Oct. 25--When she's shopping for a toy or gift, Crystal Potter of Cedar Rapids checks online buyers' reviews before buying it locally. Potter represents a fast-growing segment of the buying public who uses the Internet to check quality, price and local availability.

Recent survey data by PriceGrabber.com shows 70 percent of consumers are doing more research and comparison-shopping online, compared with 38 percent last year.

"If a toy has not been reviewed by someone who has purchased and used it, I will hold off buying it," Potter said. "If I see several bad reviews, I don't waste my time looking at it in a store." Potter recalled looking for a toaster that had a 5star consumer rating.

"I initially found it at Target for $79.95," she said. "I waited awhile and was able to buy it at Younkers for less than $60. My 20 percent discount made it cost even less when I picked it up at the store." Potter began online comparison shopping about three years ago.

Even so, she prefers to buy locally, where she can use cash, rather than a credit card, to make her purchase.

National retailers, such as Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears, Target and Toys R Us, offer consumer ratings. Most use a star-rating system and are not hesitant to

publish negative reviews.

Wayne, N.J.-based Toys R Us also offers "pros, cons and best uses." Price and local store availability also figure into many purchases.

Best Buy, Lowe's, Office Depot, Sears and Staples ask shoppers for ZIP codes to provide the price they can expect to pay locally. The ZIP code also enables the Web site to list local stores where the product is available.

"I like to physically look at a toy and make sure it's age appropriate," Potter said. "There's nothing like being able to hold something in your hands and look at how well it is made." Research by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association found that nearly 60 percent of online shoppers are using established retail stores and the Internet in most of their product purchases.

The research also found that more than 40 percent of consumers who use the Internet in combination with local brick-and-mortar stores are more likely to patronize a retailer with an e-commerce Web site.

That result held true regardless of generation or household income.

Mark Heiser, operations manager at Lowe's in Cedar Rapids, said today's customer is more knowledgeable about product features.

"A lot of folks do their homework online before they come in," Heiser said. "We may actually have a better product to offer them, but they know what they want." Some retailers, like Lowe's, Office Depot and Sears, allow a customer to buy a product online and pick it up at the local store.

"If the Web site shows that you're shopping in our store, we get the credit for it," Heiser said. "Your order comes electronically to our store, where we fill it and have it ready to load when you arrive to pick it up." Not all retailers allow shoppers to comparison shop or to buy on their Web sites. Dubuquebased Theisen's and Menards of Eau Claire, Wis., for example, display their weekly ads online, but do not make inventory or pricing available. Nor do they take online orders.

â?" Contact the writer: (319) 3988366 or george.ford@gazcomm.com

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