Availability
Availability is a product’s stock status as a channel reads it, which in a Google feed is one of four values: in stock, out of stock, pre-order or backorder.
- Stock status
What it means
Availability tells shoppers and channels whether a product can be bought now. Google Merchant Center requires it for every product, and its product feed takes four values: in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder and backorder.1
Supplier stock columns say Yes, 12, Call or Low instead. Google’s own example of a value it rejects is plain: you can submit in_stock or out_of_stock “but you cannot submit ‘pending’”.2 Each wording in the column needs mapping to one value, decided once and applied to every row.
The value must also agree everywhere Google looks: the landing page, the structured data, the checkout and the feed. In Google’s words, “A mismatch in one of these will trigger a product disapproval.”1 A product you no longer sell should be removed, not marked out of stock.1
Think of it like this
The light on a vending machine button does the same job. It tells you whether pressing the button will work, not how many cans are left inside.
For example
A supplier’s Stock column reads “In Stock (12)”, “Yes”, “0” and “Awaiting stock, due in 3 weeks”. In the feed they become in_stock, in_stock, out_of_stock and, if you keep taking orders, backorder. The backorder also needs an availability date, in the feed and on the product page.1
Why it matters
Google checks availability against your website, and warns that “Too many products with incorrect availability can lead to account suspension.”3 The supplier’s stock on the day its file was sent is not your availability on the day a shopper clicks.
Not to be confused with
Availability is not the stock count. A supplier’s 12 is a quantity and a lead time such as “3 to 5 days” is a promise. The feed needs one of four values.
Sources
- Google Merchant Center Help. Availability [availability].
- Google Merchant Center Help. How to fix: Invalid product availability.
- Google Merchant Center Help. How to fix: Mismatched product availability.