Google has introduced new fields for structured data in its Merchant Listing search experiences. These new fields open the door for your business to display clarifying return information alongside the products you serve. These changes are primarily relevant to those presently using product structured data for Merchant listings on their sites but should interest those not leveraging this option. We will go over the details of these new fields and how your business can take advantage.  

What Happened?

Google offers different product experiences for users as they scroll their platform to inform their purchasing decisions. Google has provided businesses the opportunity to structure their product data across their web pages in a format that allows it to be used in ad experiences seen by users. 

This structured data spans a broad scope of product features that fall into the rough categories of ratings, shipping, pros and cons, availability, price drop, and now returns. This expansion to include return information could provide potential customers with one more reason to choose your product over another.

Your business can now associate return information with individual products using the following attributes.

Required Attributes

• applicableCountry
• Return policies must be specified to the individual countries they apply to.
• returnPolicyCategory
• Return policies must be categorized as finite, unlimited, or not-permitted.

Recommended Attributes

• merchantReturnDays
• The number of days customers have to return the product.
• returnFees
• This is required only if there is no return fee. Otherwise, use returnShippingFeesAmount instead.
• returnMethod
• The return method customers can use to complete the return.
• returnShippingFeesAmount
• If there is a fee to return the product, detail the monetary amount in this field.

This overview was compiled from the Google Search Central Documentation for merchant listings. A more detailed look at how to correctly structure data for these attributes is available here.

Keep in mind...

The primary focus of this post has been on how structured data can improve product sales; however, the uses for this feature extend well beyond just the uses for individual products. Businesses can use this structured data in a variety of ways to attract and retain the attention of prospective customers.

From structuring data in recipes listed on your website to movie reviews, structured data is a versatile tool to improve your searchability. To explore more of the applications for structured data, follow this link.

What’s Next?

This change has expanded a set of already valuable features that Google offers to businesses advertising on their platform. Understanding this change is key to ensuring your business is getting the most out of the ad experiences Google offers.

Overall, this change should signal to companies that these ad experiences are being invested in by Google and are worth the time it takes to break into advertising with product-structured data.

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