Use the availability [availability] attribute to tell users and Google whether you have a product in stock.
In this article
When to use
Required for all products.
These are the supported values that you can choose from:
- In stock
[in_stock]- You’re accepting orders for this product and can fulfill the purchase request. You’re certain that the product will ship or be in-transit to the customer in a timely manner because it's available for sale. You can deliver the product to all of the locations that you support in your product data and shipping.
- Out of stock
[out_of_stock]- You’re not accepting orders for this product, or the product isn't available for purchase.
- Preorder
[preorder]- You’re accepting orders for this product, but it’s not been released for sale. You're required to provide the availability date
[availability_date]attribute to indicate the day that the product becomes available for delivery.
- You’re accepting orders for this product, but it’s not been released for sale. You're required to provide the availability date
- Backorder
[backorder]- The product isn't available at the moment, but you’re accepting orders and it will be shipped when it's available again.
[preorder] value should only be used for new products that haven’t been released yet. Existing products that are out of stock and will be back in stock at a later date that you’re accepting orders for should use backorder [backorder].Format
Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure Google understands the data that you submit.
Learn when and how to submit your product data in English
| Supported values |
|
|---|---|
| Repeated field | No |
| Schema.org property (What's this?) |
How to map to Merchant Center values:
|
| File format | Example value |
|---|---|
| Text feeds |
|
| XML feeds | <g:availability>in_stock</g:availability> |
To format your data for Content API, go to the Content API for Shopping resource
Minimum requirements
These are the requirements you need to meet to show your product. If you don't follow these requirements, we disapprove your product and let you know in your Merchant Center account.
- Indicate the product availability on your landing page. Learn more about requirements for landing pages
- Match your product availability with your account shipping.
- Ship the product to all of the locations that you support in your product data and shipping. This way, the availability that users see matches what you submit.
- Match the availability listed in your product data with the availability listed on your landing page and checkout pages. When users come to your website, they expect to find the same availability on your landing page and during checkout that's provided in your product data. One common availability mismatch is that your shipping settings don’t reflect your delivery locations accurately.
- Make sure the product can be shipped, not just picked up in store. In-store pickup is not currently supported with the exception of Argentina and Chile.
- Provide the most up-to-date data. Availability and prices of your products can change frequently. Learn more about maintaining high-quality product data
- Provide the availability date
[availability_date]attribute if you submitpreorderas the availability value.
Best practices
These best practices can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance.
- When your product is temporarily unavailable in the target country and you’re not accepting orders for it, set the availability
[availability]attribute toout_of_stock. If we find that a product is out of stock on your landing page or during checkout, but the availability attribute is set toin_stockin your product data, we disapprove the product. - Don't set the availability attribute to
out_of_stockwhen you take down your website for maintenance or a holiday. Use the excluded destination[excluded_destination]attribute instead. By following this best practice, you prevent unnecessary disapprovals in your account and get your products running again more quickly than if they'd been disapproved. - Don’t use
out_of_stockwhen you don't want your product to show. If the product is available for sale but you want to stop your product showing on certain or all destinations, use the excluded destination[excluded_destination]or pause[pause]out_of_stockin your product data, we disapprove the product. - Temporarily pause your product. If you want to stop your product from showing in ads or free listings for up to 14 days, with the option to reactivate quickly, use the pause
[pause]attribute. - Don't set the availability attribute to
out_of_stockfor products that you're no longer selling. Remove any discontinued products from your product data. - Consider using automatic item updates to help you avoid availability mismatches. Automatic item updates is a feature that uses your landing page status to automatically update your product data, which prevents disapprovals.
Examples
Product is available for sale
Product data for an Android Squishable available for sale Attribute Value Availability [availability]in_stockProduct inventory ran out
Product data for an Android Squishable that is out of stock Attribute Value Availability [availability]out_of_stockProduct inventory on backorder
Product data for an Android Squishable that is on backorder Attribute Value Availability [availability]backorderAvailability date [availability_date]2021-05-24T13:00-0800Temporarily stop a product from showing on Google
If you want to temporarily stop displaying a product in certain locations on Google, but you still have the product marked as being in stock on your landing page, you can use the excluded destination
[excluded_destination]attribute. This attribute allows you to control where your product is shown.To stop your product from showing in ads for up to 14 days, with the option to reactivate quickly, use the pause
[pause]attribute.Product data for an Android Squishable that is in stock and shown as in stock on the landing page
Attribute Value Availability [availability]in_stockExcluded destination [excluded_destination]Shopping_ads*Shown in Shopping ads? No Shown in free listings? Yes Product data for an Android Squishable that is in stock and shown as in stock on the landing page
Attribute Value Availability [availability]in_stockExcluded destination [excluded_destination]Free_listingsShown in Shopping ads? Yes Shown in free listings? No Product data for an Android Squishable that is in stock but paused for 14 days or less from showing in ads Attribute Value Availability [availability]in_stockPause [pause]ads*Note: Exclude all destinations that you don’t want to use. Learn more about the
excluded_destinationproduct data attributeVariants
If your product comes in multiple colors or sizes, you might have different availability for each of these variants. For example:
Product data for a small green Google T-shirt priced at $10.99 USD Attribute Value Title
[title]Google T-Shirt - Green - Small Price
[price]10.99 USD Availability
[availability]in_stockColor
[color]Green Size
[size]S ID
[id]9876-S-GRN Item group ID
[item_group_id]9876 Product data for a small blue Google T-shirt priced at $10.99 USD Attribute Value Title
[title]Google T-Shirt - Blue - Small Price
[price]10.99 USD Availability
[availability]in_stockColor
[color]Blue Size
[size]S ID
[id]9876-S-BLU Item group ID
[item_group_id]9876 Product data for a small yellow Google T-shirt priced at $10.99 USD Attribute Value Title
[title]Google T-Shirt - Yellow - Small Price
[price]10.99 USD Availability
[availability]out_of_stockColor
[color]Yellow Size
[size]S ID
[id]9876-S-YELLOW Item group ID
[item_group_id]9876