About point programs: Japan

The merchant point program on free listings allows you to surface redeemable points benefits to customers across Google surfaces. Point program benefits will display across different Google properties, such as Google Search, Wallet, and Maps.

Merchants listing their products in Japan via free listings can participate in this program.

Benefits

Engage and retain existing customers: Point programs enhance customers’ association with your brand during their shopping experience.
Attract new customers: Information on your loyalty (point) program will be available for the customers who aren’t members of the program.

How it works

All customers will be able to view your high-level loyalty information and benefits.

Types of loyalty programs

Free to join: Available for everyone. No membership fees or credit card sign ups are needed.
Spending amount: Available only to customers who have spent a certain amount on purchase in the past year.
Annual Fee: Available only to customers who pay for a subscription to your program.
Loyalty credit card: Available only for holders of merchant-branded credit cards.

Types of perks

Redeemable points: Customers gain points on their purchase, which they can redeem later.

Set up point programs in your Merchant Center account to allow your customers to view the potential points they can earn with a loyalty membership. You won’t incur any additional fee to set up this program.

How to implement point program

Step 1 of 5: Activate the point program card

Step 1 In Merchant Center, click the Setting & tools icon Tools and setting menu icon [Gear] .

Step 2 Select the "Add-ons" tab.

Step 3 Click Add on the ”Loyalty programs” add-on to begin.

Step 2 of 5: Add details of your point program

Step 1 Add the following details:

Program logo: This will show a logo of your point program to the customers.
Program name: Customers will find this on Google.
Program label: It can be the same as the program name (but use underscores instead of spaces). This label can be applied to your product feed to overwrite your default point earning ratio for the points that customers will earn for purchasing a specific product. This label can't be changed after submitting your program.
Program description: A brief description highlighting the benefits of your point program.
Program URL: A valid URL for customers to learn about your point program.

Step 3 of 5: Add point program membership rank benefits

You’ll specify points accrual and other details for each membership rank.

Step 1 Add Membership rank name and Label, and select one of the Requirements for this rank: “Free to join”, “Spending amount”, “Credit card”, or “Annual fee”.

Step 2 Select Point benefits if members earn points for purchases.

Enter how many points will be awarded for each purchase amount.
Enter the tax rate if the points earned are calculated based on a tax exclusive product price.
- If you leave it blank, the amount of points will be calculated by applying the point ratio to the price provided via the sale price [sale_price] or the price [price] attribute, which includes tax. If you enter the tax rate, tax will be deducted from the value in the sale price [sale_price] attribute or the price [price] attribute before the calculation. This will apply to all of your product listings.

Step 3 Select Other benefit to enter additional benefits such as “Member-exclusive shopping events", or "Free gift on your birthday”.

Step 4 Click OK.

Step 5 If your point program has multiple membership ranks, click + Add a membership rank to add additional tiers.

Step 4 of 5: Select third party programs and submit

Step 1 If applicable, select third party point programs and payment methods. You’re able to select multiple third party providers.

Step 2 Click Next and review your information.

Step 3 Click Send for approval to submit and send for review.

Google reviews all point program data to ensure it adheres to editorial standards and that the information provided in Merchant Center matches what’s available on your website.

Step 5 of 5: Specify points for specific products (Optional)

If a portion of your products doesn’t offer points that match the default earning ratio set in Merchant Center, you can submit point values via your feed to override the default value.

Step 1 Use sub-attribute loyalty points [loyalty_points] of point program [loyalty_program] to configure loyalty points. Learn more about Loyalty program [loyalty_program].

Step 2 Any products with point values submitted via your feed will override the default point earning ratio value set in Merchant Center. For the rest of the products, the default value will be used.

Step 3 Feed changes can be made if, for example, you want to display post-tax point values for some products while using pre-tax product price for most products.

Note: Google takes up to 72 hours to review your point program, and associated benefits before surfacing them across Google properties. You can check the status of the point program in the “point programs'' section under the “Marketing” tab.

If the program submission is disapproved, an email with the details will be sent to the administrators of your Merchant Center account. Learn more about Editorial guidelines for point program.

Point operators and pay partners

As a merchant, you can tell Google which third party point operators you partner with. Customers who earn points with your point operators can redeem and earn with your program. There are several ways that a customer earns operators’ points, such as selecting a payment method associated with a point operator.

Example

If a customer earns 10 points through your point program and 5 points through a point operator, they have 15 loyalty points for either point program as long as the customer is a member of both.

Note: View the list of available partners in Merchant Center.

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