Online Retailers

WASHINGTON — The Senate sided with traditional retailers and financially strapped state and local governments Monday by passing a bill that would widely subject online shopping — for many a largely tax-free frontier — to state sales taxes. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 69 to 27, getting support from Republicans and Democrats alike. But opposition from some conservatives who view it as a tax increase will make it a tougher sell in the House. President Barack Obama has...

Despite the fact that retailers continue to open more stores and total net absorption of retail space continues to increase, retail leasing activity in the nation's capital remains below average. This slower pace reflects broader shifts in the way that retailers meet consumer demand, and how that translates into demand for retail space. In the Washington region, total net new demand for retail space over the past four quarters weighed in at nearly 1.1 million square feet. While a big increase from 2010, retail leasing...

The holiday shopping season was better for online retailers -- though still pretty dismal -- than it was for mall shops, and their stock prices reflected it. The 20 publicly traded Internet retailers gained 17 percent between Nov. 28 and Dec. 28, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 3 percent. The leader was Ticketmaster, up 55 percent, followed by Orbitz, up 48 percent. Liberty Entertainment, an online video and commerce firm, was up 35 percent; Netflix, up 22 percent; online jewelry retailer BIDZ.com, up 21 percent; and Amazon,...

A bill in Congress that would allow states to tax online retailers has put Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II in a potentially tough spot as he runs for Virginia governor , pitting his usual ideological allies against the future of transportation funding in the commonwealth. Cuccinelli (R) has not taken a public stance on the Marketplace Fairness Act , which passed the U.S. Senate by a wide margin on Monday but faces an uncertain path in the House. Cuccinelli's campaign declined...

With retail spending at all-time lows thanks to the current recession, stores are looking for ways to provide deals, sales and discounts for consumers. Some stores are even letting consumers haggle for prices. NetHaggler is hoping to woo both consumers and online retailers by providing a service that lets users track and negotiate prices online. Free for consumers, NetHaggler has enlisted retailers to participate in its service through affiliate marketing services, like LinkShare.

Website monitoring service InternetVista vigorously measured the uptime and response time of seven of the most popular Internet retail websites from Monday morning November 24 until midnight November 28, to see how the online outlets would cope with the Black Friday madness, traditionally one of the busiest shopping periods in the United States both on the Web as in meat space. InternetVista pinged Amazon.com , Apple.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Dell.com, Target.com, ToysRus.com and...

A bill in Congress that would allow states to tax online retailers has put Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II in a potentially tough spot as he runs for Virginia governor , pitting his usual ideological allies against the future of transportation funding in the commonwealth. Cuccinelli (R) has not taken a public stance on the Marketplace Fairness Act , which passed the U.S. Senate by a wide margin on Monday but faces an uncertain path in the House. Cuccinelli's...

Online retailers pitted against online retailers? Republicans and Democrats coming together on tax changes ? In what has become an unusual political dispute, legislation to allow state and local governments to collect sales tax on online transactions has rearranged some of the traditional battle lines in Washington. Called the Martketplace Fairness Act , the bill has found supporters and critics in both parties and split the oft-united retail community right down the middle.

WASHINGTON — Traditional retailers and cash-strapped states face a tough sell in the House as they lobby Congress to limit tax-free shopping on the Internet. The Senate voted 69 to 27 Monday to pass a bill that empowers states to collect sales taxes from Internet purchases. Under the bill, states could require out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes when they sell products over the Internet, in catalogs, and through radio and TV ads. The sales taxes would be sent to...

AN INCREASING number of states have passed laws that require customers to pay sales tax on Internet purchases. Although a 1992 Supreme Court ruling — Quill v. North Dakota — holds that companies without a "substantial nexus" (read: physical presence) in a given state don't have to pay taxes on purchases made there, that changes when corporations such as Amazon name local affiliates or set up physical distribution centers. Virginia voted this year to close the so-called " Amazon loophole ," which allows the online...

WASHINGTON — Traditional retailers and cash-strapped states face a tough sell in the House as they lobby Congress to limit tax-free shopping on the Internet. The Senate voted 69 to 27 Monday to pass a bill that empowers states to collect sales taxes from Internet purchases. Under the bill, states could require out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes when they sell products over the Internet, in catalogs, and through radio and TV ads. The sales taxes would be sent to the states...

WASHINGTON — The Senate sided with traditional retailers and financially strapped state and local governments Monday by passing a bill that would widely subject online shopping — for many a largely tax-free frontier — to state sales taxes. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 69 to 27, getting support from Republicans and Democrats alike. But opposition from some conservatives who view it as a tax increase will make it a tougher sell in the House. President...

Online retailers pitted against online retailers? Republicans and Democrats coming together on tax changes ? In what has become an unusual political dispute, legislation to allow state and local governments to collect sales tax on online transactions has rearranged some of the traditional battle lines in Washington. Called the Martketplace Fairness Act , the bill has found supporters and critics in both parties and split the oft-united retail community right down the middle.

Online sales are rising at a brisk pace, but brick-and-mortar retailers' efforts to keep even the most Web-savvy shoppers in stores is having some early success, according to a Pew Internet and American Life Project report released Thursday. The report focused on shoppers who use their cellphones in stores to check prices, look at reviews and consult others about their purchases. Retailers have been fighting to keep those consumers from browsing the aisles and then buying...

The big idea: Many online retailers view product returns as an unwieldy cost that drains margins, and several are asking customers to absorb return shipping costs. But consider the upside of free returns: enhanced customer loyalty that could spark more purchases. The scenario: U.S. firms spend billions annually in the handling, shipping, insuring and processing of returned products. Returns are particularly problematic for online retailers, in part because customers might not know what they're...

There is one thing cybercriminals can count on when seeking ways to steal your personal information when you're shopping online — that people are too trusting. As we approach Cyber Monday, the online version of Black Friday, I need you to institute a healthy dose of skepticism. Be suspicious of all e-mail you get, including those that appear to be from a person or company you know. There's a lot of money to be had on Cyber Monday. Online sales reached $1.2 billion...

Wal-Mart said Thursday that it will stop carrying Amazon Kindle products in its stores after inventory is depleted and pending orders are filled. The decision, reported earlier by Reuters, follows a similar move from retailer Target, which announced in May that it would no longer sell Kindle devices. "Recently, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. made a business decision to not carry current Amazon products beyond our purchase commitments and existing inventory," the company said in a statement to The Washington Post.

Online sales are rising at a brisk pace, but brick-and-mortar retailers' efforts to keep even the most Web-savvy shoppers in stores is having some early success, according to a Pew Internet and American Life Project report released Thursday. The report focused on shoppers who use their cellphones in stores to check prices, look at reviews and consult others about their purchases. Retailers have been fighting to keep those consumers from browsing the aisles and then buying...

Though many mega-retailers opted to kick off the holiday shopping season on Thanksgiving this year, Black Friday still drew millions of shoppers to malls and other retail outlets across the country. The impact of the earlier start time for many shoppers turned the hunt for deals into more of a marathon than a sprint. By the time Black Friday kicked off at midnight, Marge Wyman planned to already be more than four hours into a 12-hour shopping expedition. The Ellicott City resident got started at Toys R Us in Columbia on Thursday...

The entrepreneurs University of Maryland student Bryan Heffner thought he'd look cool in sunglasses with a Maryland flag printed on the frame. When he couldn't find the pair he envisioned, he painted his own, sitting on the couch watching TV in his College Park rental house. The sunglasses were an instant hit — when Heffner wore them to tailgates and football games, people kept asking where he got them. He decided to try selling the sunglasses, and he set up a Facebook page and Gmail account to take orders.