Shopify Policy Pages for Google Merchant Center: Refund, Shipping and Contact

If you sell on Shopify and use Google Merchant Center, your policy pages are part of the product. Google's reviewers read them, the Google & YouTube app checks for them, and vague or missing policies are among the causes Google lists for Misrepresentation and Website needs improvement issues.

This guide covers what Shopify requires, what Google expects each policy to say, vague versus specific wording, and a structure you can adapt.

What Shopify requires for the Google & YouTube channel

Shopify's Google & YouTube channel requirements list the store conditions that must be in place. The ones that relate to policies and contact details are:

• You need to add a Refund Policy and Terms of Service to your online store, and these policies must be available in your footer menu. The setup checklist includes a shortcut to add them to the footer.
• You need to add your contact information to a page in your online store that customers can see, with at least one contact method: email address, phone number, mailing address, or contact form.
• Your store can't be in private mode, and you need a valid payment provider.

Treat these as the minimum. Google's own review looks at what the policies actually say.

What Google expects from each policy

Return and refund policy

Google's fix page for missing return and refund policy sets out three steps:

1. Make the policy easily accessible, for example with a link in the footer of every page.
2. Make sure it clearly states how you handle returns and refunds, including all requirements and any timelines, such as the reason for return or the return window.
3. Make sure it is consistent throughout your website, for example in the footer, on the returns page, and in any banner.

If you don't accept returns or refunds, Google says to state that clearly on your website.

Google's page on setting up return policies in Merchant Center adds that the policy should cover general cases such as buyer's remorse, not only defective products, must be accessible without logging in, and should state the return time frame, method, and fees, matching what you enter in Merchant Center.

Google's onboarding and review checklist goes further: state who pays return shipping, remove deceptive "hassle-free" claims, and keep return protocols such as restocking fees in the return and refund policy itself. For international shipping, the return window should begin after the estimated delivery date, not the purchase date.

Shipping policy

Google's page on what shipping information to provide breaks delivery time into three parts:

• Order cut-off time: the time an order must be placed by to meet your delivery estimate.
• Handling time: the business days needed to process an order before it ships.
• Transit time: the business days the carrier needs to deliver after pickup.

The onboarding checklist asks you to state where products ship from, name fulfilment partners, and list the regions or countries your inventory is dispatched from. It also asks you to show handling and transit times on product and checkout pages, and to make sure they match your Merchant Center shipping settings. If your shipping page says "3–5 days" and Merchant Center says 2 days, that is the kind of inconsistency a reviewer notices.

Contact information

Google's fix page for missing contact information asks you to show at least a business address, phone number, email, contact form, or social media business profile on your store, and to add a verified phone number in Merchant Center under Settings → Business info. It also says your business name, address, and phone number should be identical in your footer, on your contact page, and in Merchant Center.

Our guide to insufficient contact information covers this issue in full, including Shopify and WooCommerce steps.

Vague vs specific: examples

Reviewers can't approve a promise they can't check. These pairs show the difference. The specific versions are examples only. Use your own real numbers and terms.

Vague	Specific
"Hassle-free returns."	"You can return unused items in their original packaging within 30 days of delivery. Email us to start a return."
"Fast shipping worldwide."	"Orders placed before 2 pm (UK time) on a business day are dispatched the same day. UK delivery takes 1–2 business days. EU delivery takes 3–5 business days."
"Refunds are processed quickly."	"We refund to your original payment method within 5 business days of receiving your return."
"Contact us anytime."	"Email support@yourstore.com or use the form on our Contact page. We reply within one business day, Monday to Friday."
"Some items can't be returned."	"Personalised items and opened cosmetics are final sale and can't be returned unless faulty."

Each specific version answers what a shopper and a reviewer will ask: how long, how much, who pays, and how to start.

Setting up the pages in Shopify

Shopify's guide to adding store policies explains where everything lives:

1. Write or automate each policy. Go to Settings → Policies. Shopify supports automated policies for the return and refund policy, terms of service, shipping policy, and contact information. They pull details from your store settings and update when those settings change. Shopify notes that automated templates aren't legal advice, and that you should check the content reflects your business practices and doesn't promise delivery times you can't meet.
2. Set your return rules. Shopify's return and cancellation rules let you set a return window, return shipping costs, a restocking fee, and final sale items, also under Settings → Policies. Shopify notes that a generated written policy doesn't automatically include the return rules you set up. Check that your written policy says the same thing as your rules.
3. Add the policies to your footer. Shopify links policies in the checkout footer by default, but the channel requirements ask for them in your footer menu. Go to Content → Menus, open your footer menu, select Add menu item, search for each policy, and save.
4. Check the public URLs. Shopify publishes policies at fixed paths, such as /policies/refund-policy, /policies/shipping-policy, /policies/terms-of-service, and /policies/privacy-policy. Open each one in a private browser window to confirm it loads and contains your text.
5. Match Merchant Center. Google's guide for Shopify users setting up return policies recommends adding your return policy in both your Shopify admin and Merchant Center, under Shipping and returns → Return policies. Use the same window, method, and fees in both places.

If you use automated policies, Shopify's contact information policy pulls your store address and email from Settings → General. Check those details first, because an old address there will appear in your published policy.

A template structure you can adapt

The outline below is a structure, not finished wording. It is not legal advice. Consumer protection rules differ by country, and Shopify's own policy documentation recommends consulting a lawyer if you need help working out which requirements apply to your business. Replace every bracketed item with your real terms before publishing, and delete any section that doesn't apply.

Return and refund policy

1. Return window: [number] days from [delivery of the last item in the order].
2. Eligible items and condition: [unused, original packaging, tags attached].
3. Final sale exceptions: [list the categories].
4. How to start a return: [email address, contact form, or customer account link].
5. Return address: [full address].
6. Return shipping costs: [free / flat fee / paid by the customer].
7. Restocking fee: [none / percentage].
8. Refund method and timing: [original payment method, within X business days of receiving the item].
9. Damaged or incorrect items: [what the customer should do and what you will cover].
10. Exchanges: [whether you offer them and how].

Shipping policy

1. Where you ship from: [country or region, and fulfilment partner if any].
2. Destinations: [countries you ship to].
3. Order cut-off and handling time: [cut-off time and time zone, X business days].
4. Transit times by destination: [table of destination and business days].
5. Shipping costs and free-shipping thresholds: [table].
6. Duties and taxes for international orders: [who pays].
7. Tracking: [how and when customers receive it].
8. Lost or delayed parcels: [what to do].

Contact page

1. Business name as registered, and trading name if different.
2. Address that matches Merchant Center and any verification documents.
3. Email on your own domain, and a phone number you answer.
4. Contact form that you have tested.
5. Support hours and expected response time.

Before you request a review

• Refund policy and Terms of Service are in the footer menu on every page.
• Shipping and contact pages are linked from the footer too.
• Every policy page loads without a login and contains no template placeholders.
• Return window, fees, and method match in the written policy, Shopify return rules, and Merchant Center.
• Handling and transit times match between your shipping page, product pages, and Merchant Center shipping settings.
• Business name, address, and phone are identical across the footer, contact page, Shopify settings, and Merchant Center.

When everything is live, follow our step-by-step recovery guide to request the review, and read about review limits and cool-downs before you click the button.

FAQ

Does Google require a shipping policy page on Shopify? Shopify's channel requirements name the Refund Policy and Terms of Service as required footer links. Google's guidance also asks for clear shipping information, including handling and transit times that match your Merchant Center settings. In practice, publish a shipping policy and link it from the footer as well.

What if I don't accept returns? Google's fix page says that if you don't accept returns or refunds, you should state that clearly on your website. Say it plainly in the policy, and set the same option in Merchant Center.

Why was I flagged for Misrepresentation if my policies exist? Existing isn't the same as clear. Google's contact information fix page lists unclear shipping and return policies, and inconsistent business details, among the typical reasons for Misrepresentation and Website needs improvement outcomes. See our misrepresentation guide for the other common causes.

Check your policy pages in one scan

Policy gaps are easy to miss when you have written the pages yourself. UnlockMerchantCenter scans your store's public pages for missing or unclear policies, footer links, contact consistency, and the other trust signals Google's reviewers look at.

Run a free store scan → See what a reviewer would see before you request a review.

UnlockMerchantCenter is an independent tool and isn't affiliated with Google or Shopify. Only Google can decide whether to approve or reinstate an account.