“My prediction is that some of these traditional retailers are going to get a chance at a “second life” when online sales are subject to taxation.”
Bingo. There are some things online shopping just cannot do either. Used bookstores, for example. Yes, of course you can get used books, but you cannot wander into some dark, odd shop with leaning towers of fusty books and a cat sleeping in the window, while you search for some serendipitous prize.
online taxation will only affect those sites in the usa.
it will just push online sales OUTSIDE the usa.