Gmail Adds Package Tracking Ahead of Holiday Shopping Season

Google is updating Gmail to help users monitor deliveries for the holiday shopping season.

“First, we’re rolling out a new view that brings all your purchase and delivery updates together in one place,” the tech giant wrote on its blog last week. “This will give you a bird’s eye view of all your upcoming package deliveries in one simple, organized list. Don’t worry — we’ll continue to show packages that are set to arrive within 24 hours at the top of your primary inbox, as well as in a summary card within your purchase emails.”

This view, the company said, is an entirely new one that lets users see all purchase-related emails and package updates in a single interface. The feature is live now for mobile and web users with personal Google accounts.

In addition, Google is updating the “promotions” category in Gmail to let users sort by “most relevant” promotional emails, making it easier to view updates from brands that matter to them most, including the ones they engage with most often. These updates are set to start appearing in the coming weeks.

“While we’re excited about this new experience, we want to give users control over how they want these emails to be sorted,” the company said. “If you prefer to see these emails like they are today, you can simply select the option to sort promotional emails by ‘most recent’ instead of ‘most relevant.’”

Google’s holiday-minded update to Gmail comes as shoppers and retailers in the U.S. seem to be shifting into the seasonal shopping mode a bit earlier.

A report last week by CNBC noted that a Costco store in New Jersey was already displaying some seasonal items, with some products nearly sold out.

The same report cited comments from Deloitte Consulting Principal Brian McCarthy, who said that shoppers had kicked off their holiday shopping as early as July, hoping to avoid higher prices and take advantage of sales events like Amazon Prime Day.

Bankrate had said in July that nearly half of all consumers had already started their holiday shopping or planned to do so before Oct. 31, with 41% of consumers saying they think gifts could be more expensive this year.

“While some consumers shake their heads that holiday shopping seems to start earlier each year, the early start gives you more time to spread out your cash flow and find the best deals,” Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate, said last week.