Secret Cellphone Tracking Study Raises Non-U.S. Mobile Retail Potential
Written by Evan SchumanJune 6th, 2008
A university study of cellphone users’ habits–which found that nearly half of the people tracked kept to a circle little more than six miles wide–is raising some ethical issues and might suggest a non-traditional retail testing method.
The Northeastern University study–according to this Associated Press story–could only have done its secret tracking because it was conducted outside of the United States, because such testing would likely be illegal here. Retailers looking to try out new mobile strategies might consider testing the domestic-only applications overseas.
Cards issued by European banks when used online cross border don't usually support AVS checks. So, when a European card is used with a billing address that's in the US, an ecom merchant wouldn't necessarily know that the shipping zip code doesn't match the billing code.
-Marc
