Reuters reports that best Buy is saying that in certain markets it is seeing an increase in online purchases when Amazon has begun collecting sales taxes on purchases made from its site.

"In California, Texas and Pennsylvania where Amazon.com recently started collecting tax, it is very early, but Best Buy has seen a 4 to 6 percent increase in online sales observed in aggregate versus the rest of the chain," says Best Buy spokeswoman Amy von Walter. "While some people may still prefer to shop online, the sales tax parity has shown that people will shift their buying habits."

According to the story, "Critics of Amazon have argued it had an unfair advantage because big retailers, including Best Buy, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Target Corp, have had to collect state sales tax on online sales for years because they have stores and other physical operations in these locations ... Big retailers hope the requirement to collect sales tax will reduce Amazon's price advantage and help them recoup some sales that lost to the Internet retailer."

Amazon did not respond to requests from Reuters for a comment.

KC's View: I'm a little surprised by this, and I'm not sure whether this reflects reality or wishful thinking.

But, it certainly could be that in markets where its prices seem more in line and there is more than an in-name-only relationship between its online and bricks-and-mortar stores, Best Buy is able to gain back some lost ground.There's no question that retailers with a smart, relevant and sophisticated multi-channel presence should be able to turn it into an advantage against a pure-play retailer. Not a lot do, but it certainly is theoretically possible. I haven't gotten the sense that Best Buy is doing that in any sort of broad way, but I'm open to the possibility ... and I think that in the long run, it would be good for business and good for consumers.