Marketing departments can also test trends by, for example, sending their best customers links to 'evaluation' catalogues prior to committing to print. By analysing feedback they'll be able to see who's looking at what (and for how long).
ZMags hotspot detector, see which products they enlarge
Research will help you establish what's best for you. You don't want to pay for bells and whistles that you're not likely to use! Upgrades from free entry level services from the likes of issuu will enhance functionality and cost from $19 US dollars per month. Or you might go for a more sophisticated, more expensive option from the likes of Ceros, Pagesuite, ZMags (and others).
As elsewhere in life, you get what you pay for. Assuming you decide you want something more than the limited functionality of the free service, you have three alternatives. The first is to purchase the appropriate software or service (many offer a free 7-day evaluation); the second is to encourage your existing catalogue designer to purchase and the third is to outsource the pdf conversion service from an appropriately qualified supplier. One benefit of this last option is that you need only test, and invest in, one catalogue at a time.
Gary Bigwood, Catalogue Designer, www.a4cs.co.uk