The Evolution Of Online Shopping: 22 Ways The World Has Changed Since The Supreme Court Told Congress To Close The Online Sales Tax Loophole

In 1992, the Supreme Court said states could not require out-of-state sellers to collect sales tax (for catalogs silly…there was no such thing as Internet sales back then). The Supreme Court told Congress it was their responsibility to solve this…they still haven’t. A lot has changed in 22 years, and the catalog decision became the online sales tax loophole, which has led to an explosion of online shopping. Main Street retailers are begging Congress to solve this problem, as the world and our economy have dramatically changed over the course of these 22 years.

Like in 1992, when the first website looked like this:

Or in 1993, when someone said Amazon, and everyone still thought of:

How about in 1994 when the hosts of the Today Show asked “what is Internet anyways?”

Or in 1995 when MSN launched and looked like this:

In 1996 when logging onto the Internet looked like this:

And in 1997 when Google.com was first registered as a domain:

In 1998 when Bill Clinton was the first President to send an email:

Or in 1999 when everyone started “doing” emails:

In 2000 when Y2K made us all think the world was ending:

And in 2001 when everyone was all about downloading music from Napster:

Then in 2002 when a 12 year old was arrested for pirating music:

Then in 2003 the iTunes music store opened and everyone thought paying 99 cents was better than going to jail:

In 2004 communicating in Washington looked like this:

Now it looks like this:

And in 2005 when the first Cyber Monday was held:

Back in 2006 when the first tweet was ever sent:

And in 2007, binge watching went from this:

To this:

Or 2008 when a record 875 million people made an online purchase:

And in 2009 when Pinterest emerged on the Internet:

Back in 2010 when the iPad was released and opened the floodgates to all tablets:

And in 2011 when the first tweet by a sitting president was sent from the White House:

Or in 2012 when online holiday shopping sales hit a record $42.3 billion:

But FINALLY in 2013 the U.S. Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act and small businesses were like:

But now Congress is dragging its feet on e-fairness, and small business owners are like:

Because all they want is a free market with a level playing field.

And small business owners are calling on Congress to fix this problem.

They just want fair competition without government interference.

2014 must be the year Congress passes e-fairness, so that every Main Street front window looks like this:

To learn more, visit standwithmainstreet.com