The merchant-hosted local shop front represents only a single merchant's local shop front information. It lets you direct customers to your website when they click on your local inventory ads and free local product listings. By directing customers to your website instead of your Google-hosted local shop front, you can manage and track your customers' entire experience.
This article helps you to understand how the merchant-hosted local shop front works and what's required for your local products feed and website.
Implementation options
There are two options to implement the merchant-hosted local shop front feature: full and basic
| Feature type | User experience | Shopping annotation displayed | Shopping behaviour on 'see what's in store' |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full | Clicking on a local inventory ad or a free local listing redirects to a product landing page that displays an item's availability at a specific shop. | Users will be shown a distance annotation (e.g. '3.5 mi') that shows the distance to a shop where they can purchase the item. | Clicking on a local product in 'see what's in store' will direct customers to a Google-hosted local shop front. |
| Basic | Clicking on a local inventory ad or a free local listing will redirect to a product landing page where customers can check the item's availability at a shop nearby. | Users will be shown the 'in-store' annotation, which communicates that the item is available for purchase at a shop nearby. | Clicking on a local product in 'see what's in store' will direct customers to a Google-hosted local shop front. |
Note: You can select a landing page experience for your local inventory ads in Merchant Center. For free local listing, use the Contact us form to request an eligibility review.