Free and Fast Shipping annotations are driving up the conversion rates
Free and Fast Shipping annotations are labels that appear on Google search results.
Ware2Go, a UPS Company, experimented the Free and Fast Shipping annotations on Google Merchant Center, and found that retailers displaying the free and fast annotations saw a 7% increase in conversions, a 10% increase in conversions per dollar, and a 9% overall conversion rate.
Free and Fast Shipping annotations on Google Merchant Center are labels that appear on Google search results, on the Shopping results. The annotations inform buyers that retailers can ship quickly and with a reliable fulfillment.
Free and Fast Shipping was in closed beta since 2019, and according to Sales & Orders, it was released for all merchants in the US last month.
How to access the Free and Fast Shipping annotations?
Free and Fast Shipping annotations are available for retailers connected with Google Merchant Center. Retailers need to have a product that is shipped for free to the customer, or a product that is delivered to a customer in 3 business days or sooner, including both transit time and handling time.
Google has conditions: retailers need to have an an active Merchant Center account with products opted into Shopping ads in the United States, web conversion tracking in the Google Ads account, active products in the Merchant Center account which the retailer identifies as free and fast, the account-level shipping settings configured for free and fast, the product feed attributes with the shipping_label and transit_time_label, and product landing or detail pages and checkout pages to message free and fast shipping.
Once all conditions are met, retailers can apply, via a form, for the free and fast shipping annotations.
65% of merchants report an increase of up to 25% in conversion rates when 1-2 day delivery was offered
Ware2Go realized a survey where 52% of merchants found that a fast shipping promise is the most effective tactic to increase cart conversion, with nearly 65% of merchants reporting an increase of up to 25% in conversion rates when 1-2 day delivery was offered.