Pinterest's earlier app Tote was designed as a virtual replacement for what?

Pinterest’s earlier app Tote was designed as a virtual replacement for paper catalogs.

Tote was an early shopping app created by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Vikram Bhaskaran. Launched in 2009, it connected shoppers with retailers such as Banana Republic, Anthropologie, and American Apparel. Users could browse products, save favorite items, receive sale alerts, and find nearby stores.

The app was meant to make mobile shopping easier and more engaging than handling bulky printed catalogs. Tote itself did not become the breakout shopping platform its creators hoped for, but its visual product-browsing concept helped inspire Pinterest’s later direction. Silbermann reportedly stopped receiving paper catalogs after seeing the potential for digital collections.

Tote is sometimes described simply as an early version of Pinterest, but that is an oversimplification. It was primarily a retail-shopping app, whereas Pinterest became a broader visual discovery and bookmarking service. Pinterest’s boards and pins grew out of the same basic idea: collecting appealing things in an organized, easily browsable digital space.