The giant is kicking David's butt

Today marks the conclusion of an insightful 10-day series on the Internet, penned by local author Uyless Black exclusively for readers of The Press. The series will become part of a book Uyless is writing, and we’ll be sure to let you know when that’s available.

In the meantime, the series left you with a lot of takeaways. One that impacts you directly is this: The downside to the upside of shopping Amazon for your retail needs.

Amazon’s story is inspiring — particularly if you’re a stock holder or employee. Not only is the Seattle-based firm the world’s largest retailer, but it’s getting even bigger because of Amazon Web Services’ cloud business. Don’t forget, either, the power of Prime. According to the Seattle Times, Amazon signed up 3 million new members to its $99 per year Prime service in the third week of December alone.

Final 2015 figures aren’t available yet, but Amazon’s revenue in 2013 was $74.45 billion and $88.99 billion in 2014. Certainly, 2015 will show similar or greater growth.

As Mr. Black’s series pointed out, however, Amazon’s huge appetite is largely being fed at bricks-and-mortar retailers’ table.

Shoppers love the convenience and almost limitless selection Amazon offers up and down the price scale. Toss in free shipping, and Amazon is a competitor you don’t want to face. But this isn’t simply a merchandising war. Our concern is the long-term effect of Amazon and lesser national online retailers on communities.

Granted, local stores need to hit home runs with customer service and competitive pricing. They have to give shoppers ample reason to buy locally. If customers can buy similar products for less money on Amazon, many will. But saving a few dollars will actually hurt them in the long term.

Local retail businesses generate taxes that Amazon does not: property and sales. Many of those dollars are funneled back into the community in a host of significant ways, including paying for our kids’ education, paving streets and hiring police and firefighters. These same local retailers support our nonprofits, sponsor youth sports and recreation teams, attend city council and school board meetings, and generally form part of the essential glue that holds our communities together.

Idahoans are supposed to pay their own sales tax by reporting their online purchases from companies like Amazon but, according to the Idaho State Tax Commission, very few do. A 12-member legislative Tax Working Group met last fall to explore streamlined online sales tax collection options, and there’s some hope their recommendations can lead to a more equitable approach this session.

However, two things need to change before competition and community can flourish. One is in federal hands. Until online retailers like Amazon are required to collect sales taxes universally and distribute that money to the appropriate states, states are going to have extremely limited ability to recoup the money.

The other thing that needs to change is your frame of mind. Surveys continue to show broad public opposition to the imposition and collection of sales taxes by companies like Amazon. Until citizens decide that Amazon is winning the retail war on an unfair playing field and depriving states and communities of vitally needed revenue in the process, no significant change can be expected. And the fall of local retail businesses, leaving ugly shells where prosperity once lived, won’t be lamented until it’s much too late.