What does it take to start an e-commerce business?

Olia | Jun 05, 2023Jun 02, 2023

LESSON OVERVIEW

In this ESL lesson on e-commerce students get a chance to talk about starting a business and watch a video about people who did. They also discuss e-commerce and its advantages and learn some vocabulary related to the topic. 

WARM-UP & VIDEO

This ESL lesson on e-commerce starts with a warm-up in which students read some problems people face as consumers, discuss them and brainstorm some more. Then, students talk about starting a business to solve a problem and share their experiences. After the discussion, students work with vocabulary and focus on some common verbs with uncommon meanings. First, students complete the sentences with these verbs. They, they read the sentences (e.g. Being your own boss comes with a lot of headaches.) again and decide whether these are the problematic reasons for not starting a business.

This ESL lesson on e-commerce also features a video about two people who quit their jobs and started a business. Students first discuss what their reasons might have been and then watch the video and check their ideas. The video also contains a few useful phrases that students learn (e.g. stand for something, be behind someone/something, do the talking for someone, etc.). Afterwards, students also have an extensive discussion about starting a business and e-commerce. 

VOCABULARY & DISCUSSION

The second part of this ESL lesson on e-commerce contains vocabulary and more discussion. First, students look at the spidergram and elaborate on the advantages of e-commerce (e.g. convenience, growth potential, lower costs, etc.). Then students learn some information about two famous e-commerce platforms – Shopify and Amazon. They read short descriptions and guess which platforms each one is about. After that, they also learn some vocabulary related to the e-commerce business (e.g. storefront, fulfilment services, etc.) and replace the phrases in sentences. At the end of the lesson, students work in pairs and discuss starting an e-commerce business. They choose one of the provided ideas and advocate for one of the platforms they would use to start their business. 

HOMEWORK/REVISION

The ESL lesson on e-commerce includes a supplementary task to practise the vocabulary from the lesson. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet and can be printed for students or accessed in the e-lesson plan for online teaching.

WORKSHEETS

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