Product schema is structured data, using the Schema.org Product type, that describes an item for sale on a web page: its name, image, brand, price, availability and, where they exist, reviews and ratings. It helps Google understand a product page precisely and makes the page eligible for richer listings, such as prices, stock status and star ratings shown in the results.
How Product schema works
Product markup is added to the page code, usually as JSON-LD, and describes what the shopper can already see. The core is a Product with a name, image and description, plus identifiers such as sku, brand and a GTIN where the item has one. Inside it sits an Offer with the price, priceCurrency and availability. For a UK shop, a ceramic mug priced at £18.00 would have a price of 18.00, a priceCurrency of GBP and availability set to InStock.
Google uses this markup for two kinds of result. Product snippets show extra detail, such as ratings or price, on ordinary result listings, and suit review or comparison pages as well as shops. Merchant listings are for pages where the product can actually be bought, and they can feed richer shopping displays across Google. Merchant listings need price information and benefit from extra detail, including:
- shippingDetails Delivery cost and times, with a shipping destination of GB, for example free standard delivery in two to four working days.
- hasMerchantReturnPolicy The return window and method, with an applicable country of GB.
- aggregateRating and review: only where genuine reviews appear on the page.
At the time of writing (October 2026), Google also lets merchants set shipping and returns policies at account level in Google Merchant Center, or through Organization markup, which saves repeating them on every product page.
Why it matters for a UK business
For an online shop, the search results are a shop window. A listing showing a price, “In stock” and a delivery cost answers the questions a shopper has before they click, and tends to attract buyers who are ready to purchase. Products without markup can still appear, but Google has to guess the details, and guesses can be wrong or missing. Product markup is part of being eligible for a rich result; it never guarantees one.
UK rules give the details real weight. Prices shown to consumers should include VAT. Online shoppers generally have a 14-day right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, so a returns policy in your markup should not suggest less than the law allows. Fake reviews are banned outright under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which the Competition and Markets Authority enforces, so rating markup must reflect real, unedited customer reviews.
Common mistakes
- Markup that disagrees with the page, such as an old price after a sale ends, or InStock on an item that has sold out.
- Prices without VAT on a consumer shop, or the wrong currency because a plugin defaulted to US dollars.
- Adding aggregateRating with no visible reviews, or copying ratings from another site.
- Leaving GTINs blank for branded goods that have them.
- Marking up category pages as if they were a single product.
- Theme and plugin both outputting Product markup, so the page carries two conflicting versions.
How to act on it
Pick a typical product page and run it through Google’s Rich Results Test to see what markup already exists. Shopify, WooCommerce and most ecommerce platforms add some by default, but it is often incomplete. Check that price, currency, availability and images are correct, then add what is missing: brand, GTIN, shipping and returns details, and ratings if you collect genuine reviews.
Make sure the markup updates automatically when prices or stock change, and keep it consistent with your Merchant Center feed if you run one. In Search Console, watch the Product snippets and Merchant listings reports for errors. If you would like your product markup audited and fixed across the catalogue, my schema markup service handles it.