Trendspotting: Appy Shoppers

By Angie Argabrite, Thursday, December 15, 2011, at 9:01 am.

Consumers worldwide are expected to fork over $466 billion during the 2011 holidays—up nearly 3 percent from last year—and experts say the way we’ll spend much of this money may signal the biggest shift in shopping habits since the catalog was introduced in the late 1870s. This season, interactive tablet apps like Catalog Spree, Coffee Table and TheFind are soaring in popularity. They build on the enduring success of the print catalog, which—when done well—still equals big business, moving $270 billion in product annually. Rich with branding opportunities, fetching photography and eco-friendly appeal, catalog apps are projected to turn a staggering profit for top retailers. Anthropologie hired Revel Touch to infuse an iPad app with the same eclectic energy of its stores, and a top exec there says the company expects 20 percent of its sales will be routed through its new app. Nordstrom, Walmart and Saks Fifth Avenue recently debuted catalog apps, and a whole slew of tech companies, including Google, are suddenly in the business of building them. Though fewer than half of the top 30 retailers lay claim to iPad apps, more and more are placing them atop their to-do lists. For good reason: Studies show that tablet owners spend 28 percent more per transaction than non-tablet owners and spend eight times as much time on retail apps as they spend on retailers’ websites. The tablet is catching on in-store, too. Sears and Home Depot have both equipped employees with iPads to check product availability and screen product demos. It looks like the tablet has officially wormed its way into our hearts … and our wallets.