Google is pushing further into the retail vertical with the introduction of  Google Catalogs - a free app for tablet devices that lets users browse catalogs and interact with the content.

So far Google has partnered with Anthropologie, Bare Escentuals, Bergdorf Goodman, Crate and Barrel, L.L. Bean, Lands’ End, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora, Sundance, Tea Collection, Urban Outfitters and Williams-Sonoma.

Features on Google Catalogs let the user:

• Zoom in to see products up close, tap on tags to learn more about an item or, in some catalogs, view photo albums and videos.

• Find products in nearby stores — users can find an item in a brick and mortar store close by if they want it right away or tap "Buy on Website" to visit the merchant online.

• Create a collage of catalog pages and products.

• Email a product or collage.

• Get notified each time a new issue arrives.

The NextWeb notes that it is unclear whether Google gets a kickback from retailers for any sales the app generates. "We're clarifying that point with Google," it says.

Google and Retail

The app is yet more evidence that Google is intent on building out its retail vertical, along with a few others such as travel. Earlier this year it expanded its retail site, Boutiques.com, adding hundreds of thousands of new boutiques including such designers as Helmut Lang, Michael Kors, Billy Reid and Thakoon and rolling out new analytic tools.

At the same time Google launched a tool called Trend Analytics. It uses aggregate data from both Boutiques.com and Google Search, showing the most popular colors of the season, the most-loved products and other such trends. Last year it also introduced an enterprise search product for retailers called Google Commerce Search.