- Short answer
- No application: approved products in Merchant Center enroll you automatically; the badge needs an “Exceptional” overall score, in seven countries.
- Badge countries
- Australia, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand, UK, US; elsewhere a score without the badge
- How it's judged
- Against other merchants: “Exceptional” overall, not in each category, but performing well in all required metrics
- Update lag
- Up to 30 days for policy changes, such as returns
- On your storefront
- Google & YouTube app store widget, switched on under App embeds
Who awards the badge, and do you have to apply?
Google awards it, and there is no application. With a Merchant Center account and approved products, you are enrolled in Google's Store Quality program automatically; Shopify's help calls it the Shopping experience scorecard. Not connected yet? Set up Google Shopping first.
For the badge, your overall quality score must rank “Exceptional” against all other merchants, and you must perform well in all required metrics, though not “Exceptional” in each category. The badge runs in seven countries: Australia, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
Shopify's Google listings help links two Google articles on its scorecard, one of them older; current rules are on Google's Store Quality page.
How to raise your Store Quality score
- Open the Store Quality Scorecard in Merchant Center. It shows whether you qualify and, if not, personalized recommendations.
- Fill in shipping and returns. Google rates delivery time and cost, return window and cost. Only your default return policy for each country counts. Set them in Merchant Center; if the Google & YouTube channel imports your shipping settings, edit shipping rates in your General shipping profile in Shopify.
- Improve browsing and purchase: high-resolution images, images per item, desktop and mobile site speed, promotion disapproval rate, and accepted e-wallets (PayPal, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay).
- Check again later. Policy changes, such as returns, can take up to 30 days to show in your store quality and may then affect your badge status.
Store rating also counts; a blank one in the scorecard could mean few reviews, so add Google Customer Reviews.
Google updates the badge criteria regularly, and those changes alone can win or lose you the badge, independent of your signal quality.
Where the badge shows, and the Shopify store widget
The badge is displayed on Google and may appear on a limited set of merchant websites. On your storefront, the Google & YouTube app's store widget highlights your store quality: in Online Store > Themes > Customize > App embeds toggle Store widget and save.
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