New 2022 Features In The Google Merchant Center
Olivia Hendrzak
Project Manager
The Google Merchant Center is an excellent tool for business owners to promote their products. Through product data submission, you can update information about your online store and also maintain the latest product information for your Google Shopping ads (which used to be known as Product Listing Ads) and your free listings. In 2022, Google has added some new features inside the Google Merchant Center so let’s find out what they include.
Google Shopping Experience Scorecard
Earlier in the year, Google introduced the new Shopping Experience Scorecard to reward merchants who provide excellent customer service with a “trusted badge”, “boost in rankings”, and “other benefits”. This program was created to incentivize a great shopping and customer experience in your store. The Shopping Experience Scorecard is available to merchants who are opted in for free listings in the United States or are active on Buy on Google.
Boardroom Socks, a family owned ecommerce store that provides premium men’s dress socks, was one of our first clients to achieve the Trusted Store badge:
How Does It Work?
Google will compare your store against other merchants within free shopping listings in the following categories: shipping speed, shipping cost, return cost and return window. Once reviewed, you will be given a rating of “Excellent”, “Comparable”, or “Opportunity” for each of the four areas. In order to be eligible and receive a badge on your listing, you must provide the respective information for the four categories. The metrics from each of the four categories is calculated on a weighted average score within a fixed period.
Where Can I Find My Scores?
In order to find your Google Shopping experience scorecard, please follow the steps below:
- Log into Google Merchant Center
- On the left hand side, select Growth
- Under the Growth drop down, select Shopping Experience Scorecard
Google has stated that “based on our early testing, merchants displaying a trusted badge are more likely to receive clicks.”, in addition to, “seeing stronger traffic to lesser-known merchants”. The Google Shopping Experience Scorecard has been rolled out initially to some stores and will continue to roll out based on the scores within the four categories: shipping speed, shipping cost, return cost and return window.
New Insights Reporting for Free Listings
In addition to the Google Shopping Experience Scorecard, Google has announced that they will also be providing further reporting for merchants to gain insights on how their free product listings are performing. The new report outlines the total traffic, impressions and conversions on your product listings. In addition, you can also access the Price Insights under the Growth tab to show how your pricing is competing in SERPs as well as discuss Top Products.
If you are a savvy eCommerce store owner, it pays to keep up with Google Merchant Center’s new features so that you can work them to your advantage to promote your store and products. Want to find out more updates about Google’s offerings? Just stay tuned to SmartSites’ blog!
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