• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 9, 2010

Hearst title Redbook has partnered with online marketing company NearbyNow to launch an iPhone application that offers the magazine's weekly picks of the top fashion, beauty and home products and where to find and buy them locally. The One Stop Shop app also includes tips on styling and decorating as well as recipe ideas.

The free app allows users to zoom in and out of photos to get more product details and share Redbook recommendations with friends through Facebook and email. "Favorites" can be added by tapping a star in the upper right corner of each image.

The key feature, however, is NearbyNow's local search capability, which allows shoppers to click a "Find It" button to see if an item they want is in stock at a local shopping mall or store so they can pick it up immediately instead of waiting for shipment.

Working with 65,000 retailers nationwide, NearbyNow has its own concierge team that calls stores to verify if an item is in stock, and then emails the customer within 10 minutes to confirm availability. Customers can then reserve the desired product. Users will only see a "Find It" Button if an item is carried by a local store. Otherwise, they will be directed to online stores that sell the product.

"Redbook's One Stop Shop engages the on-the-go consumer with relevant content, and time-saving tips," said the magazine's publisher Mary Morgan, in a statement. "With cutting-edge capabilities for shopping and sharing, our application helps turn would-be browsers into satisfied buyers."

NearbyNow also powers similar iPhone app for other magazines including Hearst's Cosmopolitan, Conde Nast's Seventeen, Brides and GQ, and Rodale's Brides. The iPhone offerings reflect the emphasis by consumer magazine publishers on apps as personal shopping tools rather than digital replicas of the print product.