Below are the two shipping rate options for Google for WooCommerce. Theoretically, selecting option 1 should sync the WooCommerce settings to Google Merchant Center (GMC). However, in reality, selecting option 2 is what syncs the WooCommerce settings to GMC. Is my understanding incorrect?
I ask because if I select the first option, the ‘Shipping policies’ page in GMC is empty. Additionally, even if I select option 2 and set the shipping cost to 0, GMC marks the shipping as ‘flat rate’ instead of ‘Free shipping.’ Furthermore, I’ve found that the country list in the Google for WooCommerce plugin only has 88 countries, while the country list on the GMC website has 92.
Automatically sync my store’s shipping settings to Google.
My shipping settings are simple. I can manually estimate flat shipping rates.
Welcome to the Google for WooCommerce forum! I understand how configuring shipping settings properly is crucial for your Google Merchant Center (GMC) integration, and I’m here to help clarify things for you.
Between the two options, Option 1 (Automatically sync my store’s shipping settings to Google) is the one that pulls your actual WooCommerce shipping zones and rates directly into Google Merchant Center. This is useful when you’ve already configured detailed shipping rules in WooCommerce and want to reflect them as-is in GMC. Option 2 (Manually estimate flat shipping rates) doesn’t sync your settings from WooCommerce but instead pushes a single flat rate to GMC, which is why you’re seeing shipping listed as “flat rate” even when you’ve set it to 0. If you’d like shipping to appear as “Free shipping” in GMC, you’ll need to use the free shipping method in your WooCommerce zone rather than setting a flat rate of 0.
As for the difference in country listings, that’s a great observation. The country list you see in the Google for WooCommerce plugin reflects what is currently supported through the plugin’s API integration. While Google Merchant Center may show 92 supported countries on its interface, the plugin may not immediately include all of them. This list gets updated as Google updates their feed support. Could you let us know if there’s a specific country you’re not seeing in the plugin’s list? I’ll be happy to double-check that for you.
Looking forward to your update so we can get everything syncing as expected.
Thank you for your reply. I just tried using the first option, ‘Automatically sync my store’s shipping settings to Google.’ I also set up shipping zones and free shipping settings in WooCommerce.
I discovered a previous issue: in WooCommerce’s ‘Zone regions,’ if the ‘Select all countries’ option is chosen, it doesn’t save after refreshing the page. This also explains why the Shipping policies were empty after previously syncing to Google using the first option.
Now, I have selected all seven continents (as a workaround for ‘Select all countries’), and the Shipping policies are successfully displaying all countries.
However, there is still one more issue: in WooCommerce, I selected ‘Free Shipping,’ but after syncing to Google, the ‘cost’ option still shows as ‘Flat’ (instead of free).
I discovered a previous issue: in WooCommerce’s ‘Zone regions,’ if the ‘Select all countries’ option is chosen, it doesn’t save after refreshing the page.
This problem appears to be specific to WooCommerce core, so I suggest creating a new topic at the WooCommerce support forums for more accurate assistance.
However, there is still one more issue: in WooCommerce, I selected ‘Free Shipping,’ but after syncing to Google, the ‘cost’ option still shows as ‘Flat’ (instead of free).
Could you please share screenshots of the page where you select “Free Shipping” and the of the Google page where you see “Flat rate”? You may use https://snipboard.io to upload images and share links here. Looking that the pages will give me a better understanding of the issue.
I understand you’ve already contacted WooCommerce support about the issue with selecting all countries and saving the settings. It would be best to continue working with them on that specific matter.
As for the issue where Google is displaying Flat Rate shipping instead of Free Shipping, could you please edit the Free Standard Shipping method and share screenshots of the configuration? This will help me understand how it’s currently set up.
Additionally, please go to WooCommerce > Status > Logs, check for any recent error logs, and share the contents using Pastebin.com.
Lastly, please share your site’s System Status Report with me. You can paste it into https://pastebin.com and share the link here. This information will help in identifying any hidden issues that might be affecting your shipping settings.
Thank you for sharing the screenshots. I’ve reviewed them, and everything appears to be configured correctly.
This issue may be related to the other one you mentioned, where you’re unable to save “All Countries” in the Shipping Zone settings.
For now, I recommend waiting for the WooCommerce core issue to be resolved before revisiting this. In the meantime, you can try selecting a different option in the Shipping Settings, save the changes, and then switch back to the “Recommended” option and save again. This may help trigger an update in the Google feed.
I understand you’re still seeing the shipping cost appear as “Flat” in Google Merchant Center even after setting up Free Shipping in WooCommerce, and it’s clear you’ve already put a lot of effort into getting this working properly. No worries, I’ll walk you through what could be happening here.
While the Google for WooCommerce plugin does sync shipping settings such as your zones and methods to Google Merchant Center, this process isn’t immediate. The plugin relies on ActionScheduler to queue and process these updates in the background. This means that even if your WooCommerce shipping settings are correct, there may be a delay before they fully appear or update in your GMC account. If there’s any issue with your site’s scheduled actions not processing correctly, that could definitely impact how and when changes sync.
To help us check this further, please go to WooCommerce > Status > Scheduled Actions, then search for any actions related to the Google for WooCommerce plugin. If you see any pending or failed actions, take a screenshot and share it here so we can take a closer look together.
Let me know once that’s done, and we’ll continue from there. Looking forward to helping you get this resolved!
To help us troubleshoot the issue more effectively, I recommend temporarily disabling the following plugins: – Object Cache Pro – WP Mail SMTP Pro – WP Rocket – Yoast SEO
This will allow me to check if any of these plugins might be contributing to the problem. Once we identify the cause, you can safely re-enable them. Please let me know once this is done so we can continue investigating.
I understand how frustrating this situation can be, and I truly appreciate your patience as we work through it.
To move forward with troubleshooting, I recommend performing a full conflict test by deactivating all plugins except WooCommerce and switching to a default theme like Twenty Twenty-Five. If you’re using a service like Cloudflare, please try temporarily disabling it as well.
Additionally, please go to WooCommerce > Status > Logs and check for any recent error logs. You’re welcome to share the relevant log entries with me via Pastebin.com, so I can take a closer look and assist you more effectively.
