Where should shipping and return terms be supplied to Google?

Definition: Shipping and return terms belong in Merchant Center account policies for store-wide rules, with product-feed attributes for exceptions. Google also supports website structured data, with a documented precedence order when several sources supply the same policy information.

Key facts

• As of 17 October 2026, Google's account shipping instructions support policies covering all products or groups selected through shipping_label.
• Merchant Center's return policy instructions require return terms to remain consistent with the website.
• Google's returns attribute documentation allows product-level return details to override account policies.
• Google's merchant listing guide places product-level feeds above account settings and website markup in its precedence order.

Where do account policies go?

Google's shipping setup documentation places the controls under Products & store > Shipping and returns > Shipping policies > Add shipping policy in Merchant Center. A policy specifies destination countries, the products covered, shipping speed and shipping costs. For product groups, the shipping_label attribute must already be present in the product data before shipping settings are configured.

For returns, Google's return setup instructions use Shipping and returns > Return policies > Add return policy. The setup requests the website's return policy URL and details such as accepted product conditions, the return window, return methods and refund processing time. The published policy must be accessible without login or personal information.

What belongs in a product feed?

A product feed is product data submitted to Merchant Center. The account shipping documentation states that product-level shipping prices and delivery times override account settings for the matching location when the price sub-attribute is supplied.

For returns, the return policy label specification assigns an existing non-default policy to a product or group. Its XML example is:

<g:return_policy_label>my_label</g:return_policy_label>

The label must identify the intended exception policy. A missing label value leaves the configured default policy applicable.

Google's separate returns attribute specification supports supplying return details directly in the feed through returns. Offers using these product-level return details do not require an account-level return policy. This provides a different configuration route from selecting an existing policy through a label.

Which website markup does Google support?

Structured data is a standardized format for describing page content. Google's shipping policy documentation supports a standard merchant policy through ShippingService, nested under Organization with hasShippingService. Product-specific shipping uses OfferShippingDetails under Offer.shippingDetails.

Google's return policy documentation uses MerchantReturnPolicy under Organization.hasMerchantReturnPolicy for a standard policy. An exception for an individual product goes under Offer. Product-level policies support fewer properties than organization-level policies in both cases.

Which source takes precedence?

The merchant listing documentation gives this order, from strongest to weakest:

1. Product-level feeds submitted in Merchant Center.
2. Settings in the Content API for Shopping.
3. Settings in Merchant Center or Search Console.
4. Product-level merchant listing markup.
5. Organization-level markup.

This order makes account settings relevant when diagnosing a markup change that has no visible effect. Google's return policy documentation gives a concrete example: when both Search Console settings and website return markup exist, Google uses the Search Console information.

Related terms

• Google Merchant Center
• OfferShippingDetails structured data
• MerchantReturnPolicy structured data
• Product structured data

FAQ

Must I add a return label to every product?

According to Google's return setup instructions, you can leave the label column blank when the default policy applies. For an exception, supply the label created for that policy.

Can I configure policies through Search Console?

Yes. Google's merchant listing guide documents account-level shipping and return settings in Search Console as an alternative configuration route.

Sources

1. Google Merchant Center Help, "Set up shipping settings for an entire account", accessed 17 October 2026
2. Google Merchant Center Help, "Set up your return policies for Shopping ads and free listings", accessed 17 October 2026
3. Google Merchant Center Help, "Return policy label [return_policy_label]", accessed 17 October 2026
4. Google Merchant Center Help, "Returns [returns]", accessed 17 October 2026
5. Google Search Central, "Merchant shipping policy (ShippingService) structured data", accessed 17 October 2026
6. Google Search Central, "Merchant return policy (MerchantReturnPolicy) structured data", accessed 17 October 2026
7. Google Search Central, "Merchant listing (Product, Offer) structured data", accessed 17 October 2026

---

Check how a page reads to answer engines. Open the GEO score analyzer