The social Web has brought power to the people (consumers). Customers are not just voting with their wallets — they are raising their voices and millions are listening. Retailers had better listen, adjust, repeat, or face extinction.

“Yonkers, NY—Consumers Union (CU), the highly trusted, independent publisher of Consumer Reports magazine and ConsumerReports.org, has purchased Consumerist.com from Gawker Media. The popular consumer watchdog blog will operate independently of Consumer Reports publications and be the first property housed under a new non-profit entity called Consumer Media LLC. The change in ownership will be in effect as of January 1, 2009.” [Full Article/Release]

If you’ve been living  under a rock and never heard of Consumerist.com the site is a social media site of sorts, in that, users submit retail horror stories to the editors in the hopes that their story gets added to the heavily (HEAVILY) trafficked site. The net of a story appearing is usually customer satisfaction in the form of a company being called out and deluged with e-mails and calls by users of the site and/or a company representative proactively resolving the situation once the story hits the front page. In the early days of Consumerist.com, it was mostly the former. Smart companies are realizing the power of the site and jumping on the latter.

So, a Web site where people whine about being treated poorly in the hopes of getting a favorable outcome — what’s the big deal? It’s power to the people to affect change…to demand satisfaction for all to see and not settle for poor customer service — AND — it’s now validated by the largest independent consumer-focused organization in the U.S.

I’ve said it before and will write about it again; one initial promise of the Web was to empower consumers. The Web promised us an at-a-glance/immediate way to comparison shop. We were told we could find the best deal and get it with the click of a mouse. This was to be a revolution for consumers! Power to the people! Well, the Web delivered on its promise. Retailers, however, have just ridden the wave and that wave is breaking. The social evolution of the Web is here and retailers that don’t get it (see Circuit City Deathwatch), will not live to see another day.

The social Web needed time to evolve. After all, it had some things to figure out and everyday folks needed time to make sense of the digital landscape and their place in it. Now that we’ve reached a decent jumping off point, the social Web is really just that; social. It’s the ultimate word-of-mouth and it is in real time.

We now, on the Web, see all of those things that make advertisers tick and retailers plan accordingly in “normal” society; identifiable and measurable spheres of influence, Social Proof, and the like. On the advertising side, we can readily identify the who’s and where they spend their time. We know their spending habits, their detailed demographic information, and can track them as they hop around and make purchases. Now, we can go a step further; we can listen to what exactly they are saying about a brand, a retail experience, a service, etc. Not only are consumers sharing their experiences and opinions anywhere and everywhere they are given the option to, they are doing so freely. Is your brand getting trashed online? Right or wrong, it’s out there for all to see.

Consumerist.com is one example of the power of the social Web in the hands of consumers. It’s not a small example, mind you — Consumerist.com has more readers than most daily newspapers. Speaking of newspapers, if I could tangent for a moment: Consumerist.com started as a content-driven Web site to garner advertising revenue, such as newspapers (and many content-driven sites are) are structured (arguably…at least, that is the business model). With this new change in ownership, there will be no more ads on the site AT ALL. Surely Consumers Union is going to use Consumerist.com to help bolster its online presence and drive more subscriptions to its other properties as it moves to a completely online strategy, but, I can’t help but wonder if their strategy is chicken and egg-like. Are they building their online portfolio to build their brand to drive Web subscriptions to the flagship Consumer Reports Web site and, eventually, killing off the print aspect? It seems to be foing that way and would be brilliant on their part, but, that is a different discussion.

No matter what the motivation is for the change in ownership of Consumerist.com, the social Web has given consumers a new and powerful voice in the how’s and why’s of the retail experience. Put your ear to the ground and listen to what your customers are saying or they will go elsewhere- and tell all of their online friends just why they are doing so.