Set up your shipping and taxes for Shopping Actions

Shipping service name

Each shipping service is a delivery option for customers, similar to what might be offered when shopping on your site. While not shown externally to customers, shipping service names can help you differentiate multiple configurations within Merchant Center. Thus, using names like “ground,” “economy,” or “2-day” is a better reference than “default” or “shipping.”

Handling time

Handling time refers to the number of business days needed to process an order before it ships. Handling time normally starts when an order is placed by a customer and ends when a carrier picks up the package for shipment. If all of your items require the same amount of time to process, handling time has to be configured in Merchant Center within each shipping service. However, if the processing time varies by product, then handling time can be added to the product feed to each item. When handling time values exist in both Merchant Center and in the product feed, the item-level value will override the Merchant Center value for that specific item only. Learn more about handling time in the product feed

Order cutoff time

Many merchants begin processing orders on the same business day in which they are placed as long as the order is received by a set time. Orders placed after this set time will not begin processing until the following business day. Order cutoff time can be set in Merchant Center for each shipping service, and is configured as a fixed time and zone. For example, you can set order cutoff time as 12 p.m. EST, but you cannot set order cutoff time as 12 p.m. in each customer’s time zone (since that may vary by customer). 

Transit time

This is the number of business days it takes for a carrier to deliver a package once it is picked up from your facility. Transit time has to be configured in Merchant Center, either with a single range (for example, “3-5 days”), or with multiple ranges based on ZIP code regions (for example, “3-5 days to Seattle, 1-2 days to Texas”). Configuring multiple delivery ranges requires setting up delivery zones in Merchant Center. Learn more about delivery zones

Transit time labels

For product groups that ship from different locations (for example, if one group of products ships from a warehouse in Seattle, and another group ships from Texas), you can apply transit time labels in order to give your customers more accurate estimated delivery dates. Once you specify the transit times for different product groups, you can apply the transit_time_label attribute to the products in your feed. Learn more about setting up the transit time label

Shipping rate

Your shipping rate is the amount charged to customers to ship an order to them. You'll set up your shipping at the account-level in Merchant Center. There are multiple ways to configure the shipping rate: 

• Flat rate (“All orders ship for $5”)
• Order price (“$5 shipping for orders up to $20, free shipping over $20”)
• Weight-based (“Order up to 2 lbs. Ship for $5”)
• Destination-based (“Orders to the continental US ship for free, orders to Alaska & Hawaii ship for $5”)
• Carrier rates (“Shipping is charged at the UPS standard rate originating from the 91208 ZIP code”)
• Number of Items (“1 item ships for $5, 2 items ship for $7”)

One of the most common shipping offers is free or discounted shipping if a customer’s order meets a specific minimum. For example, you might offer free shipping to customers who spend at least $25, or you might reduce your priority shipping fee from $15.95 to $9.95 for customers who spend at least $100.

To create a tiered shipping rate based on order price:

1. In Merchant Center, click Shipping in the menu along the side of the page.
2. On the shipping services page, click on the service you want to edit (or click the plus button   to create a new service).
3. At the bottom of the page, click the plus button  under “Shipping rates.” (If you’re creating this service from scratch, fill out the “Service settings” and “Delivery time” sections).
4. Under the “Affected products filter,” choose All products. 
5. [Optional] Choose a name for this rate, such as “Order value rate” or “Free shipping over $25.”
6. Within the Shipping rate table, click Add dimension, then click Order price.
7. From the table template, add rows for each of your order price tiers. 
8. In the “Shipping cost” column, choose Fixed rate for each row to get the shipping cost for each tier. 
9. Click Continue at the bottom to review your shipping service.
10. Click Save.

Imagine that you offer free shipping to customers who spend over $25, and you charge $5.00 for shipping if customers spend $24.99 or less. You would create a shipping rate based on order price and create a rate table with two rows. The first row would have an order price set at “0.01 - 24.99” and a shipping cost set to “fixed cost” and “$5.00.” The second row would automatically populate to “25.01 and over” for the “Order price” column, and you would set the associated shipping cost to “Fixed cost” and “$0.00.”

Weight-based rates are used for shipping costs that fluctuate with the total order weight. Note: The shipping weight value is required in the product feed in order to configure these rates. Learn more about shipping weight.

To create a tiered shipping rate based on order price:

1. In Merchant Center, click Shipping in the menu along the side of the page.
2. On the shipping services page, select the service you want to edit (or click the plus button   to create a new service).
3. At the bottom of the page, click the plus button  under “Shipping rates.” (if you’re creating this service from scratch, fill out the “Service settings” and “Delivery time” sections).
4. Under the “Affected products filter,” choose All products.
5. [Optional] Choose a name for this rate, such as “weight-based rate.”
6. Within the Shipping rate table, click Add dimension> Order weight> weight in pounds or weight in kilograms.
7. From the table template, add rows for each of your order weight tiers. 
8. In the “Shipping cost” column, choose Fixed rate for each row to set the shipping cost for each weight tier. 
9. Click Continue at the bottom to preview your shipping service.
10. Click Save.

A shipping label is a feature within a shipping service that allows you to group similar items that share different rates or restrictions than the main catalog. For example, most of your items may ship to all states for $5.00, but a subset of TVs may cost $15.00 to ship based on their size. You can label these TVs in your product data using the shipping_label attribute. Then, when configuring your shipping rates in Merchant Center, you can find that label and configure it with the more expensive shipping rate. All other items will default to your standard rates. Learn more about shipping labels

To configure a group of items using shipping labels: