Use the availability date
[availability_date]
attribute to tell customers when a preordered or backordered product will be shipped.When to use
- Optional for each product
- Required if you set the availability
[availability]
attribute topreorder
orbackorder
. (You can then provide the date (up to 1 year in the future) when your product will be shipped using the availability date[availability_date]
attribute).
Format
Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure Google understands the data you're submitting.
Type | Date, time, and timezone, ISO 8601 compliant ( YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm[±hhmm] , or YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmZ ) |
---|---|
Limits | 1–25 characters |
Repeated field | No |
Schema.org property (What's this?) |
|
File format | Example value |
---|---|
Text (TSV) | 2016-12-25T13:00-0800 |
XML (Feeds) | <g:availability_date>2016-11-25T13:00-0800</g:availability_date> |
To format your data for Content API, see the Content API for Shopping.
Minimum requirements
These are the requirements you'll need to meet to show your product. If you don't follow these requirements, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in the Diagnostics page in your Merchant Center account.
- Provide a date up to 1 year in the future.
Note: The availability date should also be added to the product’s landing page and be clear to your customers (for example, “May 6, 2023”). If an exact date can’t be provided, you can use an estimated date (for example, “May 2023”).
Best practices
These best practices can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance.
- Only submit the availability date attribute for products with the availability
[availability]
attribute value set topreorder
orbackorder
. - Specify a time and timezone in addition to the date. If you don't, the default time is 12 AM, midnight, in the UTC timezone.
- Don’t include date ranges. Since the attribute is required for products with the availability
[availability]
attribute value set topreorder
orbackorder
, Google recommends adding an estimated date (up to 1 year in the future) and updating the value as soon as the expected date the product can be shipped to the consumer is confirmed.
Examples
Product is available for preorders
Product data for an android squishable | |
Attribute | Value |
Availability [availability] |
preorder |
Availability date [availability_date] |
2016-12-25T13:00-0800 |
Product is available for backorder
Product data for an android squishable | |
Attribute | Value |
Availability [availability] |
backorder |
Availability date [availability_date] |
2016-12-25T13:00-0800 |
Get ready for the release date
Product data for an android squishable | |
Release status | Not released |
Attribute | Value |
Availability [availability] |
preorder |
Availability date [availability_date] |
2016-12-25T13:00-0800 |