How to Set Up Shipping in Google Merchant Center
Add accurate shipping costs and delivery times in Merchant Center so products stay approved and look competitive.
Shipping cost and delivery time appear next to your price in Google Shopping, and shoppers compare them as closely as the price itself. Merchant Center needs accurate shipping information in many countries, and products without it can be disapproved with a "missing shipping" error.
Two ways to provide shipping
- Account-level shipping settings (recommended) โ set up shipping services once in Merchant Center, and they apply to your products.
- The
shippingattribute in your feed โ set costs per product. Useful when shipping differs a lot by product, but harder to maintain.
Step 1: Create a shipping service
In Merchant Center, open the shipping and returns settings and add a shipping service. Choose the country you ship to and the currency.
Step 2: Set delivery times
- Order cutoff time โ orders after this time ship the next day.
- Handling time โ days to pack and dispatch.
- Transit time โ days in delivery.
Be realistic. Promising faster delivery than you achieve leads to unhappy customers and possible policy problems.
Step 3: Set shipping rates
Choose the model that matches your store:
- Free shipping for all orders.
- Flat rate โ one cost per order.
- Based on order value โ for example free above โน999, โน60 below.
- Based on weight โ tiers by product weight (add
shipping_weightto your feed). - Carrier-calculated rates, where available in your country.
The costs must match what customers pay at checkout.
Step 4: Handle exceptions with shipping labels
If some products ship differently โ heavy furniture, fragile items โ add a shipping_label to them in your feed and create a separate rate for that label.
Step 5: Check diagnostics
After saving, check Products โ Diagnostics for shipping errors. Generate a clean feed with the Merchant Center feed generator and read how to fix Merchant Center errors.
A worked example
A home decor shop listed products with no shipping settings and saw dozens of items disapproved. It created one service for India: cutoff 2 pm, handling 1โ2 days, transit 3โ6 days, free above โน999 and โน79 below. Large mirrors got a "bulky" shipping label with a โน249 rate. Disapprovals cleared after the next review, and "Free delivery" started appearing on most listings.
If you are just starting, read how to list products on Google Shopping for free.
Quick shipping checklist
- Every country you target has a shipping service.
- Delivery times match what your checkout and policy page promise.
- Free delivery thresholds in Merchant Center match your website exactly.
- Heavy or bulky products have their own shipping label and rate.
- Products without weights are not stuck in weight-based rates.
- Holiday cut-offs are updated before festival seasons.
Shipping settings rarely change once set, so put a reminder in your calendar to review them whenever your courier prices or policies change.
Related guides
More free tools: browse all our free ecommerce tools, no sign-up needed.
Frequently asked questions
Is shipping information required in Merchant Center?
In many countries, yes. Missing shipping can cause disapprovals.
Does free shipping help in Google Shopping?
It often makes listings more attractive, as delivery cost is shown next to the price.
Can I set different shipping for some products?
Yes. Use shipping labels in your feed and separate rates in Merchant Center.
Should feed shipping and account settings both be used?
Usually choose one approach. Feed values override account settings for those products.