Messrs. Kingley and Robinson point out that businesses must adapt to survive. I shopped at several different sites, never once visiting a portal, and did most of my shopping at L.L. Bean. We treat our customers as opponents, anticipating their next moves and calling their bluffs, instead of concentrating on their wants and needs. Providing a more open forum and a nonjudgmental environment can go a long way in fostering customer retention and customer satisfaction. I don't know about you, but relationships mean everything to me.
Word of mouth is the most powerful force on the planet.
Sharing an experience with other community members can provide data that most data-mining applications won't unearth for a while. A couple of years ago, in a meeting discussing my sales goals for the year, my managers asked me what my values were. They were quite surprised by my reply and wondered what it had to do with business. People forget that money has been a major part of people's lives for only about 200 years, if that. Modern concepts of work, money, and success are not integrated with what humans really think about.