Apps add another dimension to holiday shopping

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If you’ve noticed an increase in your mailbox recently, it’s no accident. Holidays mean catalogs -- big time. In fact, more than 20 billion catalogs were mailed in the U.S. last year, and about a quarter of those were devoted to fashion. Yes, we like social media and shopping online, but many of us are still inspired by print.

But retailers are going digital as well. Google Catalogs, Catalog Spree, Catalogue and Coffee Table are among the downloadable apps that have gone live this year, aggregating dozens of catalogs in easily browsable formats. Indeed, with the advent of tablets and smart phones with touch screens, shoppers can flip through pages as they would in print -- with an added feature: They can zoom in on specific items and make a purchase through the device.

Read Susan Carpenter’s report on digital delivery in Sunday’s Image.

--Alice Short