quantities to businesses

Retailer

A company or a person that sells goods to members of the public in small quantities

Out of stock

when the goods you require are not available

Money-back guarantee

A promise to give your money back if you are not happy

Interest-free credit

When you can pay some time after you buy, but at no extra cost

Loyalty card scheme

Method for customers to obtain a discount on future purchases from the same organisation

Savings

Money that you keep in a bank to use later

Subsidiary

A company which is more than 50% owned by a parent company

Share price

The cost of a company’s share

Head office/ Headquarter

The main building or location of a large organization

Lifestyle

The way people choose to organize their lives

Flexitime

A system where employees choose the time they start and finish work each day

Deadline

A time or date by which you have to do something

Workaholic

Someone who cannot stop working and has no time for anything else

Price

The cost to the buyer of goods or service

Working environment

the people, things and atmosphere around you at work

Work-life balance

The ability to give a good amount of time to your work and to outside interests, e.g. family

Quality of life

how personally satisfied you are with the way you

live and work

To take advantage of an opportunity

To do something when you get the chance to do it

To raise somebody's status

To make somebody look or feel more important

To enter a market

To start selling goods or services in a new area

To extend a product range

To offer a larger variety of goods

To meet a need

To do or provide something that is necessary

To make a breakthrough

To make an important discovery or change

Market segment

A group of customers of similar age, income level and social group

Market share

The percentage of sales a company has in a particular market

Market research

Information about what customers want and need

Consumer profile

Description of a typical customer

Consumer behavior

Where and how people buy things

Consumer goods

Things people buy for their own use

Product lifecycle

The length of time people continue to buy a product

Product launch

Introduction of a product to the market

Product range

Set of products make by a company

Sales forecast

How much a company thinks it will sell in a period

Sales target

How much a company wants to sell in a period

Sales figures

Numbers showing how much a company has sold in a period

Advertising agency

A business which advises companies on advertising and makes ads

Advertising budget

An amount of money available for advertising during a particular period

Advertising campaign

A programme of advertising activities over a period, with particular aims

GDP (gross domestic product)

Total value of goods and services produced in a country

Interest rate

cost of borrowing money

Inflation rate

Percentage increase in prices

Exchange rate

Price at which one currency can buy another

Unemployment rate

Percentage of people without jobs

Labour force

Working people in a country or in a sector

Tax incentives

Low taxes to encourage business activities

Foreign investment

Money from overseas to invest in the domestic industries

Government bureaucracy

Official rules/regulations/paperwork relating to the government or the state

Balance of trade

Difference in value between a country’s imports and exports

Marketing mix

A concept including 4Ps (product, price, promotion, place)

Consumer prices

The price of things in the shops

Public spending

The money the government spends

Consumer spending

The money people spend on goods or services

Bank loan

A sum of money that you borrow from the bank