Browse And Shop Digital Catalogs With Google Catalogs
Google Catalogs (Free) by Google is a new shopping app that brings digital catalogs to the user in a whole new way. This beautiful app offers a nice selection of catalogs, and it’s more than just a website “skin”.
When you open the app, you’re presented with the currently featured catalogs. Choose one of these, or tap “All Catalogs” to see the entire selection. These are divided into sections: Women’s Fashion & Apparel, Jewelry, Beauty, Home, Men’s Fashion & Apparel, Kids & Baby, and Gifts. Some sections have just a handful of catalogs, whereas others have dozens. I would imagine that as time goes on, more catalogs will be included for your shopping pleasure.
So, choose a catalog to peruse. Find something you like? “Favorite” it for easy access later. You’ll need to sign up for a free Google account (which you can do right inside this app) to access features like this. You can also directly send emails alerting friends and family members of your find (have a birthday coming up? Need to give someone a gift hint?).
You’ll notice price tag icons on each item of the catalog. Tap the tag for more information on that item. Price and a detailed description, of course. You also get a button to take you to the website in order to buy the item. A nice bonus feature: tap “Find Nearby” to access locations in your area. If there are stores in your area, you’ll get them all nicely mapped out, complete with address, phone number, hours, price, and sometimes even availability. Keep in mind, the app will not track down every store that carries the brand, only the named stores themselves. For example, when I was shopping the Fossil catalog and looking for a nearby Fossil store, it only listed the actual Fossil stores in my area, not the many department stores that I know carry Fossil products.
Another really cool feature is Collages. You can look at the Public Collages, divided into sections: Featured, Most Viewed, and Just In. These collages are like pages from a fashion magazine, with a variety of items from different stores. Each centers around some theme, such as Red Hot (everything is red), Pillow Fight (throw pillows), The Great Outdoors, All That Glitters, etc. Each collage is fully functional; tapping on an item will give you the catalog from which it came. You can also create your own collages, but again, you will need to log into that Google account to do so.
I’d like to see even more catalogs included, in more categories (gadgets, anyone?), and I expect that will happen as more companies decide to participate. With its smooth functionality, cool features, attractive user interface, and grand price of free, this is a great app for any iPad user who likes to do their browsing and shopping online.
