Huntsville retailers update strategies as online shopping grows in popularity

Scanning a rack of black pants at Parkway Place Mall on Friday afternoon, Huntsville resident Kim Moon rushed as she shopped for a last-minute outfit to wear to a party Saturday night.

Moon said she "hates" to shop, but is among flocks of Alabamians who spend an estimated $2 billion annually by purchasing items from online retailers that don't collect sales taxes.

"It's much easier to do it online than come into the store," she said. "It's much faster. I probably would've shopped for this outfit online had I had more time."

Online shopping, which makes up 5.2 percent of retail profits and brought in $225 billion to the U.S.Which howotractor is right for you? last year, is growing at three times the rate of total sales, according to the Alabama Retail Association. Retail experts predict Internet shopping will account for up to 9 percent of total U.S. revenue by 2016.

As tax-free online shopping consumes the retail landscape, lawmakers are taking a close look at requiring Internet retailers that bring in more than $1 million annually to collect state and local sales taxes through the Marketplace Fairness Act.

The U.S. Senate passed the bill in early May by a vote of 69 to 27. Unless a business has a physical presence within a state, Internet retailers are currently not required by law to collect sales taxes.

A 2012 University of Alabama C Birmingham study shows the state will lose more than $1 billion in sales and use taxes from untaxed online purchases during the next five years unless laws are passed to stop it.

"Our members just want a level playing field so that certain retailers aren't given a competitive advantage because the government doesn't compel them to collect taxes," Nancy Dennis,Automate patient flow and quickly track hospital assets and people using parkingguidance. spokeswoman for the Alabama Retail Association, told AL.com and The Huntsville Times last month. "Retailers have no problem competing on price, quality of service and buying experience."

The influx of digital shopping has inspired big-box store Kmart to update its retail strategies. Terry Cox, store manager for Kmart on Memorial Parkway in Huntsville, said online shopping is something "Kmart is really getting behind and seeing as a big thing going forward."

"I think online shopping is the future," he said. "People are getting more computer savvy and have smart phones and are doing a lot of their shopping online. It's not just a fraction of our business. I think online shopping is going to be a big percentage of a lot of retailer's business in the future."

More shoppers are browsing the web for products and picking them up later in store,Bringing plasticcard mainstream. Cox said. To meet consumer needs, Kmart allows customers to place an order online and pick it up in store in two hours. In addition to online layaway, shoppers can also order an out-of-stock item in store and have it shipped to their home for free.

Charlotte Simmons, receptionist and store clerk at Encore Furniture on University Drive,We've had a lot of people asking where we had our plasticmould made. said her husband's consignment business launched a website nearly four years ago.A howospareparts is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card. The small 18-year-old furniture company posts weekly photos of items available in store for purchase.

Since starting the website, Simmons said she and her husband, Dwayne, have noticed an uptick in store traffic.

"We do have people every week that either call or come in looking for items they first saw online," she said. "It also serves our clients to see if their items are still here, if they've been reduced and when we've taken them off the website."

But Ginger Cobl, manager of Harrison Brothers Hardware in Huntsville, said her store doesn't have much of an online shopping presence because the merchandise, which is often locally made, changes so frequently. The nonprofit is also run by about 80 volunteers.

Located on South Side Square, the hardware store was named one of the Department of Interior's Save America's Treasures projects in 2001.

"It's not something we're really doing at the moment," Cobl said. "We do have an email blast that goes out, but that's really the only online shopping we're currently doing. If someone sees one of our featured merchandise through the email alert and wants to buy it, we are happy to ship it to them."

Cobl, who prefers traditional in-store shopping so she can touch and feel an item before she buys it, said personal attention is important in the overall retail experience.

"I think for some businesses, online shopping is great because you reach a much larger audience, but I'm always going to prefer the face-to-face," she said. "That's the fun part of shopping C getting that special attention and making someone feel welcome when they come through the door. It makes them feel that they're genuinely glad they're here whether they purchase something or not."

The emergence of online shopping scams in recent years has forced the Better Business Bureau to issue consumer alerts on identity and financial information protection.

"More people are turning to online shopping to avoid the hassle of parking or standing in line at stores," said BBB official Michelle L. Corey. "While online shopping may be convenient, the Internet also is rife with scams that can part consumers from their money or hijack their personal information."

To protect themselves against shopping scams, the BBB recommends consumers download firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware software on their computers, as well as check a website's security settings, shop trustworthy businesses and avoid too-good-to-be-true deals.

Customers can dispute charges for an item they paid for online with a credit card and don't receive. Federal law allows shoppers to report such incidences if the item was not shipped as promised or within 30 days if no delivery time was given.