max_handling_time, min_handling_time: Definition
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.
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 |
| Schema.org property (What's this?) |
Offer.deliveryLeadTime.minValue and Offer.deliveryLeadTime.maxValue Type: QuantitativeValue |
| File format | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Text feeds | 1 |
| XML feeds |
|
For format API information, please see Content API for Shopping.
| File format | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Text feeds | 3 |
| XML feeds |
|
For format API information, please see Content API for Shopping.
Guidelines
Follow these guidelines to make sure you submit high-quality data for your products and get the best performance from your ads.
Minimum requirements
These are the requirements you'll need to meet to show ads for your product. If you don't follow these requirements, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in the Diagnostics page of your Merchant Center account.
- Use business days and do not include weekends. For example, if a customer orders on Tuesday and the shipment leaves the warehouse latest on Friday, the maximum handling time is 3 days. If a customer orders on Friday and the shipment leaves the warehouse latest on Monday, maximum handling time is 1 day.
Best practices
These are best practices that 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.