Use min_handling_time and max_handling_time to help us give users accurate information about how long it will take for a product to arrive at its destination. Maximum and minimum handling time are the longest and shortest amounts of time between when an order is placed and when the product ships.
When to use
Required for Shopping Actions - if not configured at the account level.
For Shopping Actions, handling time must be included in Merchant Center. The min_handling_time and max_handling_time attributes defined here, when used at the item-level, will take priority over the handling time set in Merchant Center.
Optional for Shopping ads
If you're targeting the US and want to display a range for estimated delivery times in your ads, submit this information using the min_handling_time and max_handling_time attributes together.
If you submit the min_handling_time or the max_handling_time attribute for a country that doesn't show estimated delivery time, your ads will show estimated delivery time when support for other countries is enabled.
Format
Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure we understand the data you're submitting.
| Type | Number (whole number) |
|---|---|
| Repeated field | No |
| File format | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Text feeds | 1 |
| XML feeds |
|
To format your data for Content API, see the Content API for Shopping.
| File format | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Text feeds | 3 |
| XML feeds |
|
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 Diagnostics in your Merchant Center account.
- Use business days. For example, if a customer orders on Tuesday and the shipment leaves the warehouse latest on Friday, the maximum handling time is 3 days.
- Note: By default, your business days will be set to Monday through Friday, but you can specify different business days, including weekends, in your Merchant Center account.
Best practices
These best practices can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance.
- If your products are always ready to ship on the same day the order is placed, submit 0.
- If your products may or may not be ready to ship on the same day, use 1 or a larger number. For example, you should enter a number larger than 0 if you allow orders to be placed after business hours.
- If you are more comfortable giving a range than a specific number, you can use the 'max handling time' attribute together with the 'min handling time' attribute. If you don’t want to express a range, you don't need to use the 'min handling time' attribute.