Delivery restrictions: how to state them for Merchant Center

State delivery restrictions on the product page and the shipping page: places you skip, items your carrier refuses, collection-only goods. Then set the same limits in Merchant Center, so your listings stop at the same borders as your checkout. A restriction found at checkout is a refund, a complaint and a wasted click.

Major4 min read

By Edvinas Ivanauskas How the guides are reviewed

Why this matters

Google’s “About landing page requirements” page is direct: “If the product has delivery restrictions (for example: it can be only picked up in store), they should be explicitly written on the landing page.” Not in a footnote on the terms page. On the product page, where the decision is made.

Merchant Center needs the same limits. The “Availability [availability]” page asks you to “Ship the product to all of the locations that you support in your product data and shipping”, and names the usual gap: “One common availability mismatch is that your shipping settings don’t reflect your delivery locations accurately.” Collection alone won’t do, with two exceptions: “In-store pickup is not currently supported with the exception of Argentina and Chile.” The “Checkout requirements and best practices” page adds: “Ensure that all products you advertise are available for either door-to-door delivery or collection point shipping in the countries you sell products in.”

Partial coverage inside a country has its own setting. The same checkout page says “If you only sell products in certain locations within a country, or you have different availability per region, use regional availability or exclude regions in your shipping settings.” The availability page adds that if you exclude a region, you should “ensure all shipping services have the same configuration to exclude this region.” A service that misses the exclusion still covers that region, whatever the other services say.

The Misrepresentation policy lists “Missing merchant terms and conditions or shipping information” as an omission, and an undisclosed exclusion is exactly that. Whole countries are a targeting question, covered in target countries in Merchant Center; your wider delivery terms belong in the shipping policy.

The free scan does not check whether your shipping page says where you deliver, so read it yourself and make sure the list is there. Your Merchant Center exclusions are outside the scan too, so set them by hand from the same list. The misrepresentation checker shows each shipping check in the scan.

Typical evidence

Compare where you advertise and deliver

Your public shipping policy should explain the markets you serve. StoreVerifier can read that wording; compare it with the relevant Merchant Center targets yourself before advertising there.

Coverage reconciliation

Region

GMC targets

Policy ships

United Kingdom (mainland)

Republic of Ireland

Northern Ireland

Compare manuallyTwo rows where Merchant Center says “yes” and the policy says “no”. Keep both lists in your own checklist and reconcile them after each market change.

The public signals this check looks for:

Checkout refuses Northern Ireland, the Highlands or offshore postcodes, and the shipping p…
Checkout refuses Northern Ireland, the Highlands or offshore postcodes, and the shipping page keeps quiet about it.
A product that can only be collected, such as a large or hazardous item, is listed as if i…
A product that can only be collected, such as a large or hazardous item, is listed as if it can be delivered.
Your carrier refuses batteries, liquids or aerosols for some destinations, and the product…
Your carrier refuses batteries, liquids or aerosols for some destinations, and the product page is silent about it.
Merchant Center excludes a region in one shipping service but not in the others
Merchant Center excludes a region in one shipping service but not in the others.
The shipping page says “we may not deliver to some remote areas” without naming them
The shipping page says “we may not deliver to some remote areas” without naming them.

What it looks like once it is right

The shipping page says “UK mainland only: we do not deliver to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and Islands, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.” Every Merchant Center shipping service excludes the same postcode areas.

Common mistakes

Common mistake

The shipping page says “UK delivery 2–4 days”. Checkout rejects Northern Ireland and Highland postcodes, and Merchant Center delivers to the whole United Kingdom. A shopper in Belfast finds out at the payment step.

Fix checklist

List every place you skip and every product your carrier refuses: whole regions, postcode areas, islands, P.O. boxes, oversized or hazardous goods.
Name them on the shipping page in plain words: “We do not deliver to the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or BFPO addresses.”
Put product-specific restrictions on the product page next to the price, for example “UK mainland delivery only” or “Collection from our Leeds warehouse only”.
In Merchant Center, go to Shipping and returns and exclude the same regions or postcodes in every shipping service, not just one.
Where the product is available only in some regions, set it out of stock for the regions it cannot reach, or use regional availability if it is offered in your country.
Keep collection-only products out of your delivered offers; Google’s availability page says in-store pickup is supported only in Argentina and Chile.
Test checkout with one address from each excluded area and confirm the page, the checkout and Merchant Center refuse the same places.

One footprint, two surfaces

The regions you ship and the countries GMC targets describe exactly the same map.

Ships here

UK mainland

Excluded

NI · Channel Islands · Isle of Man

MatchGMC target countries set to the same footprint

Questions merchants ask

Where do delivery restrictions need to appear for Google Shopping?

On the landing page. Google's landing page requirements say that if a product has delivery restrictions, such as being available for store pickup only, they should be explicitly written on the landing page. Repeat them on your shipping page, and set the same limits in Merchant Center.

Can I list products that are collection-only on Google Shopping?

Generally not as deliverable offers. Google's availability page says in-store pickup is not currently supported with the exception of Argentina and Chile, and its checkout requirements ask that advertised products be available for door-to-door delivery or collection point shipping.

How do I stop listings showing in areas I don’t deliver to?

Exclude those regions or postcodes in your Merchant Center shipping settings, in every shipping service, or use regional availability where it is offered. Google's checkout requirements point to both for products you only sell in certain locations within a country.

Remediation

Risk signal

Every store has a few places it can’t reach. Name them on the page, exclude them in every shipping service, and the shopper who cannot buy finds out before they try.

PriorityAddress and document this finding as part of the store’s remediation work.

EvidenceRecord the current state before each change, apply the fix, then capture the corrected state so every change is evidenced.

Similar cases

Sources

Last reviewed 29 Sep 2026.

That is one issue. The library documents 134.

The free scan lists what it finds on your store. The paid report adds the affected pages, captured evidence and step-by-step fixes. Start free, with no account needed.