Google has apparently added shipping and return labels to free and paid product listing on its search and shopping tool. These labels will allow buyers to quickly know if free deliveries and returns are applicable on their purchases. The labels will be much like those available on shopping platforms like Amazon, with the difference that they will now be situated directly on Google Search itself. One of the example annotations shared by the tech giant shows users that the message will appear somewhat like, “Free delivery by Friday, December 24th.”
Before the labels are added to the products listed by individual merchants, a list of requirements will have to be fulfilled. While this new tool isn’t necessarily going to take the shopping scene by storm, it might help you know which product best suits your needs, allowing for a quicker decision.
A Move To Attract Holiday Buyers
Nevertheless, this comes as the latest addition to the list of new shopping features that Google has been stocking up on. During its I/O this year, it had unveiled a new feature for Chrome, which displays shopping carts that were abandoned before completing a purchase, in a new tab. The idea behind the new tool, though, is mainly to target holiday shoppers, seeing as how the holiday season is coming up soon.
This comes as the searches for “holiday gift ideas” in the US have already surpassed 2020 levels in August. Additionally, shoppers already believe that they’ll most likely order more products online during this holiday season, as compared to last year. Moreover, 59 percent of the holiday shoppers in the US have said that they will shop earlier, to avoid items going out of stock. As such, the shopping industry is all set to see a major boom this year.
The new shopping annotations will be a step forward from the previously used “free” or “fast” tags. Retailers will now be add labels like “Get it by Dec 24,” “Free delivery by Fri, Dec 24,” and “Free X-day shipping” to their product listings. Out of these, the last one refers to free shipping being provided within X number of days. For example, a retailer can add “Free 3-day shipping” to their product.
Strict Criteria
Only those merchants who meet the following criteria will be allowed to use the labels, however:
- An active account on Merchant Center, with products being opted into Shopping ads, and free listings provided in the United States.
- An active web conversion tracking in their Google Ads account.
- Active products listed in the Merchant Center account, which can be identified using such annotations.
- Account-level shipping settings, which are configured for special shipping promotions.
- Product feed attributes, specifically, transit_time_label and shipping_label.
- Product landing/detail pages, as well as checkout pages, carrying messages corresponding to these annotations.
In terms of returns, retailers are now allowed to provide information about about return and refund policies.
