Google Launches New Schema.org Support Data for Retailer Shipping Details {Ecommerce SEO}

With the internet revolution, there has been a very sudden change in the way businesses operate. 

The world witnessed the rise of dotcom entrepreneurs, but at the same time, a lot happened in the retail industry.

Google, which happens to be the world’s most used search engine, started developing products, applications, software, and interfaces that would specifically allow the retailers at all levels to go online with their products and reach a broader audience.

Over the years, a lot of changes have been introduced with the sole purpose of helping retailers and small businesses to boost their performance, and some very evident examples for that include product rich results that is the topmost bar which consists of product images with prices, and then the product overview page, store catalog and opening hours and lot more.

Google has been actively working to develop a better interface for both retailers and customers. 

Lately, several changes were introduced for sellers without a Google Merchant Central account to list and showcase their products for free on specific product-related Google search results.

On 22nd September, a blog article was published on the official Google webmaster central blog which clearly stated that as an alternative for retailers and sellers to become eligible for showing the shipping details on the Google search results page, which was earlier possible only through the Google Merchant Central, the search engine giant has come up with the new Schema.org support data for retailer shipping data. 

#1 Redefining Product Overview and Listings

This time, Google came up with the announcement that it now supports a new schema mark-up that redefines how product listings appear in the search results. Earlier, the product overview sections were limited to showing the images and prices of the products. However, this time the focus has shifted more towards organizing the shipping details.

Considering the latest schema.org support data for retailer shipping data, the new mark-up would allow the customers to explore more details regarding their queries about shipping, such as delivery charges, delivery location, expected delivery times, and other feasible options.

Currently, this option is available for US-based sellers only and could be seen only through a mobile phone device that uses English as the default language.

How to Use the New Schema.Org Mark-Up 

To make their products appear in the latest format, the sellers must add the necessary data for “Shipping Details.” Shipping data includes exact details about delivery, shipping charges, shipping location, address, business days and timings, etc.

There is an exciting way how this entire new schema mark-up operates to make product listings include shipping details. Based on the retailer’s preferences and shipping details, the search results would consist of the relevant products available to be shipped upon factors like location and open hours, etc. for the consumer.

However, if you’re comfortable using the older format and do not want to switch, then you have the choice to update shipping settings through the regular merchant central account. The new schema.org support data for retailer shipping data gives flexibility to sellers who aren’t registered with the Google Merchant Central.

Where to Find the Shipping Details

The new schema.org that supports retail shipping data shows up with the related shipping results either on the overview section for products or on the store section, particularly for some specific products only.

This way, Google allows consumers to explore more in detail without browsing through retailer websites to confirm the shipping details; at the same time, it would help the retailers reach more potential costumers based on the locations they deliver and other parameters for shipping.

Surveys have suggested that people look for shipping details and expect easy accessibility to such useful info; otherwise, customers have to explicitly look for the shipping details. 

Now that Google has launched the new schema.org support data for retailer shipping data, it would become even enjoyable to see what other retail and industry changes are yet to witness.

This small innovation would now shape the way people shop online, which makes this such an important topic that deserves all the business owners and retailers’ attention.