CEO’s Corner: Overstock.com’s Patrick Byrne on Expansion, Sales Tax, More
MERCEDES CARDONA, 24 March 2011
Online retailer Overstock.com (OSTK) has been on a tear lately. Even after increasing its spending on marketing and technology, the company boosted its earnings 79% and its revenue 24% in fiscal 2010. It’s now gearing up for international expansion, recently introducing the domain name O.co as an overseas-friendly shortcut and signing a deal with DHL to reduce its international shipping costs.
Meanwhile, Chairman-CEO Patrick Byrne has remained outspoken on a number of topics, including stock manipulation and attempts to force online retailers to collect state sales taxes. He recently spoke with DailyFinance about those topics and more:
DailyFinance: Have you noticed changes in consumer behavior as we emerge from recession?
Byrne: I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I don’t believe we’re emerging from the recession. The government is just propping up the economy and kicking the can down the road, instead of doing the structural readjustments that we should be doing as a country. What we’re seeing in consumer behavior is that the most affluent 20% are back shopping like it was 2007. It’s the whole other 80% who are still getting squeezed.
