return_rule_label: Definition

Return experiences can have a strong impact on customer satisfaction and retention. Use the return_rule_label attribute to indicate which return rule from the return rule section in your Merchant Center account applies to your product, if any. 

Using return rules can help to minimize return costs to you, for example, using the "refund without return" rule for low-value products to avoid shipping costs, or using the "special handling of returns” rule to manage large-item returns as cost effectively as possible. You can create both rule types in your Merchant Center account. After you've created rules, you can label your products with things like "refund without return" or "special handling" to match each new rule.

When to use

Optional for each product

If you want to set one or more return rules for specific products or groups of products, use the return_rule_label attribute to apply a label to individual products, such as products with returnless refund policies or products that require special return processing. You can create return rules and labels in Merchant Center under "Shipping and Returns". If you don’t need to apply a return rule label to a product, a standard return label will be generated when a customer returns the product.

A product can have more than one return rule label so the field can be repeated. If a product has both returnless refunds and special return processing labels, then returnless refunds will take priority.

Format

Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure we understand the data you're submitting. 

Type	Unicode characters (Recommended: ASCII only)
Limits	Max 100 characters
Repeated field	Yes

File format	Example value
Text feeds	return_rule_label
XML feeds	​<g:return_rule_label>my_label</g:return_rule_label>

If you choose to use the Content API to add the return_rule_label attribute, you’ll need to use the custom attributes feature.

File Format	Example entry
Content API (JSON)	"customAttributes": [    {      "name": "return_rule_label",      "value": "my return rule label"    }, ]

To format your data for Content API, see the Content API for Shopping.

• Learn more about the format requirements for repeated and/or group attributes in text feeds
• Learn more about the format requirements for repeated and/or group attributes in Google sheets

Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to make sure you submit high-quality data for your products.

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.

• Don't submit invalid unicode characters. These characters are generally added during your file's encoding process. To avoid them, use UTF-8 encoding. To help prevent encoding issues, submit files in a compressed format. Examples of invalid unicode characters include:
  • Control characters (e.g., U+200D)
  • Function characters
  • Private area characters
  • Surrogate pairs
  • Unassigned code points

Examples

Products that do not use a return rule 

Product	Skater dress
title	Skater dress - Black
google_product_category	Clothing & Accessories: > Clothing > Dresses
return_policy_label	my clothing return policy label
return_rule_label	[Leave blank]

Products that use a different return rule 

Product	Television
title	LG 86” Nanocell TV
google_product_category	Electronics > Video > Televisions
return_policy_label	my electronics return policy label
return_rule_label	Needs oversized freight returns

 

Product	Computer monitor
title	Google Monitor Curved Display - 27
google_product_category	Electronics > Video > Computer monitors
return_policy_label	my electronics return policy label
return_rule_label	Avoid return shipping cost products

 

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