Online sales boom poses challenges for Colorado tax forecasting — and for brick-and-mortar retailers – By Jason Blevins (Colorado Sun) / Mar 8 2021
A 91% annual increase in e-commerce in Colorado last year is promising big changes to the state’s retail landscape. “We are seeing trends that are not just going to be unique to the pandemic era,” says a finance professor.
For the past several years, business at Oveja Negra in Salida has grown a healthy 15-20% a year. In 2020, Lane and Monty Willson said sales of their custom-designed bike bags tripled. And all those orders from bikepackers were made online.
“We are so, so lucky to be in this position, but there are major challenges that could take us down in the coming years and yeah, that still keeps me up at night,” said Lane Willson.
She lost veteran workers and hired a new team. But then pandemic stresses led seven new-hires to leave — after the Willsons spent tens of thousands of dollars training them. New buyers flocking to bikepacking are ready to spend big at Oveja Negra, but they want a level of customer service that has pushed Willson to quadruple her on-the-phone sales workforce.
“We love helping people. We just don’t have enough manpower to make bags and help everybody,” Willson said. “Is that type of buying going to change? Is this online trend going to stay? It’s unsettling to be hiring and making decisions in this shifting environment.”
Online shopping exploded in the last year as home-bound shoppers nested during the pandemic, spending stimulus money to improve life at home and on toys for outdoor play. The boom has business owners like Willson and lawmakers wondering if the e-commerce shift is permanent and, if so, what does that mean for the future of retail in Colorado?
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