The Web's greatest drawback is the fact that online shoppers have no interaction with a human salesperson, which means that many prospects are going to gather information without purchasing. This is fine if they end up buying through one of your other channels. The need for instant gratification also plays into this. However, it may be more attractive to go to a local store, look at the different models and features, and then walk out with an activated phone in hand. Another reason online window shoppers don't actually purchase online involves the fear of fraud.
Consumers are still wary of providing credit card information.
Yet telecom carriers assume a greater risk. After all, it's easy for someone to apply for service and run up a huge long distance or wireless bill without even as the fear of being recognized. One of the best ways to keep online fraud from sapping carrier revenue is to carefully screen potential customers. Such solutions can also help carriers recover revenue lost through deadbeat customers. If it identifies a potential subscriber who has been written off in the past and then applies for service with a new carrier, the database operator notifies the previous carrier and provides the applicant's current address, as well as other tracking information.