The New Program Says It Can Boost Rankings
On February 22, many Merchant Center users received emails that the platform was introducing a “Shopping experience scorecard program in order to measure the level of customer service you provide.”
About the Scorecard Program
According to Google Merchant Center Help’s article, by meeting certain criteria your listings will then receive a badge that improves users’ trust, and your listings will be more prominent in search.
However, joining the program is not mandatory, and choosing not to join will not reflect poorly on your appearance in search results.
What Google Will Grade You On
If you decide to join the program, you will be rated based on:
- Average delivery time – Information shared on how many days it should take customers to receive their orders
- Average shipping cost – Information shared on the average cost for customers to receive orders (excludes item cost)
- Average return window – Information shared on how long customers have to return an item
- Average return cost – Information shared on average costs for customers to return/restock an item
- On-time delivery – Percentage of orders that are received on time by customers
Then, based on the data Google gathers, you will be rated with “Excellent,” “Comparable,” or “Opportunity” on each of the above metrics.
How to Set Up Your Shopping Scorecard
First, you will need to sign in to your Merchant Center account. Then, from the navigation menu, click Growth. Under the Growth dropdown, “Shopping experience scorecard” should display near the bottom.
Once you have joined the program, you then are able to enter information on your shipping services and return policy through multi-step forms.
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