CUE CARD – Describe a problem you had while shopping online or in a store.

March 27, 2023 IELTS Research

Speaking -Part 2 (Cue Card)

Describe a problem you had while shopping online or in a store.

You should say:

When did it happen?

What did you buy?

What problem did you have?

And explain how you felt about the experience?

Sample Answer

With the advent of advanced technology, online shopping is something which is a trend these days and probably a forever one. But everything has its pros and cons, just like the two faces of coin. Today, I would like to throw some light on an incident which happened while shopping on an online platform.

So, this incident happened last month when I was randomly scrolling through some outfits when I came across a beautiful Indo western dress and without doubting it for a second, I quickly made the payment and was excited. But the delivery date at which the product was previously supposed to arrive was delayed by five days, which made me sad. Still, I did not lose my calm and waited for it until the product was delivered to my doorstep. To my astonishment, when I unpacked it, I was really annoyed as the product was not the same as it was shown online. The color was different, and the quality was even worse.

Disappointed with the product, I decided to get my refund but there was not any response. After consistent calling, they finally understood and assured me of the full refund. But I had to wait for days before I finally got my money back in my bank account.

Thus, this was a time when I was in dilemma while shopping online.

STRONG WORDS

Word	Meaning	Sentence
Dilemma	quandary	I was in a financial dilemma last year.
Advent	arrival	The advent of digitalization is a bane on the older generation.

Speaking -Part 3 (Follow up questions)
Here are some examples of follow up questions that examiner may ask during your speaking (part 3) related to cue card ‘Describe a problem you had while shopping online or in a store.’

Q1. What is the difference between shopping online or in store?
There is a huge difference. First and foremost, e- shopping is quite convenient as we do it from the comfort of our home while offline shopping is really time consuming. Secondly, sometimes the products that we purchase in a store are too costly whereas in digital shopping, the price of the products is quite affordable.

Q2. What problems do customers often face while shopping?
There are innumerable problems that one may face while shopping like, hefty traffic on the way to the market followed by unfavorable weather conditions. On the contrary, issues like poor internet connection, bad refund policies on defected items or delayed commodities are faced while online shopping.