Important and daily used English vocabulary words for purchases and sales
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Vocabulary |
Explanation |
Example |
A (sales) pitch |
The arguments for the product to be highlighted and bought. |
When you have a new product, first work on its pitch before anything else. |
A bid |
Refers to a specific offer or amount of money for something that is on sale. |
I made a bid of $150 for the painting. |
A brand new design |
A totally new concept or styling. |
To attract new customers, they will have a brand new design soon. |
A charter plane |
Refers to a plane which is hired for use by a particular person or group and which is not part of a regular service. |
The company decided to arrange for a charter plane to transfer its employees from one place to another for all official purposes. |
A consignment |
Refers to an amount of goods that is sent somewhere. |
The most recent consignment of cloth was faulty. |
A consumer |
A person who consumes. |
What kind of customers would you like to target? |
A coupon |
A voucher with a discount on it. |
Jennifer hates queuing behind someone who has coupons to give to the cashier. |
A dealer |
A person who trades in something. |
Belinda has always been interested in antiques therefore she became a dealer five years ago. |
A discount |
Refers to a reduction on the original price. |
They usually give you a discount if you buy multiple copies. |
A discount |
A reduction. |
Thanks to these leaflets, you’ll get a 30% discount on the company’s product. |
A display |
To put something or a collection of things in a prominent place so that it can be seen by the public. |
The company had a good display of its items on sale. |
A draft |
Refers to prepare a preliminary version of a document. |
This is only a rough draft of the items the company plans to introduce next month. |
A lorry |
Refers to a large truck. |
Ken got a job driving lorries across the country. |
A malfunction |
When a product doesn’t work properly or even not at all. |
The product I bought malfunctions. |
A marketing vehicle |
An agent/medium to advertise or promote a service/product. |
The director chose a different marketing vehicle to have a higher impact. |
A package |
An item or set of items packed in a box, usually for orders to be shipped. |
The courier facility has just delivered a package for you. |
A parcel |
An item or collection of items wrapped in paper to be carried or sent by post. |
I had to sign for the parcel when I collected it from the post office. |
A point of purchase |
A place where you can buy. |
All the points of purchase of the brand will be evaluated. |
A preview |
An advance showing before the official one. |
Shane loves this movie so much that he went to the preview. |
A promotional code |
A code thanks to which you can benefit from a special offer. |
Thanks to the promotional code, she paid 20% less than the original price. |
A purchasing state of mind |
The mentality to buy. |
The environment and music can put clients into a purchasing state of mind. |
A quotation / an estimate |
Refers to a formal statement setting out the estimated or approximate cost for a particular job or service. |
The company made a quotation worth 1 million for the new services to be offered. |
A rebate |
Refers to the discount or reduction offered during a purchase. |
The salesman offered Karen a rebate on her new car. |
A receipt |
Refers to a small piece of paper that shows that payment has been made for the goods and services bought. |
Make sure you are given a receipt for everything you buy. |
A registered mail / certified letter |
Postal service in which a receipt is issued to the sender of a mail and the mail’s destination address is recorded in a register. |
We recommend that valuable items be sent by registered mail. |
A retailer |
Refers to a person, shop, or a business that sells goods to the public. |
Retailers have reported that consumer spending fell over the last 12 months. |
A sales policy |
Refers to a set of ideas or a plan of what to do in particular situations of sales that has been agreed to officially, by a group of people, a business organization, a government, or a political party. |
The sales policy demanded brands to pay a certain percentage of profits to the government. |
A shipment |
Goods sent in large amount or in bulk from one place to another. |
A shipment of urgent medical supplies is expected to arrive very soon. |
A shopping mall / shopping center |
A group of stores with a common area for parking. |
There’s a little shopping center next door with a bank and a dry-cleaning place. |
A showcase |
A window to display samples or attractive merchandise. |
The showcase seduced many clients. |
A subscription |
A registration, when someone gets a legal opening of a service for a dedicated time. |
I took a monthly subscription to find out after a month if I wanted to renew it. |
A takeover bid |
An offer or attempt to take control of a company by buying enough of its shares, or the maximum amount of money quoted to buy an item on sale. |
The company said it would consider a takeover bid. |
A valued customer |
A valuable client. |
Valued customers are cherished by the sales department. |
A wholesaler |
Someone who buys and sells goods in large amounts to shops and businesses. |
The store manager called the wholesaler to complain about the damaged goods that had been delivered. |
A fleet of vehicles |
A group of motor vehicles owned or leased by a business. |
Ex: car rental companies, taxi cab companies etc. |
Added value |
Additional worth. |
A new product’s added value is important in order to survive on the market. |
An ad campaign |
A promotion with commercials. |
What do you think of the new ad campaign? |
An auction |
A sale with bids. |
There are many good deals at auctions. |
An input |
Datum, power to a machine, contribution. |
The electrical input is too low for our consumption. |
An intake |
Quantity taken in. |
Calcim intakes are important for children and older people. |
An invoice |
Refers to a detailed statement of charges on items bought or sold. |
The invoice covered all sales during the month of November. |
An item |
Refers to one unit / one piece. |
He intended to do a lot of shopping but eventually ended up buying just one item. |
An order |
Request to buy something. |
I am still waiting for an order that I made last week with Amazon. |
An order form |
Refers to a printed form on which a customer writes the details of a product or service he wishes to order. |
If you want to buy the car, you would have to quickly fill the order form online. |
Billing |
The process of sending people bills demanding them to pay the money owed. |
The responsibilities for this job include communication with clients, billing, and filing documents. |
Charges |
The amount of money that you have to pay for something, especially for an activity or service. |
The rent was inclusive of all charges. |
Commodity |
A substance or product that can be traded, bought, or sold. |
The country’s most valuable commodities include diamonds. |
Delivery |
The act of taking goods, letters, parcels, etc. to people’s houses or places of work. |
We get two deliveries of mail a day. |
For sale |
Means available for purchase. |
I refurbished my entire apartment, so it will be ready for sale in the month of March. |
Free shipping |
Delivery with no charge. |
Many online companies advertise on their free shipping feature. |
Handling |
The way that someone deals with a situation or person. |
Handling of customers in a right away is also a tricky strategy that companies need to develop in order to rise. |
In bulk |
Something in large quantity. |
The brand decided to sell the items in bulk and finish the old stock. |
Mail order (sale) |
The sale and ordering of goods by post, generally involving selection from a catalogue. |
I often buy clothes by mail order. |
On sale |
Refers to available for purchase. “On sale” means that items for sale are being sold at a price lower than normal. |
This weekend, all laptops are on sale at 20% off. |
Out of stock |
Products that are out of stock are not available to buy in a store because they have all been already sold. |
You will be notified by email if any part of your order is out of stock. |
Packaging |
The business or process of packing goods. |
Packaging is one of the key step during the process of order processing. |
Purchases |
Refer to the number of items bought. |
There were 100 purchases made today of the new product launched on the market. |
Sales /sellings |
Refer to the number of items sold. |
US car sales got off to a hot start in January. |
Sales representative (sales rep) |
Person in charge of selling a product or service. |
The sales representatives have to improve their sales every month. |
Selling price |
The price at which an item is sold. |
The government tends to charge a percentage of the selling price. |
Spending power / purchasing power |
Refers to the degree to which people can afford to spend money to buy products and services. |
The wage increment scheme gave employees an added spending power that hereby, increased sales of various brands. |
The amount |
Refers to a particular figure or sum of money. |
The amount due that they had to pay was huge. |
The mailman (US) / postman (GB) |
A man whose job is to deliver and collect letters, etc. that are sent by post. |
Leave a note for the mailman that we’ll be away next week. |
The retail sales |
Refers to the sales of goods to the public rather than to businesses, stores, etc., often considered in relation to the economic activity as a whole. |
Retail sales fell 0.3% in January. |
The storage room |
Refers to a place to put something. |
The company keeps all of its excess and unsold stock in the storage room of the delivery center. |
To buy / to purchase |
To acquire the possession of, or the right to something, by paying or promising to pay an equivalent, especially in money. |
I want to buy this shirt but its too small for me. |
To buy in bulk |
To purchase or give money for something in large quantities. |
During the sale, he decided to buy the t-shirts in bulk. |
To catch the customer’s attention |
To grasp the client’s mental focus. |
Marketing analyzes and improves the way to catch the customers’ attention. |
To charge |
To ask an amount of money for something, especially a service or activity. |
The bank charged commission to change my traveller’s cheques. |
To charge for |
To ask an amount of money for something, especially a service or activity. |
The bank charged commission to change my traveller’s cheques. |
To charter |
Refers to hire or to rent a vehicle such as an aircraft, ship or a motor cycle. |
They decided to charter an aircraft to carry the foreign delegates from one city to another. |
To convert into purchasing |
To transform into a buying act. |
A good sales representative manages to convert the client’s visit into purchasing. |
To deliver |
To take goods, letters, parcels, etc. to people’s houses or places of work. |
Mails are delivered to our office twice a day. |
To dispatch (a parcel / an order) |
to send something, especially goods or a message, somewhere for a particular purpose. |
Two loads of cloth were dispatched to the factory on 12 December. |
To get / receive (a letter, parcel) |
To obtain, buy, or earn something. |
He went to the shop to get some milk. |