Now, every time we open our front door we are greeted by the sight of our Internet purchase.

Such predictions are increasingly popular in Detroit, even though the percentage of Internet purchases now is very small.

But not all Internet purchases have a happy ending.

Despite the occasional high-profile breaches, though, credit cards remain a very secure way to make Internet purchases, experts say.

But at many chains, analysts say, store managers resent taking returns of Internet purchases because their sales figures will be depressed.

Travel agents now book about 80 percent of airline tickets, but increased Internet purchases are a clear threat.

For Internet purchases, a resident is charged a sales tax when the retailer has a physical presence in the state.

Maryland's sales tax includes Internet purchases and other mail items such as magazine subscriptions.

Or maybe Congress will figure out how to impose sales taxes on Internet purchases, slowing the growth of electronic retailing.

Most favor an international ban on tariffs on Internet purchases and services.