Google on Thursday announced an early access program that allows package delivery companies to integrate their APIs with Google, so consumers can search for relevant information about their parcel’s delivery journey.

More often these days, consumers track packages to ensure they are home when the deliveries arrive if a signature is not required. The idea is to thwart porch pirates from stealing the goods.

Shorr Packaging recently released its annual Package Theft Report. One in four online shoppers surveyed report being victims of package theft in 2018. And while that is down 7% from Shorr’s 2017 Package Theft Report, 52% of all respondents believe delivery companies are not doing enough to prevent package theft.

Many search agencies and vendors are reporting an increase of online sales throughout the Thanksgiving weekend and into Cyber Monday. NetElixir, for example, said its customers experienced 17% higher conversions this year on an average lower cost per click of 9%. The average order value, however, also slipped for paid search by 6%. 

It appears more consumers are making their ecommerce purchases earlier in holiday weekend. For NetElixir advertisers, ecommerce orders on Thanksgiving Day in 2019 grew to 13%, up from 11% the year prior. Black Friday, Saturday and Sunday held steady YoY at 23%, 14%, and 15%, respectively. Cyber Monday saw a slight decline to 35% in 2019 from 37% in 2018.

Black Friday saw the highest AOV at $118.15, compared with Cyber Monday at $113.39. Thanksgiving Day came in with an AOV of $115.04.

Consumers need a way to track these packages. Through Google’s package tracking Early Adopters Program available in all countries, shipping companies can sign up to participate and give feedback on how to improve it. To take part in the program, a carrier needs to provide a RESTful JSON or XML API that returns the package tracking information