Talking point: The changing consumer

In addition to the changing economy, another trend likely to work its way onto the National Hardware Show exhibition floor is the changing consumer. And increasingly, the Internet is directing the change.

For instance, the idea of taking advice on a home improvement purchase from a complete stranger probably seems like a bad idea to most people. Unless, of course, that stranger is someone you met through the Internet.

The popularity of consumer rating sites like Yelp.com and Epinions.com have led to a proliferation of online forums that discuss everything from which brand of refrigerator has the best (and worst) repair record to whether cordless string trimmers are worth the extra money. Retailers can come under fire for refusing to accept a return, and the slight picks up steam as it travels across the Internet. Companies may not even be aware of negative reviews or, for that matter, positive recommendations trailing behind their brand in cyberspace.

“We live in a very flat world now,” said Lauren Vargas, community manager for Radian6, a social-media monitoring company. Radian6 combs through Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, the blogosphere, chat boards and other social exchanges and informs its clients anytime they’re mentioned. (The company can also track competitors.) The clients can then use that information as marketing data, sales leads or an opportunity to “make whole” an unhappy customer.

Vargas noted that more and more companies are providing customers with a place to review products on their Web sites. “People are clamoring for it,” she said. “It makes a Web site more interactive. If you don’t have a site for reviews, you’re really missing an opportunity to connect with your customers.”

Do it Best Corp. recently entered into a partnership with RatePoint, the Needham, Mass., provider of online customer feedback services. The RatePoint product reviews, where customers rate products with one to five stars along with detailed commentary, was launched in March on Doitbest.com, the co-op’s e-commerce site.

Layla Palmer, a blogger who writes “The Lettered Cottage” on Houseblogs. net, said she gets hundreds of e-mails asking for advice each week. A member of True Value’s “blog squad,” Palmer said her readers will often start dialogues with each other in the “comments” section of her home page. “If I don’t get to the question soon enough, someone else will answer it,” she said.