October 21, 2020
The holiday season is coming quickly and, as you know, this year will be different than any other. Here are some ways to get your Merchant Center account and Buy on Google information in shape, so you can be ready.
Review your Merchant Center settings and product feed information. Check that your feeds are up-to-date with the product data specification.
- Use the quantity for Buy on Google
[sell_on_google_quantity]attribute to show the number of products available to sell on Google for a particular product. - The availability
[availability]attribute indicates the status of the product, such as in stock or out of stock. Update this attribute as frequently as possible by making calls to the Inventory set API or through a supplemental feed. - Use the sale price
[sale_price]and sale price effective date[sale_price_effective_date]attributes to run deals for your products. - If an adult will have to be present for delivery completion of a product, for example, for high value products, use the feed attribute signature required
[signature_required]attribute to share this information. - Use the maximum purchase quantity
[purchase_quantity_limit]attribute to limit the number of products your customers can buy in a single order.
Configure your returns settings.
- Configure seasonal override on your return policy to accommodate for the high volume of orders and returns during the holiday period.
- Consider using a special processing return rule if you want to interact with shoppers when they initiate a return.
- Consider using returnless refunds for low price products to save return costs.
Take steps to increase customer engagement.
- Merchant Promotions is a feature that allows you to distribute online promotions with Buy on Google. When you add promotions to your Buy on Google inventory, shoppers see a promotional banner on the product details page for applicable products. This can increase the appeal of your products on Buy on Google.
- Faster estimated delivery times help delight customers, so it’s important for your settings to be accurate to avoid customer surprises and negatively impact your Retailer Standards rating.
Get ready to fulfill orders and provide a delightful shopping experience.
- Make sure to process orders on time so customers can receive orders within the expected delivery date. Orders will be cancelled automatically if products are not marked as shipped within 3 days of merchant committed handling time.
- If you know the products in an order will be delayed in shipment, update your order with the most accurate ship by date for each product using the updatelineitemshippingdetails API
- Review your Customer Service emails. This contact information may be used to escalate difficult scenarios. Make sure your customer service team is properly trained to identify Buy on Google orders. Additionally, Google requires that merchants respond to customer escalations within 8 business hours.