If you are running local listings in Google Merchant Center and operate in the UK, the EU, or any EFTA country, this is something you need to know. Google has introduced a new attribute for your primary feed called the pickup cost [pickup_cost]. In this article, I will walk you through what it is, how to set it up correctly, and what to watch out for.
What Is the Pickup Cost Attribute?
The pickup cost attribute allows you to specify the fee a consumer must pay or reserve before they can pick up a product in-store. This is not the same as your product price. Think of it as a separate reservation or handling fee that sits alongside the product’s actual price.
For example, let’s say you are selling a piece of furniture for €1,000. Your pickup cost is €250. That means the consumer pays €250 online to reserve the product, and then pays the remaining €750 when they collect it from the store. These two values are separate, and that is exactly what this attribute is designed to communicate to Google, and to your customers.
Who Needs This Attribute?
This attribute is required if you are charging a pickup cost and you are operating in any of the following markets:
- United Kingdom
- EU countries
- EFTA countries
If you are not charging a pickup fee for in-store pickup, then this attribute does not apply to you. But if you are, and you are in one of those markets, then this is not optional, it is a requirement.
Sub-Attributes You Need to Know
The pickup cost attribute works with two sub-attributes:
1. Pickup Cost Flat Rate [pickup_cost_flat_rate] This is the actual fee you charge for in-store pickup. You submit it as a numeric value with the currency code — for example, 3.00 EUR or 250.00 GBP. Make sure you use a period as the decimal separator, not a comma.
2. Pickup Cost Free Threshold [pickup_cost_free_threshold] (optional) This is where it gets interesting. If products above a certain price do not require a pickup fee, then you submit that threshold here. For example, if your free threshold is 20.00 EUR, then any in-store product priced at €20 or more would not show a pickup cost. Only products below €20 would display the flat rate. If you do not set a threshold, then the flat rate will apply to all eligible products.
How to Format It in Your Feed
Text feed example (with both sub-attributes):
Name: pickup_cost(pickup_cost_flat_rate:pickup_cost_free_threshold)
Value: 3.00 EUR:20.00 EURText feed example (flat rate only):
Name: pickup_cost(pickup_cost_flat_rate)
Value: 3.00 EURXML feed example:
xml
<g:pickup_cost>
<g:pickup_cost_flat_rate>3.00 USD</g:pickup_cost_flat_rate>
<g:pickup_cost_free_threshold>20.00 USD</g:pickup_cost_free_threshold>
</g:pickup_cost>One important thing to note: if you do not name the sub-attributes explicitly, Google will assume they are submitted in this order, flat rate first, free threshold second. So make sure your order is correct if you go that route.
Minimum Requirements
These are the things you absolutely need to get right:
1. Always include the currency code. Do not just submit 3.00, submit 3.00 EUR or 3.00 GBP. Google needs the ISO 4217 currency code alongside the value.
2. The value must match what is displayed on your website. Whatever pickup cost you submit in your feed must exactly match what the customer sees on your product landing page or at checkout. If there is a discrepancy, your products can get disapproved.
3. Display the pickup cost on your product page. This one is critical. Google will crawl your website, and they want to see the pickup cost clearly displayed. The way I recommend doing this is to show the main product price first, that is always the most important price, and then show the pickup cost underneath it. Label it clearly as “Pickup Cost” so there is no confusion. You might also want to add a small tooltip or popup that explains what pickup cost means, because not all consumers will be familiar with that term.
4. Disclose the fee before payment. The pickup cost needs to be visible to the shopper before they enter any payment information. Do not hide it until the checkout stage.
What About Percentage-Based Pickup Costs?
One thing that comes up regularly is when your pickup cost is a percentage of the product price rather than a fixed fee. The attribute does not support percentages; it only accepts a flat rate. So if your pickup cost is, say, 25% of the product price, you need to calculate that value beforehand and submit it as a flat rate in the feed.
For Shopify users, a tool like Multifeeds is great for this. You can add a formula in your feed configuration to calculate the percentage of the product price and output that as the pickup cost flat rate. That way, each product gets the correct value dynamically without you having to update it manually.
Best Practices
A few extra things to keep in mind:
- Do not submit store-specific costs. The pickup cost should be submitted at the product level in your primary feed, not per store location.
- Do not submit the attribute more than once per product. Google will not accept two different pickup cost values for the same product.
- Submit for every region where pickup is available. If you have pickup available in a region and you do not submit a pickup cost for it, your product could be disapproved.
- Round your values correctly. For example, instead of
1.0012 EUR, submit1.01 EUR. Google will round it anyway, but it is better to control this yourself. - If you want to exclude certain products from pickup, you can use the pickup method
[pickup_method]attribute with the valuenot supported.
Primary Feed, Not the Supplemental Feed
This is something worth repeating because it is a common point of confusion. The pickup cost attribute goes in your primary feed. It does not belong in the local inventory feed, which is your supplemental feed. Keep that distinction in mind when setting this up.
Wrapping Up
The pickup cost attribute is a fairly straightforward addition to your product data, but getting the details right does matter, especially the website display requirement and the currency formatting. If you operate in the UK, EU, or EFTA markets and charge a fee for in-store pickup, make sure this attribute is in your primary feed and that your product pages reflect the same information.