Harvey Norman gets a tweet on

Retailer Harvey Norman says it is using social media to monitor customer feedback as websites such as Facebook and Twitter begin to influence purchases.

The electronics and homeware business says its marketing approach has been influenced by the rapid growth in social media.

"I've got a small team of people that do nothing but monitor … Facebook and Twitter," chief operations officer John Slack-Smith told the CeBIT conference in Sydney yesterday.

Mr Slack-Smith says consumer use of social media will influence the company's technological investments.

"Because if they're unable to be engaged and used and developed and harnessed, then investments that we're making today won't be good ones,'' he said.

Shares in Harvey Norman added 9¢, or 2.7 per cent, to close at A$3.42 yesterday.

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