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Sears Chairman Argues That Amazon Should Be Taxed A Lot More

Written by Evan Schuman
February 23rd, 2010
Edward Lampert, the chairman of Sears Holding, wrote a letter to shareholders this month where he, among other things, argued that Amazon really should be paying an awful lot more taxes than it is now. If it doesn't, it will set off a chain reaction that will undermine and shut down brick-and-mortars throughout the U.S. (Pause. For you Seinfeld fans, "not that there's anything wrong with that.")

Before he offered the unsolicited advice for Amazon, Lampert penned an unusual claim: that Sears and its 20th Century catalogue business is essentially the father of E-Commerce. It's a bit of a stretch, but he makes a legitimate point.

"Sears has a long legacy in serving customers beyond physical stores. In many respects, The Sears Catalog was the 20th Century model for selling products through the mail," Lampert said, with the suggestion being that selling-through-the-mail is essentially what E-Commerce is. "To be successful, Sears had to earn the trust of its customers who purchased products sight unseen and who had to feel confident that they would receive what they purchased and, if they were not satisfied, they would be able to get their money back."

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Posted in E-Commerce, IT Strategy/Industry, Payment Systems, Premium Content, Software
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One Comment | Read Sears Chairman Argues That Amazon Should Be Taxed A Lot More

  1. Rob Martell Says:
    February 25th, 2010 at 9:25 pm

    Please, don’t get me started on sales and use taxes, or god forbid, VAT… Just don’t.

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