Commerce
What is a 'consumer'?
Someone who purchases goods and services to satisfy needs and wants
What may influence your decision when purchasing a new phone? Give 3 reasons.
- Brand
- Price
- Functions/features
- Size
What is a 'budget'?
An estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time.
- In-store browsing
- Online shopping
- Catalogues/newspapers
- Word of mouth
Name 5 payment methods
- EFTPOS
- Gift cards
- Cards (credit/debit cards)
- Crypto
- BPay
- Online transfers
- Cash
- Cheque
Why is commerce important to learn about?
- To make wise decisions about money
- To know how products are created...
etc.
How can social media influence your consumer decisions?
- Advertisements (especially targeted advertisements)
- Branding
- Influencers & sponsorships
How can budgets be useful to us? Give an example.
- Helps us keep track of our expenses
- Know how much we can spend
- Keep track of how much we can save.
E.g. just got a new job, being able to save up to buy a new phone.
Define: comparison shopping
Contacting (through the Internet or in person) a number of sellers to obtain the best deal.
What is an advantage AND disadvantage of using cash?
Advantage: easy for making smaller purchases, especially if you have change
Disadvantage: contact (COVID), receiving change, harder for expensive purchases
Define: Commerce
The buying and selling of goods and services between individuals and businesses.
Define: consumer decisions
Choices people make when buying goods and services to satisfy their needs and wants.
Define: financial decisions.
Choices people make when choosing how much of their income to save and how much to spend.
- Supply: some stores might get their items cheaper than others (e.g. at wholesale vs. retail)
- More expensive: hoping customers might be lazy and not shop around.
- Deals/sales to try to get more customers, but losing some profit
What is a disadvantage of gift cards?
- Not being able to spend the money elsewhere, limited to only one location to spend money
- Might not be able to use all of it, wasteful
- May need to 'top-up' payment (e.g. $20 card, item is $22, will need to pay $2)
What is the difference between a 'need' and a 'want'?
Give 1 example of each.
Needs: Goods essential to our survival such as food, water, clothing and shelter
Wants: Luxury or non-essential items such as holidays, designer clothes
- Location of items
- Music
- Samples
- Lighting
- Signs
- Sales/discounted items
Do we always have a choice when it comes to how much we spend/save? Why/why not?
No. - Expenses may be fixed
- Less money you have = more % you spend
- Emergencies, need to spend more
What was the most important thing you learnt about comparison shopping?
- Always shop around for the best deal
- Making sure what you want fits the price.
What is one ADVANTAGE and one DISADVANTAGE of using 'buy now, pay later' services?
Advantage: you don't need to have the money right now to buy things
Disadvantage: harder to control spending, more likely to go over budget
What is 'scarcity'? Give 1 example of a 'scarce' item.
Something that is in short supply.
E.g. PS5s when they first released, fruits/veg due to natural disasters, diamonds, etc.
Would your consumer decisions be the same as everyone else's? Why/why not? Provide an example.
No. Everyone is different.
E.g. age, preferences, gender, geographical location.
Give an example of a financial decision you would make weekly, monthly AND yearly. BONUS: one-off?
Weekly - receive pay check: how much we spend/save
Monthly - Bills: having to pay off utilities, etc.
Yearly - investments: stocks, bonds, etc.
One-off - home loans, bigger loans (e.g. for cars)
Identify the difference between wholesaler, manufacturer and retailer
How has technology impacted the way we make payments?
- Cashless, easier to Tap and Go
- More convenient, access funds ASAP