by Claudia Bruemmer

For years, people enjoyed looking for great products in glossy print catalogs from Sears, JC Penney, Lands End and more. Now, mobile technology makes catalog shopping engaging, social and creative. That’s why Google created Google Catalogs − a free app for tablet devices that enables shoppers to browse their favorite catalogs while interacting with rich-media content.

The Google Catalogs app allows users to view digital versions of catalogs in many different categories such as beauty, fashion and apparel, gifts, home, jewelry, kids, etc. Google has partnered with a number of top brands such as Anthropologie, Bare Escentuals, Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale’s, Crate and Barrel, L.L. Bean, Lands’ End, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora, Sundance Catalog, Tea Collection, Urban Outfitters and Williams-Sonoma, to name a few. These brands now have catalogs online that can be viewed with the Google Catalogs free app.

If you’re a merchant and would like to participate in Google Catalogs, you can tell Google about your catalog by filling out this form.

According to the Google Official Blog, users can do the following with Google Catalogs:

• “Interact: Zoom in to see products up close, tap on tags to learn more about an item or, in some catalogs, view inspiring photo albums and videos.
• “Find products in nearby stores: When an item catches your eye, instantly find it in a store near you or tap “Buy on Website” to visit the merchant online.
• “Express your creativity: Create a collage of your favorite catalog pages and products. If you need inspiration, you can check out collages created by others.
• “Share with friends: Email a product or collage to all your shopping buddies.
• “Get instant access to new catalogs: Add catalogs to your Favorites and get notified each time a new issue arrives.
• “Discover new products and brands: Search for products within or across multiple catalogs to find exactly what you’re looking for.”

This is not the first time Google launched a Catalog Search. An earlier version was launched in 2001 and shut down in 2009. It’s also not the first catalog app this year as TheFind launched one for the iPad and Android earlier this year.

This new app allows shoppers to search within and across catalogs, retrieve more information about specific products, mark products as favorites, and put together a collection to share or make public. People can also subscribe to specific catalog channels and get updates when a new catalog is released by making those channels favorites. They can also buy products directly from the app. Purchases take place on the merchant’s website in a mini-browser pop-up window.

Participating merchants can upload a PDF of their catalog and tag it to integrate data from their Google Product Search feeds. Additionally, they can add images and videos from a YouTube account.

Catalog merchants receive aggregated data about how users are browsing their catalogs, including information on what products are visited the most and the least.

Currently, Google Catalogs is free for merchants that are currently Google Product Search customers. At present, Google is focused on building an audience for the catalogs, but in the future, they could be used for revenue-generation. Google plans a public relations program for media exposure and will also integrate Google Catalogs with Google+ at some future date.

Users can download the app for an iPad, by visiting the App Store. Google Catalogs for Android tablets is coming soon. Visit www.google.com/catalogs/about/ to learn more. The value of the Google Catalog Search app for marketers remains to be seen and will depend largely on consumer adoption.