If you have a Google Merchant Center account, you may have received an email a few days ago about a new measurement feature Google is introducing. Their Shopping experience scorecard program will alter the appearance and placement of your ad in the Shopping tab.
According to Google, the program’s purpose is to “reward businesses who provide an excellent customer service experience with increased visibility.” But what exactly does this mean, and what will the scorecard look like?
The program measures your business’s delivery time, shipping cost, return cost, and return window (designations are “excellent”, “comparable”, or “opportunity”) to calculate an aggregated customer service metric. (You can check your scores in Google’s Merchant Center.) Then, Google rewards high-scoring businesses with a badge of credibility as well as a higher ranking in the search results—a much more significant factor, in our opinion.
Here’s a look at two ads in the Shopping tab on Mobile. One has the badge, the other does not. It’s not terribly noticeable, but as the feature becomes familiar to users it could significantly influence behavior, particularly given that it indicates items purchased online will ship cheaply and quickly.
Our takeaway: this program is completely optional, and in the short term your business shouldn’t have any issues if you choose to ignore it. However, if a significant portion of your sales are ecommerce or if you simply want to get a leg up over your competitors online, the Shopping experience scorecard might be a desirable thing to pursue.
