Melissa Garcia poses in her storage shed with some of the products she's obtained, at her home in... 
(AP)
When Melissa Garcia was frustrated by Old Navy's scanty coupon offerings, she didn't just complain to the store. She vented on a message board tied to her blog consumerqueen.com, which is read by at least 30,000 people each month and now, increasingly, by corporate America.
Within weeks, chatter in the so-called mommy blogosphere led Gap Inc.'s Old Navy to begin issuing coupons several times a week, instead of just once a week.
Moms have always had marketplace muscle, but a new frugality driven by rising joblessness, housing woes and other economic problems has them exercising it like never before with the help of the Internet.
In this recession, their talk online encompasses everything from complaints to advice on coupon clipping, low-budget meals and family finance. But it's not just fellow moms who are following every post: Retailers and consumer product makers are listening, too — and responding.
"We see (moms who blog) as a vital force for our brand strategy," said Gap spokeswoman Louise Callagy. "They are the voice of our customers, and we are working harder to develop and maintain their trust and respond to their feedback."
After picking up chatter on blogs that was advocating layaway purchase plans be restored at its namesake department stores, Sears Holdings Corp. brought them back over the holidays after a two-decade hiatus. And Sears' Kmart chain now accepts online coupons and has launched a Web site called Kmart.com /coupons that makes it easier to find specific deals, in response to chatter on mother-oriented blogs.
Companies and the bloggers themselves are mutually benefiting. Consumer product companies like home appliance maker Frigidaire and Unilever, maker of Suave shampoo, are hoping to enhance their brands by giving free samples of their merchandise to key women bloggers to test and chat about on their sites, though many bloggers say it's essential to disclose such freebies to maintain credibility with readers.
