In March 2025, Google made an important update to its structured data guidelines that will affect all ecommerce stores. The update is focused on how merchants provide information about their return policies. From now on, Google requires businesses to specify which country their return policies apply to when using structured data. This change will help improve the visibility of your ecommerce products in Google search results, ensuring users can find the return information they need more easily.
If you run an online store, you must be aware of this update and take the necessary steps to adjust your product pages. In this blog, we’ll explain what this update means, how it affects you, and how to implement the changes in your structured data to maintain visibility on Google.
What is Structured Data, and Why is it Important?
Before diving into the update, let’s quickly review what structured data is and why it matters.
Structured data is a way of organizing and marking up information on a webpage so that search engines like Google can easily understand the content. It helps search engines display more detailed and rich results, such as product prices, reviews, availability, etc.
For example, structured data can help Google display your product’s price, availability, and ratings directly in the search results, making it easier for potential customers to get the information they need.
Merchants have been using structured data for years, especially for product pages. Now, Google has updated the requirements for how return policies should be marked up in structured data.
What Has Changed?
The most significant change in Google’s guidelines is that returnPolicyCountry is now a required field. Merchants must specify which country their return policies apply to when they use structured data to describe their products.
Previously, the MerchantReturnPolicy type included key details about a store’s return policy, such as the number of days a product can be returned, return fees, and how the return is processed (whether by mail or in-store). However, Google didn’t require merchants to specify which country the return policy applied to. This has changed, and businesses must indicate this information in their structured data.
What Does the Update Mean for Merchants?
If you run an ecommerce store, this update means you’ll need to update your existing structured data markup. Specifically, you must add the returnPolicyCountry field within the MerchantReturnPolicy schema.
For example, let’s say you have a product that is only available for return in Switzerland. Your structured data would need to look something like this:
In this example:
- returnPolicyCountry is set to “CH” (the ISO code for Switzerland), meaning the return policy applies specifically to Switzerland.
- returnPolicyCategory refers to the type of return policy, such as whether returns are within a limited time window or have specific conditions.
- merchantReturnDays tells customers how many days they have to return the product.
- The return method and return fees outline how the return should be made (by mail or in-store) and whether there are any fees.
Why Is This Change Important?
This change is important because it will help both Google and customers understand the exact terms of your return policy. Without this specific country information, Google may not show your products correctly in search results, leading to missed opportunities.
Additionally, users will benefit from clearer and more accurate return policy details. For example, a customer in the United States won’t be confused about whether they can return a product in their country if the structured data clearly says “US” as the applicable return policy country.
If your ecommerce business operates in multiple countries or regions, you need to customize your return policies for each market. For example, if you sell products in both the US and Canada, you must create separate structured data for each country—one for the US and one for Canada—so that customers in each country see the correct return policy information.
How to Implement the Changes
To comply with this update, here’s what you need to do:
- Review Your Existing Structured Data
- Go through your product pages and review your structured data to ensure you’re already including the MerchantReturnPolicy schema. If you haven’t set it up yet, now is the time to start.
- Add the returnPolicyCountry Field
- Make sure to include the returnPolicyCountry field in your structured data. Use the correct two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code for each country where your return policy applies. For example:
- US for the United States
- GB for the United Kingdom
- DE for Germany
- Validate Your Structured Data
- After updating your structured data, use Google’s Rich Results Test tool to validate that everything is set up correctly. This tool will let you know if any errors exist in your markup and help ensure your data is readable by Google.
- Monitor Performance in Google Search Console
- Once the changes are live, you can use Google Search Console to monitor the performance of your product pages. Check for any warnings or issues related to structured data and fix them as needed.
Additional Recommended Properties
While the returnPolicyCountry field is the major change, Google’s documentation also suggests adding other properties to provide comprehensive return policy information. These include:
- merchantReturnDays: How long do customers have to return a product?
- Returnees: Whether returns are free or if the customer needs to pay.
- returnMethod: How the product can be returned (e.g., by mail, in-store).
- returnShippingFeesAmount: The cost of return shipping, if applicable.
Including these details will make your return policy more transparent, which can improve customer trust and experience.
Conclusion
Google’s update to structured data requirements for return policies is an important change that ecommerce merchants must address. By ensuring that your structured data includes the returnPolicyCountry field, you’ll be helping both Google and your customers understand your return policies more clearly.
Take the time to review and update your product pages with the new structured data requirements. This will improve your visibility in search results and create a better shopping experience for your customers.\
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