Google Intros Holiday Shopping Tools as Consumers Seek Deals

Google has introduced new search tools designed to help shoppers find holiday deals.

The tech giant announced Tuesday (Nov. 7) that it was rolling out a “dedicated deals page” that collects “millions of deals from thousands of brands and retailers in one place.”

In addition, Google says users — when opening a new tab in Chrome on a desktop — will now see products they’d viewed recently in their “Resume browsing” card with a notification when an active promotion is available. 

Google is also bringing its price insights feature, already available on search, to the desktop version of Chrome.

“It’s a common dilemma,” the blog entry says. “You’ve found the perfect gift, but there’s a nagging question in the back of your mind: Will the price drop after I buy? More than a quarter of people say they procrastinate holiday gift-giving because the gift may be available at a lower price later.”

With the new feature, users will see a “Shopping insights” label in the Chrome address bar. Clicking it will bring up a graph of the item’s price 90-day price history and the typical price range for that product.

The rollout comes at a time when bargain hunting has become the norm as consumers deal with higher prices and flagging income.

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that nearly 50% of grocery and retail shoppers now prioritize discovering better deals when deciding where to shop for retail or grocery items. Middle-income retail shoppers are at the forefront of this trend and are the most likely to have placed more weight on finding better bargains, at nearly 60%.

How this will play out during the holiday shopping season remains to be seen. The National Retail Federation last week issued a forecast showing holiday spending growing between 3% and 4% over last year, with spending in the range of $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion.

Though this growth rate is slower than what was seen in the last three years, it still lines up with the average yearly increase of 3.6% recorded in the 10 years before the pandemic.

“Overall household finances remain in good shape and will continue to support the consumer’s ability to spend,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.

Also Tuesday, Google rolled out its Holiday 100, its yearly list of 100 gift ideas based on this year’s trending searches in categories such as wellness, electronics, travel, toys and games, accessories and home and garden.

“Deciding what to get for the people on your list can be a challenge,” the company said in a blog entry. “According to a survey we conducted of more than 1,000 shoppers, 41% find holiday shopping difficult because they need more ideas of what to give, and 23% feel uninspired.”