Retailers chase shoppers online with cellphone apps and social networking

Toys "R" Us announced that its annual Biggest Big Book holiday catalog is on its way to homes nationwide. Nothing new there, but if you don't want to wait, you can get a peek on the store's Facebook page. And if you don't want to carry around the 80-page book, there's an app for that -- it lets you thumb the catalog, create and share gift lists and locate the nearest store from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

The toy store is just the latest retailer to jump onto the next trend in online marketing. Now it's not enough to have a website; a store needs a Facebook page, Twitter feed and mobile phone application to compete.