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The M-Commerce Paradox: If You Succeed, You’ll Fail
June 10th, 2010
After we ran a story in the last issue about some Mobile-Commerce experiments at Macy's and Best Buy, one retail exec at a very large chain who has worked extensively with mobile expressed skepticism that some of these projects would ever work at full scale.
"I wonder when people will realize that mobile devices communicate via, ummm, radio?" asked the IT exec. "And that microwave radio signals (which GPS, mobile phones and microwave ovens all use) don‘t transit solid surfaces, especially conductive ones like metal mall roofs, all that well? And that carriers make no promises relative to in-building coverage (and virtually no promises relative to out-of-building coverage)? And the U.S. government makes no promises at all relative to GPS signal penetration or even availability?"
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2 Comments | Read The M-Commerce Paradox: If You Succeed, You’ll Fail
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-Christine
June 10th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Very good discussion relating to RF penetration issues inside big box retailers and malls.
One option that seems interesting is to use ‘geofencing’ capabilities of GPS. This would allow downloading of M-Commerce e-coupons when people who have “opted in” are within a certain distance (like half a mile) of the store while still outside of the building.
June 10th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Where does bluetooth fall in with this? Is that a viable option?